To the Trains
This wonderful instruction with the helpful tiled hand can be found at the top of the stairs at Stepney Green underground station. It has probably survived from the early 20th century. I wonder if the railway builders of the time had a kind of ‘letraset tile system’ comprising of hundreds of tiles which could be compiled to instruct commuters and speed them on their way?
Tiled sign, Stepney Green Station 2004
For the past thirty years I have photographed my journeys on the London Underground. As a London based photographer I could have up to 6 assignments a day. The usual would probably be half that.
Looking through my negatives it would not be uncommon to find shots of a politician followed by a dozen or so shots taken on a carriage on the underground. In retrospect it is the shots on the underground that have currency for me now as I always found ordinary Londoners more interesting than self consumed politicians.
Underground couple on the District Line, 1998
Tired passenger on the District Line, 2007
Moving train on the underground, 1992
Moving train on the underground, 2004
Brick Lane Amplified
Over the years there must have been many different sounds of music, protest, conversation and industry on Brick Lane. Here are a few ‘sounds’ I have captured with my camera.
Woman with loud hailer outside the Brick House, Brick Lane 2008
Most loud hailers used on Brick Lane are connected with protest. This woman was advertising a show in the Brick House.
Protest against the BNP at the top of Brick Lane, 1992
Following the election of a BNP candidate to Tower Hamlets Council there were regular protests against the BNP in and around Brick Lane. Here local Councillor Ghulam Mortuza addresses protesters.
Playing the piano outside the second hand furniture hut, Brick Lane 2002
It’s extraordinary that the hut in this photograph has survived all the redevelopment that Brick Lane has seen over the past years. It can still be seen next to the bridge on Brick Lane.
Michael Myers playing a Barrel Organ on Brick Lane, 2001
Local resident and musician Michael Myers plays a Barrel Organ during the 2001 Mela. Barrel Organs were a regular feature on Brick Lane and Bethnal Green Road up until the late 1940’s. They were even used to help campaign to raise money for the fight against fascism during the Spanish Civil War.
East End Film Festival
The East End Film Festival has launched its programme for this year. The brochure is full of old black and white images from my archive and the picture below wraps around the printed programme.
Man with teddy bear on settee in Cheshire Street, 1985
The sight of the man on the settee with the teddy bear drew me like a magnet. Over the years I have become quite intimate with this Cheshire Street composition as I printed it a number of times. In the 80’s I always processed my own film; this could cause problems for me in the dark room as I would sometimes leave the film in the developer for a few minutes longer than was required. This meant the negatives would often emerge with a high contrast finish. The image above was developed for too long and so I had to print it on ‘grade 1’ low contrast paper to compensate for the high contrast negative. It could take me hours to get the right tonal balance on the print. It takes a few seconds to sort it in photoshop!
The man on the settee with the teddy bear has never ceased to intrigue me. I’ve always found the street as the natural habitat for practical surrealism! This is particularly true of the East End of London. You can catch a number of other black and white images on the web site of the East End Film Festival.
Through the Window
Taking a photograph through a window may at times be a necessity or a deliberate ploy to frame a composition. Often it is not possible to get closer to the subject without peering through a window or having a layer of glass between the camera lens and the subject.
An empty street inner city Liverpool, 1981
The broken window frame in this photograph (above) was used to emphasize the dereliction of the empty houses outside. This photograph was taken in an abandoned house – one of hundreds in Liverpool 8. The house seemed to resonate with reminders of its former inhabitants and although I was alone as I wandered around I could sense the former lives that once occupied the front room I was peering out from.
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in the distance, 1981
The Anglican Cathedral could be seen at some point from every empty house I visited on this particular day in 1981. Somehow it provided an ordered reference point to the small broken terraced streets. The magnificent masonary of the Cathedral might as well have been a million miles away from the crumbling brick work of the terraces; I felt compelled to compose this shot (above) through the broken window; this might have been out of respect for the former inhabitants who would have stared into the street thousands of times through the same window.
Window of the national art gallery Budapest, 2002
The view from the first floor of this house (below), once occupied by the philanthropist Mary Hughes reveals Pauline House in Old Montague Street.
View from a Vallance Road window, 1998
The Old China Cafe in Kuala Lumpur retains echoes of the Chinese community’s old social life. This magnificent window (below) dates from the early part of the last century and blocks out the chaotic construction close buy driven by the steady growth of land prices.
Window in the Old China Cafe, Kuala Lumpur 2004
Umbrellas
UK residents regard umbrellas as handy protectors against rain or as a fashion accessory.
Boy with umbrella, Bangladesh 1992
In tropical climates they have an additional use: to protect the owner against the fierce heat of the sun.
Two men in conversation in Hanbury Street, 1985
It would appear the only use for the umbrella (above) in East London is as a protection from the sun or perhaps to prevent the conversation from being overheard by random photographers.
Umbrella in Chittagong, 2008
Woman with umbrella, Melaka 2008
