These photographs only hint at the breathtaking beauty of the place.
Street Talk
October 15, 2016
The street is a perfect place for private conversation. No one else will hear the exchange so it is possible to discuss issues that might be avoided in a house where voices can be overheard. All the conversations photographed here would be spontaneous. They have started because of a chance encounter on the street.
Two men in conversation. Junction of Whitechapel and Vallance Roads, 1988
I used a roll of film to photograph these two gentlemen (above). The 36 images will at some point be put into a sequence and used in a film. This was the final frame. Previously they were standing where I took this shot from and they are standing where I shot most of the film. They were so pleased to see each other and engrossed in conversation that they were oblivious to everything around them. Black and white images were edited together for the experimental film ‘East End 1‘ with music by Lola Perrin. Many of the images used were taken in the 1980s. Digital photography has enabled me to experiment more but the rules are just the same. With film I think you consciously take more notice of light and speed and aperture settings. As imaging was never instant you had to take more notice of the lighting environment you were working in. I think using film, processing it and printing in a darkroom is the best way to learn photography. The whole process facilitates an intimate understanding of exposure and technique.
Men in conversation in Old Town Marrakech, 2006
Just like the men in Whitechapel these two men (above) are engrossed in their conversational encounter. The public space of a street is paradoxically probably the most private for conversation.
Two ladies having a conversation on a market stall. Middlesex Street 1986
Conversation outside a cafe, Brick Lane, London 2012
Whitechapel Market 2014
Street conversation, New York 2005
Conversation, Brick Lane 1988
Conversation by Bishopsgate Goods Yard, 2007
In all of these images there are many similarities. For me the most obvious is the way hands orchestrate and underpin the conversation.
Conversation, Hanbury Street 1991
Conversation. Brick Lane, London 2012
Fashion Street East London
October 14, 2016
Fashion Street 1992
This family (abova) are walking past the former ‘Moorish Market’ designed and built in 1905 by entrepreneurs Abraham and Woolf Davis as a retail arcade in an unusual oriental style, with horseshoe arches. It was a commercial failure and changed to industrial use in 1909. It was empty and in disrepair for many years and was restored in 2003 for business use.
Woman walking into Fashion Street from Brick Lane, 1983
Woman walking past a wall covered in graffiti, Fashion Street 2008
Youth on Fashion Street, 2010
Fashion Street 2014
Fashion Street. London 2004
Fashion Street 2014
Woman with trolley walking down Fashion Street, 2010
Fashion Street 2015
Unexpected In Brick Lane
October 13, 2016
Brick Lane is full of the unexpected. The junction of Brick Lane and Quaker Street seems to attract unusual compositions. What is now a clothes shop called ‘Religion’ used to be a coffee shop and before that a pub. The sheep (below) is from Spitalfields farm. The photograph was taken from Quaker Street looking into Brick Lane.
Sheep on Brick Lane & Quaker Street junction, 2002
About twenty years earlier I photographed the boy with the stick (below) from the opposite angle in Brick Lane. He is standing where the sheep is in the 2002 photograph.
Boy with a stick outside a pub on Brick Lane, 1983
Below is a translucent window facing Brick Lane photographed from inside the pub.
Brick Lane pub window advertising Trumans Brewery, 1983
The appearance of this man and his dogs on Brick Lane in 2003 excited my attention. After following him for some time on the other side of the road I was able to cross over and get the shot below. The incongruity of it all is what appealed to me.
Man walking dogs on Brick Lane, 2003
At the time I was preparing twenty years of Brick Lane photographs for an exhibition which was launched in the Brick House in Brick Lane. The man and his dogs made it into the show at the last minute and subsequently brought the dogs into the exhibition!
Opening of ‘Brick Lane’ at the Brick House, 2003
The dogs (below) had their own private view a week after the launch of the exhibition.
Dogs at the Brick Lane exhibition, 2003
Brick Lane 2003
Brick Lane c.1998
Brick Lane 1999
Brick Lane 1999
Brick Lane launderette 1983
Brick Lane 2016
Brick Lane 1984
Shropshire Hills (2)
October 12, 2016
Here are some more Shropshire Hills, this time in Black & White.
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
Shropshire Hills 2016
The Shropshire Hills
October 11, 2016
The Shropshire Hills provide a dramatic link between the Midlands and the Welsh mountains. Centuries of farming have shaped the landscape. Designated as an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty 70% of it is grazing land, and below the moorland and rough grass hilltops and commons lies a patchwork of fields rich in hedgerows and veteran trees. Ancient woodlands, wildflower meadows and orchards also survive, each habitat with its characteristic wildlife plants and invertebrates. Red grouse, skylark and dormouse are among the great variety of birds and mammals.
