Mobile Phones On The Streets
Mobile phone in the city around 1989
The photograph above was taken before mobile phones were cheap enough for nearly everyone to buy. At this time the calls were expensive and the phones were often carried around as a status symbol. They were too large fit snugly into your pocket.
Conversation on Commercial street, 2006
I’ve always thought of myself as a ‘street photographer’. The street is unpredictable and a unique imprint of the community of an area. It’s a place where you will find intriguing juxtapositions of people and events. Capturing a moment in time on a street can be challenging but it holds many rewards for the photographer. In Whitechapel the street is like an extension of where you live. Many families live in small overcrowded flats so public spaces become a valuable place to meet people and talk. Often you will just bump into an acquaintance or a friend you’ve not seen for a long time and strike up a conversation. I’ve noticed a change in the dynamics of the street since the invention of mobile phones. Now many people cut themselves off from the engaging environment of the street by holding a conversation on their mobile.
Mobile texting on Vallance Rd, 2004
Woman with her mobile phone, London c. 1999
Man with a mobile phone, Spitalfields 2010
Man with mobile phone outside Bengal Cuisine on Brick Lane, 2010
Mobile on Brick Lane, 2012
Mobile phone shop, Dhaka 2009
A woman using her mobile phone. Marrakech 2004
It seems that some people find it difficult to simply walk and enjoy the ever changing vibe of the street. Its as if this very basic human activity of walking has now been invaded by technology. It’s a revolution that has gone almost unnoticed and even though I’m guilty of answering calls on the street I can’t help thinking that the mobile phone has invaded the pleasures of walking.
Young man outside a book shop in Dhaka, 2008
On The Buses In East London
Bus stops are great places for photographic loitering. The accumulation of a wide variety of people at a bus stop provides endless opportunities for portraits and observations of human behavior, fashion and style.
A man with a cap on a route master bus, 1999
I’ve always regarded public transport as a moving studio set up to record people. Invariably I carry a small camera with me to record the environment I pass through. Buses can be difficult in terms of the rapidly changing light. However it’s difficult not to discover an interesting subject. A London bus will always furnish a photographer with a wide range of subjects. This passenger (above) has emerged into the metropolis ready for the cold with his two jumpers, coat and cap.
Man on the lower deck of the 254 bus, 2009
The human landscape is altered each time the bus collects fresh passengers at a stop. This passenger (above) is positioned safely in a seat specially designed for disabled travelers. The route master bus had no facilities for disabled passengers.
Leaving a route master bus on the East India Dock Road, 2003
This passenger (above) is helped from the bus by the conductor. She steadies herself by touching the advertisement of an idealised woman. Despite the competition from the glossy lady in a swim suit our attention is held by the old lady. The route master was withdrawn from service in 2005 partly for health and safety reasons.
Bus stop, Whitechapel 2009
Bus stop, Bethnal Green Road c.1995
Bus stop, Bethnal Green Road c.1984
Bus stop, Cambridge Heath Road c.1990
Bus stop, Bethnal Green Road 2002
Bus Stop, Whitechapel Road 2014
Bus on Bethnal Green Road, London 2008
Passengers boarding bus on Bethnal Green Road, 1983
Bethnal Green Road 2002
Number 25 bus, Whitechapel 2014
Before the invention of the mobile phone conversation between waiting passengers was usual at bus stops. At this stop there is noc between the three women and the woman closest to the camera can’t raise anyone on her phone.
Betting shops In East London 1983 – 2006
Betting shop Whitechapel road, 1985
Over the years I’ve taken many photographs inside and outside betting shops in East London. Here are a few.
Betting shop portrait, Brick Lane 1986
Betting shop Roman road, 2004
Whitechapel Road Betting Office c.1983
Whitechapel Road Betting Office c.1984
Betting shop, Brick Lane c.1983
Brick Lane Betting Shop c.1984
East London c.1984
Betting Shop, Whitechapel Road 2006
Betting shop on the Roman Road. London 2004
Lady in a betting shop on Bethnal Green Road, 1990
Two men outside a betting shop, Whitechapel 1986
Bikes On Brick Lane
Man with his bike, Grimsby street 1988
This is one of my favourite blogs from 2010. I am pleased to publish it again today with some additional photographs.
This gentleman (above) is about to enter Brick Lane from Grimsby Street. He has just bought some second hand clothes from one of the many make shift stalls which appeared on Sundays. The inner tube he is holding suggests a puncture which might account for his forlorn expression.
Young woman on a bike, Brick Lane 2009
This trendy cyclist is going the wrong way down Brick Lane.
Man passes locked bike on Brick Lane, 2006
Bicycles on Brick Lane, 1982
The police officer is hurrying up Brick Lane to join colleagues at the start of a demonstration organised to stop the deportation of Afia Begum to Bangladesh. After her husband was killed in a fire she was deported despite protests. The children on their bikes joined the back of the demonstration which eventually ended outside the small police station next to Heneage Street.
Bicycles and lights on Brick Lane 2002
Boy riding a bike on Brick Lane, 1983
Brick Lane 2009
Man and a bike. Brick Lane, London 2012
An accidental juxtaposition of coloured lights and bikes outside a shop in Brick Lane.
Tony Blair As Baby Jesus
Tony Blair as the baby Jesus, photomontage 2003
This is one of my favourite blogs from 2010. I am pleased to publish it again today (with a few additional photographs).
In 2003 I held an exhibition which launched Photomonth for that year called Comrades. Hosted at the Four Corners gallery it took a satirical look at the Labour government of the day. This photomontage uses a Hungarian painting of the Virgin and Child with Tony Blair’s head.
Arrest of Tony Blair. Photomontage 2003.
This photomontage imagines Tony Blair as a peace protester being arrested close to the Houses of Parliament. I photographed the Labour Party leadership extensively in the early 90’s for Labour Party news. The images I accrued through this work were the principle resource for the exhibition.
Tony Blair as Jesus. After Caravaggio 2003.
Here we have the simple substitution of a Tony Blair head in Caravaggio’s masterpiece depicting the supper at Emmaus.
Torn fly poster with Brown, Blair and Cook, 2003
Tony Blair as the President of the United States, 2003.
Gordon Brown and Tony Blair on Brighton Pier, 2003
Tony Blair and John Prescott at a Labour Party conference, early 1990’s
Blair & Iraq. Collage, London 2008
Photomontage with a message and Tony Blair. Demonstration against the war, London 2003
The exhibition also included straight photographs of Labour politicians which were accompanied with quotes from the subjects.
