Finding Meaning
This week marks the first of a series of workshops in Liverpool, wonderful, diverse and glorious Liverpool. This post isn't about promoting the fact I have a workshop called Summer Streets, it's more about how I got here and why I love taking to the streets as much as possible, even when I'm on holiday!
That said, I have 4 photographs from Liverpool and 4 photographs from Cornwall to share with you, very different feelings and how a place changes my style. A couple of these are big favourites but in terms of the street photography world they don't make a dent. They are me having fun and seeing the world in my own way. I do believe we get caught up in photography trends when it comes to photography, and from experience even more so with street photography. Woe betide if you make something different from what's currently trending.
Now here's the twist. These images I love, but they are aesthetics, not commentary, not really saying anything. What do I mean by this? Well, of late I have been photographing my home town, walking around in a place I no longer recognise. More on this to come, but the photographs I have been making in my town are full of commentary, social decline, and feel like they have more meaning. I'm not ready with this project yet because I feel it's going to be a long project, something worthy of attention, time and making a statement on a place I thought I knew but now no longer recognise as home. It's complex emotionally, politically, and shows a decline for reasons that will be hard to explain without me going into my own beliefs and thoughts, yes, an opinion on a town that once had pride, culture and innovation.
Now back to these photographs. They are my safe place, they are my go to, they are an expression of street photography I really enjoy making, but of late have left me feeling wanting, flip back to the local project above. Nothing wrong with these photographs, but I feel my street photography needs to say more. I'm challenging myself, pushing to make something exciting, expressive and, most of all, has something to say about the world we live in. This comes from when my photography got flipped upside down, firstly by David Hurn and then by his student Tish Murtha. I have recently bought the book Vandalism on a Grand Scale, a book brought into the world by an incredible lady, Ella Murtha, Tish's daughter. From the documentary film to this book, I felt a change, a calling. This is why I got into photography, from the days of college, university and seeing social divide. I never got the opportunity to use the camera in this way, a way to show what is actually happening on the streets of our towns and villages. This is so important in today's society, due to the majority being hypnotised by a device filled with paid for media, feeding a message that isn't the whole truth, a message from people with money who control the narrative. So now, more than ever, I feel I have a chance to record the way it actually is.
What am I talking about? I'm talking about meaning in my photography. I'm talking about my local town and the access to this, and to see it for what it is, not for what we are told. Anyway, I've talked enough, and I'm excited to carry on with my home town project, so keep checking back for updates and photographs, field notes of what I have seen and how this looks and makes me feel. A day in a life continues, but I now feel it has found its calling.
The photographs below are still a joy to create, and I will continue with a light heart and spirit dedicated to showing how I see, the way the light falls and to try and avoid the most prominent trends of the time.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider joining my growing community on Patreon, or visit my website to see available workshops and one-to-one photography sessions. Thank you so much to everyone who reads my field notes. I’m truly grateful and look forward to sharing many more with you. If you have any questions or want to join the conversation drop me a message in the comments below. Thank you.
