Square Mile

As 2020 was drawing to an end I was thinking about how much time I had spent away from family and friends and how the restrictions on gatherings and meetings was affecting not only myself but everyone throughout the country. I took the time to experience some of the festiveness of Christmas that I missed by not being able to gather with loved ones by vicariously enjoying the displays of my neighbours. I found it interesting how each household celebrates in different ways yet how similar the message is across all homes.

The national lockdowns in2020 lead to the weekly Clap for the NHS. A tribal act intended to unite and elevate the risk and struggle of front-line workers, with the goal of influencing the general population to follow the restrictions. Instead we saw a symbol followed for fear of public ostracisation and the true individual action of littering and abandoning the guidelines.

Street photography has been around since the inception of photography as a medium. It's a genre of work that I enjoy both researching and creating as it presents us with a vision of everyday life otherwise unseen and unknown. whenever I'm not working on a commission or project I like to soak up the atmosphere of my home city Manchester looking for the sights and scenes which epitomise what it means to be Mancunian.

The experience of a shower but in imagery, view this whilst playing rain sounds and the image becomes visual texture.

A series of images shot on the first Saturday night of the 2020 lockdown. Each scene is from the Northern Quarter and surrounding areas in Manchester at approximately 9pm.

This collection of images was short introduction to a longer term project, that of documenting the people I see whilst out walking my dog. I chose this subject as it's one of the few forms of activity that has been viable during the covid-19 lockdown restrictions. A small opportunity to connect with other people who share an interest and pastime with little risk. Each person shares a similar space in the world and sometimes similar stories yet despite being part of the social collective of being dog owners and walkers they each have distinct taste, experiences, preferences and outlooks.

A collection of images intended to capture the 'unseen' effects of isolation on the 'unseen' individual living alone.

‘This is Not a Photograph of a Policeman’ Saturday 19th September 2020, four days prior to the introduction of stricter restrictions of the gathering of people and opening hours of hospital venues during the resurgence of Covid-19 infections. How do people react when presented with information outside of their everyday routine? Do they stop and examine, turn away and ignore, carry on unaware or destroy it? At 10am Manchester interacted with a cardboard policeman carrying a bundle of deflated latex gloves and a message of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. At 11.15am it was removed by Arndale Security assisted by a homeless man. I don’t know whether I should be annoyed by its short life or worried it lasted so long.

This collection of images was captured and collated after a recent shopping spree, of photographic books for research, revealed various types of messages, items and notations within used copies of the titles I bought. Each one a little peek into a strangers life, past and connection with the book. I found it interesting how it related to my own past experiences with being gift books but also how, where and when the notes were made or placed within the book.