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The announcement by London's police force that it will use live facial recognition reminded my of a book I published a few years ago called Street View People View
The arguments against it are essentially the same (although the quality of the technology is still moot) but what's changed is the sense of threat to personal safety on the streets of London. It's well documented that London is, outside China, the most cctv'd (if that's a word) city in the world which I think has normalised (not a nice word) surveillance here. I'm certainly conscious of its absence when I visit other cities around Europe.
I'm also conscious that street photography is itself a form of surveillance. I've excused myself with the well worn argument that anyone - voluntarily - in a public space is open to being photographed. I must admit even writing this now makes me stop and think. I find myself thinking of clauses like some dodgy small print.
My pictures take months to produce so I don't share them randomly with my thousands (sorry, tens) of followers
They are on film so there is no exif data of specific time and place
People are in my pictures but the subject is the city
It's not about you...it's about me
etc etc
I acknowledge my work is becoming more anachronistic the longer I pursue it. The universal truths of earlier practitioners appear naive or repressive now. Street is still a valid form but it needs to reflect the present to work best, as it's always done. The New Europe project is my attempt to address that. It's given me greater motivation and purpose. It's also given me something else.
Empathy.
Well the summer 2019 results are in and I must admit to feeling underwhelmed. The patchy weather after the excesses of the spring didn't help but I never felt I got in the groove all summer. Kept missing the beat.
It's not surprising in some respects. I've tried to move away from that high contrast morning or evening sunlight raking across the West End silhouetting figures or exposing them to a brutal blinding beam. I've become more interested in the environments, social and emotional, around people. It's not about finding juxtapositions. More about taking a step back. Thinking a bit about context. It could be the news or something more personal. The consequence is a more deliberate, less pacey style. Snooker not slalom.
I don't think that's about losing the physical drive. It's an evolution of my style that really started after my break a few years ago that led to the New Europe project. It becomes evident when I look at my contact sheets. Now it's less obvious to see the ones to take on to print, there's fewer obvious "keepers" (forgive me). My rate of return is less but I'd like to think the images have greater depth, especially when seen in the company of others. I've tried to express it in the re-looking part of my 5 Acts approach.
Where does it leave me? I seem to say this every year but end up feeling like a football fan looking forward to the next season. It's not the despair, it's the hope that kills you. So the cliche goes. Roll on 2020.
