Fighting Racism In 1994
Following the election of a British National Party councillor in Millwall, East London and the escalation in racist attacks in the area, the TUC joined with a broad platform of anti-racist organisations in a Unite Against Racism demonstration in Tower Hamlets on 19 March, 1994. The BNP candidate was defeated in the subsequent local elections and a Labour Council returned to power in the borough. I photographed the demonstration which attracted over 50,000 people. The art work below is made from two images I took on the march.
I believe photographs have an inherent historical value but I also view my archive as a resource where images can be re-imagined sometimes (as is in this case) to restate an idea. The fight against racism is ongoing. This image captures the anger of of those who’ve been subjected to it. It’s an anger that is reflected in the Black Lives Matter movement around the world today.
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Walking In A New World
In the 1980s I remember getting annoyed with editors when they cropped my photographs. Who would have thought that forty years later I would be harvesting different figures from images and creating new compositions!
The image below was made from three different files. Everyone I photograph on the street are in their own world. What are they thinking? Where are they going? Where have they been? What will happen to them in the future? These are some of the questions that occur to me when I review my street photographs of people frozen in time. I think the image below represents my curiosity about the individuals and my speculation about their lives.
I’ve always believed that all humans are linked together in a number of ways despite cultural, class or economic circumstances. These two individuals may have a lot in common although it’s likely their paths will never cross; both were photographed in different cities. The work therefore also explores the element of chance in all our lives.
They’ve been placed in an imaginary landscape which is a detail from a painting I made on the inside of a discarded corn flake box. Once the assembled image was printed I then worked on it with watercolour and pencil. Ultimately I’m attempting to get the viewer to look at the two subjects more closely unfettered by the street environment I photographed them in individually.
You can purchase photographs and other art by Phil Maxwell here: https://theartofresistance.bigcartel.com/products
Around Liverpool (36)
You can purchase photographs and other art by Phil Maxwell here: https://theartofresistance.bigcartel.com/products
Around Liverpool (35)
You can purchase photographs and other art by Phil Maxwell here: https://theartofresistance.bigcartel.com/products
Food Bank Britain
During the recent nurses strike I spoke to a number of strikers who knew of colleagues using food banks or were using them themselves. As the cost of living soars more than half of NHS trusts and health boards are either providing or planning food banks for staff.
According to the Royal College of Nursing their members on average work an extra 6 hours for no extra pay each week. During the pandemic politicians lined up to have their photographs taken as they clapped for NHS workers. Now they are refusing to pay them a living wage for the incredible life saving work they do.
I hope the photomontage below expresses the outrage that millions of people in the UK feel about the lying, corrupt and hypocritical political class that rules over us. No one should have to use a food bank in the sixth richest economy in the world. Solidarity with everyone fighting back against the economic system that has brought a wretched poverty and life to millions in food bank Britain.
You can purchase photographs and other art by Phil Maxwell here: https://theartofresistance.bigcartel.com/products
