I'm eager to get stuck in on a new project and I have gained inspiration from a recent conversation I had a few weeks ago while down in London. I was lucky enough to get a few hours with my head in some photography books, it's always good to discover new work and new photographers. Here are a few that really caught my attention.
Taryn Simon's 'The Innocents' I found particularly interesting. They are a collection of photographs that document the stories of people who have served time in prison for crimes they did not commit. Many of the crimes these people have been accused of, result in the death penalty. The location in which the photographs are taken are either where they were arrested, where the innocents are accused of committing the crime or the location of their alibi.
Alongside the photographs in the book is a piece of text about the crime they have been accused of and how they came to be wrongly committed. The words add so much more emotion to the photographs.
To me, the photographs have an almost cinema like feel to them, they could easily be stills from a film. Each individual is alone in the frame, looking straight into the camera at us, the viewer.
Another photographer John Londei's book 'Shutting up shop' was interesting. Over the space of 17 years he photographed specialist shops and shopkeepers as they slowly began to disappear from the high streets. Shot on a large format 10x8 camera it's interesting to see the people within the photographs, what they are wearing, the layout of the shops, the design of the packaging on the shelves, the signage and the little personal touches each shop seems to have.
Art shop, Covent Garden, London
Chemist, Leather Lane, London
Hardware Merchant, Chelsea, London
Tobacconist, Leather Lane, London
Reminds me of a project I started a few years ago documenting the mixed heritage of those who worked in shops within the town of Burton on Trent
And finally Stephen Gill. I have come across his work a few times before, I have a book of his called 'Unseen UK' a project in which he worked with employees of the Royal Mail. Those who wished to take part were given a disposable camera to photograph their life as an postal worker. The book is a 230 page book which picks out some of the best photographs from the project. The book I was looking at the other week was 'A book of field studies'. Personally my favourite work from this book was the 'Billboards' section. Gill enjoys photographing the everyday and the things we do not normally see. Here he photographs the back of the billboards and beneath each image is a caption of what the advert is displaying on the other side.
Left - Fight the cold. Practice self defence - Donone Actimel.
Right - It's time to leave the country - Thomas Cook
L'Oreal Paris. Because you're worth it.
