Visit Faces of Deptford photos
Participating in Live Sociology at Goldsmiths College is an inspiring experience. The first workshop focused on photography as a method of sociological representation. The 20 participants from around the UK are a diverse group with lots of good ideas. Phil Mizen, senior lecturer in sociology at Warwick University, joined me in snapping shutters. He even posed for me. We all went out and took photographs for a couple of hours in the afternoon as a form of experimental sociology in southeast London following an inspiring introduction to the topic from Les Back and some practical photography training from Paul Halliday.
For my project I selected Assignment 1 in the workshop suggestions: "Produce a series of portraits of people in Deptford". You can see the results by visiting Faces of Deptford in the Chris Brauer Media Gallery. The topic of the first workshop was "Redesigning the Observer" and you won't need to look further than the steady gazes of the portrait subjects to understand what this means. Who was the observer and who was being observed?
Live Sociology is similar to the London Project we have planned at City University as a study of London people, places and things through journalism. Interestingly this is the same title as a project Paul Halliday has been conducting in photographing London over the past 15 years. What was fantastic about this workshop experience was interacting with the people. The subject of the photograph featured in this post was a very cool guy. Anyone who participated indicated a willingness at the first question but this gentleman was particularly responsive. In cropping and editing I noticed the Jose Morinho ad in the top right corner. My decision to not include any text of words with each photograph was a conscious one. Introducing the photographer's terms of reference for these photos would in my opinion and in this case only further complicate your interpretation.
Labels: internet, london, photography, sociology
