Category: PHO705 Final Major Project 20/21

I’m still having doubts as to the merits, imagination and potential to be something of interest but i’m pursuing and shooting as best I can in the restrictive circumstances.

I want to celebrate the WMC or at least the people involved,i’m struggling at times. In particular at the ex servicemen’s club some of the gestures such as the singing of land of Hope and Glory and the waving of Union Jacks to get attention of the bar staff,the lack of any diversity race wise does make me question some of my motives or beliefs in the people I am celebrating here. I think I may be over thinking it and reverting to media stereotypes of flag waving racists when in fact its an older generation who are actually just having a bit of fun in the traditions they have been brought up in. I have no reason to suspect they are at all antiquated with old fashion views that do not fit my metropolitan left leaning views,not once as racism raised its ugly head or even Brexit,I have no idea how any of the people voted and suspect even if the vast majority did once again it would have been reasons beyond racism,not all brexiteers are racist I know.I guess it just doesn’t sit well with my romantic idea of the progressive militant working class, why should it, most people are just trying to get on with their life the best they can and often that as been a struggle,to let loose with a few drinks and a sing song is part of that tradition associated with working mens clubs,I suppose I’m struggling to shake of my preconceptions formed back when I was in my late teens.

I’ve met so many wonderful people i’m almost part of the furniture in this club in particular,so much so I know most by name and they mine. I really do not want to betray this trust.

In contrast the more progressive club is harder to penetrate with a mixture of similar people to Leyton they also have a far more progressive membership that I think are still a little wary of my motives,saying that I do feel that it is moving forward and whilst I have taken less images there I have made great grounds in making contacts and provisionally made loose arrangements to reconnect in December when I plan to start shooting more there. They have abided much more by the covid rules so i feel obliged much more to keep contact to a minimum ,the older crowd have been much more receptive. 

I need to align myself with the younger members and in particular the gay and black members to try and get my message across.

One way I think may be best is to set up a shoot day or two and stay all afternoon once some normality comes back, if it does. Under normal circumstances I would have progressed much further and quicker with the process. This club in particular only opens for Friday and Saturday night events at the moment which usually involve loud music so conversations are strained and mixing between tables is discouraged.I’m now at a point where I think I’m well known enough to push this a little without upsetting the comittee.Which by the way I have been invited to join,I think I may be an asset .

I still struggle with the idea of joining these images up with my story.I’m trying to explore more than anything social mobilty and my journey from a working class background through education and self learning to the lower middle class lifestyle and environment I find myself in now.How I am able to cross both divides and my relationship with both in terms of my own views and opinions and those I encounter and have left behind to a certain extent. Most importantly my relationship with my father,his with his and mine with my own son and my sons with his grandfather,all of which are very different but have a similarity in as much as they are all fraught with a tension apart that is the one between my son and I which I hope and it seems as broken the cycle. We are however all very similar in personality which is interesting.

With social mobility levelling out and possibly on the decline for the first time in decades i’m keen to explore how this as happened  and where all the opportunities have gone.Maybe they have not and we’ve just reached a natural plateau but with what seems like the polarisation of society on the rise in recent years i’m keen to look at it through my own experiences and that of my family.

My experiences are very different to those of similar youth growing up today some would argue the opportunities are more but if that is the case why are a growing and disproportionate amount of people from similar more wealthy backgrounds still more likely to be employed in the top earning professions such as law,journalism,politics,education,the arts,banking and TV.There are still many hurdles and gatekeepers that discriminate either actively or via ingrained stereotypes and traditions that are not being broken down.The so called meritocracy I would argue does not exist and if it ever did is on the decline once more as ways in are about the connections made through social standing either at school (usually paid for) or through parents in the same profession,who can realistically intern for a year in a major city for free without the outside help of others ?

According to Hashi Mohamed in his book People Like Us the gap between the standard of education of private schools and state schools as lessened,admittedly there are factors to take into consideration like the league tables which are easily skewed and schools with an entry exam in the case of some grammar and religious schools which whilst independent are still classed as state and do cream off the best talent.In contrast to which and usually to keep exam result tables at their best some state schools expel troublesome students who are proportionately less likely to attain good grades if any before they sit and in doing so bring the overall averages down.It is So why is it many families pay and in some cases struggle to pay to send their children to private schools ?

Why this huge investment when state schools are closing the gap academically and in some cases superseding them with exam results.The answer it seems is the social currency,it really is worth the money to instil not just that confidence and believe but also the ability to interact with the people from these backgrounds the top professions employ the most,that ability to engage in social situations and use those opportunities to expand the correct networks so allowing very little scope for someone without those connections to penetrate and on the off chance they do,once in to flourish.

There are many many areas to explore as to why and how social mobility does and does not work how it was once seen as a vulgar term or as a betrayal of ones roots,much of which I hope to explore in relation to my story.

