Wapping Portraits
Below are some of the pickets who lost their jobs when Rupert Murdoch moved his toxic business to the East End. For over a year the sacked workers mounted a 24-hour picket seven days a week.
Pickets outside News International 1986
Pickets outside News International 1986
Pickets outside News International 1986
Murdoch’s Boot Boys
Twenty five years ago Wapping was flooded with police officers to protect the business interests of News International. The plan was to ensure the success of Rupert Murdoch’s decision to move his newspaper empire and defeat the unions representing workers who were sacked.
Demonstrators on Commercial Road, 1986
There has always been a close relationship between the Metropolitan Police and News International. In 1986 the police were deployed to undermine pickets and demonstrators and ensure that the lorries carrying the Sun and The News of The World were unhindered.
Demonstrators on Commercial Road, 1986
The police operation caused huge problems for local residents who organised a demonstration following the death of Michael Delaney who was killed when he was struck by a TNT lorry from News International. There was no prosecution following the death of Michael.
Police film crew following the demonstration, 1986
All the demonstrators were filmed for the police and the gentlemen above on the right decided to smile when I took his photograph.
Paris
A defaced poster of Silvio Berlusconi, Paris 2004
Two young women outside a shop, Paris 2004
Wall with graffiti, stencils and paint, Paris 2004
Commercial Street
The three photographs below are a sequence taken in a few seconds on Commercial Street in the 1980’s. I feel the images tell their own story as well as raising issues around wealth inequality and low pay.
Commercial Street, mid 1980's
Commercial Street, mid 1980's
Commercial Street, mid 1980's
Bus Therapy
Bus stops can be harbingers of anger and joy. The frustration caused by the ‘lack of a bus’ can seal a bond between waiting passengers which can erupt in therapeutic conversations. Bus stops also facilitate meetings between familiars and strangers.
Two people wait for the arrival of a bus, Commercial Road 1990
The man below seems unlikely to begin a conversation with fellow passengers and is firmly focused on the arrival of the bus.
Man sitting on a bollard next to a bus stop, Commercial Street 1986
The passengers waiting for the bus in Dhaka (below) have to negotiate mud before they get on the bus. Despite this, getting on and off a bus in Dhaka is quite a well organised affair designed to maximise the number of passengers carried.
People waiting at a bus stop in Dhaka, Bangladesh 2009
Two passengers jump off the 38 bus, Hackney 1998
Passengers alighting from a 'long distance' bus, Bangladesh 2009
Two people wait for a bus in Whitechapel market, London 2009
Finally the magnificently attired lady below caught my eye as I was cycling in Aldgate. As soon as I saw her I got off my bike (which can be seen on the right of the photograph) in order to photograph her. I shot two frames, one of which has already been used in an earlier blog .
I must have been standing directly in front of her for about 30 seconds. She was oblivious to my presence, possibly because she was looking for the bus to come around the corner! After shooting my two frames I cycled home to process the film which contained work for the Local Government Chronicle. As usual it was my spontaneous street photography which I was eager to see rather than the commissioned work. Typically it was a case of largely boring paid assignments subsidising my documentary and experimental work.
Lady waiting at a temporary bus stop, Aldgate 1988
