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DOCUMENTARY & STREET PHOTOGRAPHY |
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| ..It's like going into the sea and letting the waves break over you. You feel the power of the sea. On the street each successive wave brings a whole new cast of characters. You take wave after wave, | |||||||||
| you bathe in it. There is something exciting about being in the crowd, in all that chance and change --- it's tough out there --- but if you can | |||||||||
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| keep paying attention something will reveal itself --- just a split second --- and then there's a crazy cockeyed picture. | |||||||||
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Joel Meyerowitz in Bystander: A History of Street Photography |
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| Briggate.com is a photographic project whose aims connect it with a tradition of documentary photography and whose methods are those of contemporary street photography. It is documentary in that it attempts to tell a story - of a particular place at a particular time. The project consists of over 10 000 photographs taken over | |||||||||
more than a year leading up to exhibition in June 2007. Most of the individual photographs belong to the genre of street photography. They are candid photos taken on the street. Some of the people photographed were are aware of the camera others were not. There were many interesting discussions about the photographs and the project with people in the street, some of these resulting in further photographs. Only in very very few cases did anyone express any reservations about being photographed. I have tried to honour these reservations and have not willingly included anyones photo here against their will. If someone does not want me to photograph them, then generally, I don't. But hundreds of people have shown their willingness to be part of this celebration of Leeds and the life of some of its most lively streets. I thank them all. Perhaps I should say something about the work of others that have influenced and inspired this project ... |
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Between the wars the spread of illustrated magazines made possible the emergence of the first generation of photographers to explore life on the streets of the modern city. It is not co-incidence that the most creative of these such as André Kertész and Henri Cartier-Bresson began their careers in Paris, the artistic capital of the world, a modern city with the atmosphere of a village.
In their work, and in the work of later photographers such as Robert Doisneau and Willy Ronis, the city is given a truly human face. The figures that give life to their black and white images may be iconic, but they are not anonymous. Theirs is an intimate approach to the experience of life in a modern city. In 2001 Dave Gibson founded the in-Public collective to promote street photography. Based in London, the group now includes members around the world. In May 2006, just as the Briggate.com project began to take shape, my wife, Sara and I were fortunate to participate in a workshop on street photography run by Dave Gibson, Nick Turpin and members of the in-Public.com (see www.in-Public.com) collective at Tate Modern in London. Later, we returned to London to see the wonderful exhibition by the in-Public collective and to hear Nick Turpin speak on street photography (see photo right)
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Transformations at the heart of Leeds. Through its association with the Celebrate Leeds |
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| 2007 Festival, the Briggate.com photographic project has been able to grow into a large-scale study, perhaps even an important historic record. Alongside this project I have been developing several other projects which attempt a portrait of Leeds at a time of its rapid transformation. The pedestrianised city centre of Leeds includes a maze of wonderful arcades and shopping malls. Many of the most inviting arcades lead off Briggate itself. These arcades and malls are the subject of another of my photographic projects. In addition, I hope to develop my project on the Kirkgate Market in conjunction with the Market Traders Association in order to portray this historic market during the period of rapid development of the neighbouring Eastgate area of Leeds. The new high-rise accommodation south of Leeds train station is another interest of mine and I intend documenting the development of social and domestic life in that area as its new inhabitants make themselves at home. No doubt, as these projects develop, other associated projects will suggest themselves. | |||||||||
photograph by Lloyd Spencer
