Exploring Urban Life in Birmingham City Centre
Birmingham is often described as the UK’s second city, and I’ve known it since childhood due to its proximity to my hometown of Coventry, which I left in 1972 at the age of eighteen. Since then, I’ve returned only occasionally. On this occasion I was there for a few days to interview and film striking bin workers who were fighting against cuts in their pay and conditions.
I made this image on a grey day, on a street marked by numerous closed shop units, which contributed to a distinct sense of decline. I’ve long been interested in the relationship between people and advertising, and here that interplay felt particularly stark. A large, glamorous fashion advert—idealised and aspirational—contrasts sharply with the gritty reality of the street: a delivery rider waiting for his next job and a passerby absorbed in his phone, seemingly indifferent to his surroundings.
The eye is eventually drawn to the model in the advert, posing with a piece of jewellery alongside the words “Be Love.” Meanwhile, the two individuals, though physically close, remain disconnected from one another, and from the message looming above them. The advert feels irrelevant, even hollow.
This photograph reflects on themes of urban isolation, inequality, and the gig economy, which often demands long hours for low pay. It is a scene that could easily be repeated in cities across the UK today.
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