Harley Street, Alexandria on Monday, 11 May 2020

I go to Harley Street in honour of the ‘Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn’ from the film Birds of Prey. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have recognised it as a female name. The film and the female characters in it are hilarious and very liberating, foremost Harley Quinn played by Margot Robbie.

At the corner of Harley Street is the Parkview Hotel. What park it’s viewing is unclear to me. I guess it’s the oval across Mitchell Road. The pub is closed, like all pubs in this time of lockdown. An improvised sign says ‘Pop Up Bottle Shop’ in uneven letters, picked out by the sun from the surrounding shadows as if it is on stage.

Although it’s only around 2 pm the light has already a late afternoon glow and creates strong shadows everywhere in the street. At another corner is a workshop called ‘Unique Plaster’ with a closed red shutter door. An ibis standing on a rock against a blue sky with fluffy white clouds is painted on the corner wall, like a company icon. Nearby in a window, a note tells the passer-by that there are desk spaces available for lease if you can’t go to the office or can’t work from home.