Code editing is one of my favourite areas of research and in many ways relatable.Take most social,work or interview situations,without knowing someone’s name,background,social standing,job,schooling first impressions is a very important part of how we immediately evaluate someone’s suitability as a friend or employee or simply the person who we may be chatting to for the next 10 minutes.So apart from appearance such as dress codes the next is race,ethnicity,so lets say we can see past that the next is accent or vocabulary.A child of 6 from a wealthy background with access to books and who would most likely have the time given over to them to read and be read to has vocabulary of around 2600 expressive words and 20-24000 receptive words of vocabulary whereas a child from a poorer background who’s parents or parent are more likely to have less time and money or even the inclination to be able to provide this are substantially weaker in both areas often with a reading age of around 15 months leads to a perpetual game of catch up.Accent of course is a different matter and quite complex also,imagine if you are the child of a 1st generation or refugee family where English is not your first language, not only is their ethnicity,cultural and economical disadvantages at play there is also language and pronunciation. Even within groups of people born and bred in the UK for instance accent plays a huge part in how people perceive you and this is where code editing is very interesting.A lot of people have what they call their telephone voice usually an attempt at a clipped BBC queens English,code editing put simply is an ability to change ones accent ,to have a wide vocabulary and be able to use it to fit in within the current circumstances and surroundings this ability to do this is an important part of social mobility and creating the all important means of fitting in and opening up opportunities.

In practical terms and going back to my methodology I think the only way to get the portraits I want is to set up several portrait days similar to Daniel Meadows did with the Photographic omnibus and offer free prints in return for time to talk and take the images set up in the environment and lit how U see them in my head,very much based on what I have seen in the club and more in keeping with my usual method and practice of environmental portraiture. I just need to convince the committee !

Other areas  I have discussed and need to clarify going forward is how I link this work to my own story. One idea I have is to photograph myself my dad and my son all in a similar way and produce a single triptych that connects us all in one image.

Me in the middle one either side like this image I produced earlier this year.

I’m also toying with mixing black and white with colour images,i’m not sure wh,aestheically I prefer in B/W and some in colour,is that a good enough reason.Perhaps I could use it as a tool to play with ideas around the past and present with some of the b/w being mostly shot in the club that is becoming apparent is a bit stuck in the past and concentrating my efforts to produce the colour portraits in thre more progressive club. 

On Another note I have been thinking of alternative projects just in case, maybe that is a mistake but I always have more than one project on the go as a rule in  any case.

One that may work is a series of portraits of on the ground revolutionaries  and key people important in bringing change via grass roots organisations.

I am very friendly and familiar with Red Saunders who along with Roger Huddle ,SYd Shelton and Ruth Gregory,(also fiends)set up and organised Rock Against Racism, a group that was instrumental in combating and actually stopping the rise of the NF and BNP in the UK at a time when they were on the rise and gaining seats in local elections.

I have many more similar people i’d like to photograph and have access to them through various connections.

During the covid restrictions I thought I might go for a walk and record their story then photograph them again in an environmental portrait setting and style outside.

I first came across the work of Chris Coekin via my tutor Wendy Mc Murdo.It’s been a real help in shaping the methodology of my FMP. I was starting to doubt the viability and validity of the subject and how relevant it was to the story I want to tell.

His work around Working Mens Clubs Knock Three Times in particular resonated with me.I don’t have years to acquaint myself with the members but having become a member I am finding the process of getting to know people quite easy now and find they are interested and supportive of the idea, what it is for or will end up seems to be the main concern, once that is explained they open up and seem to be very accepting so far.

I mentioned before that I wanted to do a short presentation to the members but it seems Julia the Club president is not keen. Although she as been reasonably co-operative I believe I have some way to go before she is totally convinced of the project and motives.I think she wants me to bring something more quicker.I’ll work on it.!

In light of this and the responses I’m getting it’s now time to spend some time actually shooting more than just some of the found images. I’m sure I will use some of these but as a tool to get to know people they have been of most use.My friend Peter Dench who is a renowned documentary photographer explains that many times he as wasted frames and rolls of film getting to know people, people in charge asking to be photographed,people who perhaps are not relevant to the story, that will never be seen but by doing so sets them at ease.I have had to employ this method myself before and I see it as part of the process until you are accepted, the real project becomes apparent people understand and start to forget about you being there.Becoming part of the furniture.Often recommending other useful people and places.

It’s true to say that by being upfront and close you often blend in and become just there by being honest and open as opposed to trying to sneak shots or use long lenses, often by doing this I find you become much more visible, the images say very little and there is no relationship between the subject and photographer.

Daniel Meadows has a good set of rules which I think are very helpful.

So getting back to my methodology. I will continue to photograph found/reportage/candid images and alongside that as planned I am starting to formulate the ideas around some set up environmental portraits, some influenced by the candid images much like Chris Coekins set up images but in my case it will be less about recreating them as he did and more about using them to influence a portrait with some elements included.In doing this I will be giving my interpretation of how I see the subject.

The next time I plan to go is this weekend where I will continue to meet new people and also speak to the people I have already met and start arranging times to sit down and talk to them,record the conversation and get started on the portraits. Once I start this point I know it will encourage me to continue and the project will start to flow. My doubts I’m sure abated.