Market moves
You don’t have to get up early to see the movement of goods on Whitechapel market. From 7am you can see stallholders preparing the market for the days business. However goods are moved throughout the day giving the market an extra sense of industry and prompting the call: “mind your backs.”
Pushing goods on Whitechapel market, 1998
In the port of Dhaka in Bangladesh goods are on the move all the time. This hand welded cart with its pnuematic tyres is more sophisticated than any thing you might find in Whitechapel.
Pulling a cart, Dhaka 1996
The Big Society Explained
The government claims the Big Society they want to install in the UK is a hugely ambitious and complex matter. Ministers sometimes find it difficult to spin the ‘BS’ in simple sound bites.
For a Tory explaining the Big Society is a bit like communicating the origins of the universe. It is shrouded in a degree of mystery. The mystery is essential because the Big Society has the same moral physiology of a pyramid sales scheme. The Big Society depends on a government who falsely claim that society can be improved, healed and rejuvenated if we all work harder for less money. Like all pyramid schemes the only people who benefit from it are the con men and women who advocate it.
In order to clarify matters and remove any mystery the photo essay below explains the reality of the Big Society:
Whitechapel Library
The Big Society closes libraries.
Bus Stop, East London
The Big Society restricts public transport and increases fares.
Stop the War protest
The Big Society accommodates war.
Demonstration against education cuts
The Big Society excludes the poor and many others from education.
A bank at Canary Wharf
The Big Society robs money from the poor and gives it to the banks and allows bankers to pay themselves huge ‘bonuses’.
A Hand in a NHS hospital, 2011
The Big Society is sacking health workers and believes hospitals should be run like a business for profit.
Electricity supply to London
The Big Society increases fuel poverty as it encourages energy companies to make greater profits.
Homeless person sleeping in a cardboard box
The Big Society is cutting housing benefit and increasing the level of homelessness.
This explanation of the Big Society may not be as comprehensive as it could be. If I have missed anything out please let me know.
Babes in Arms
Father and daughter, Spitalfields 1986
Babies in a rickshaw, Bangladesh 1996
Father and daughter, Spitalfields 1997
Mobile fridges and Cucumbers
Following a number of visits to Bangladesh over the past 20 years I’ve come to the conclusion that anything can be moved around by sheer muscle power. The fridge on the bicycle platform (below) is a relatively modest cargoe but still appears to be quite a triumph of human transportation.
Bicycle with fridge, Dhaka 2008
Market cart, Petticoat Lane 1984
- In contrast the hand cart (above) probably dates back to Victorian times and has no doubt been responsible for the movement of thousands of tons of vegetables in its life time. On the day I photographed the gentleman (below) it was responsible for the movement of cucumbers and apples.
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Petticoat Lane market, 1984
Flying on Brick Lane
The Biman aircraft painting (below) could be seen in the entrance to flats and a mini cab office in 1995 on Brick Lane. The painter probably learnt to paint for advertising in Bangladesh. The style is similar to many hand painted advertisements which were prolific in India and Bangladesh a few decades ago. This small example of the genre caught my eye and reminded me of Bangladesh. The image has been attacked I suspect by inebriated individuals waiting for cabs supplied by the office above. The lines across the image have most likely been scratched on with coins.
Aircraft painting on wall, Brick Lane 1995
Brick Lane, woman walking past cab office entrance, 1995
If you look carefully into the entrance the woman (above) is passing you can see the painting advertising ‘Biman’ in context under the sign ‘Surma Travels’.
