GEORGE GEORGIOU RESEARCH
- For this research, I will be studying Georgiou's photobook called 'Last Stop' which is a series of photographs taken from the windows of London's double-decker buses.
- Many of the photographs consist of people waiting around for buses at bus stops throughout London.
- The photobook was presented as a double-concertina photobook and this is because, in the words from George: 'The concertina book format reflects and mimics the flow of a bus journey, but more importantly it gives the viewer the opportunity to create their own journeys by spreading the book out and combining different images together. This moves the book away from an author-led linear narrative to one of multiple possibilities.' This shows that he went through a big thought process to come to a decision on what type of photobook he wanted and the contextual reasoning behind it.
- GEORGE'S STATEMENT ON THE 'LAST STOP' = 'The essence of Last Stop is that you might take the same route everyday but what you see, the ebb and flow on the street takes on a random nature, like a series of fleeting mini soap operas.'
WATCHING A VIDEO DOCUMENTED BY GEORGE, AVAILABLE ON HIS WEBSITE:
- These are my notes made whilst watching and listening to the video. He spoke all about the context behind the 'last stop' and what inspired him to complete this project in London, especially on a double-decker bus, and also a long explanation behind why he chose a double concertina photobook to present his photographic outcomes.
- His childhood really inspired him for his project as he stated that as a kid, him and his friends throughout school holidays got on buses to random places in London with no direct sense of where they were going to end up - they would 'utilise London as a playground'. Whilst completing this project on buses many years later, the concept of getting on a bus and travelling somewhere he didn't know reminded him of his childhood and made him want to pursue it further, which then did result in a five year project.
- This photobook was shot in London as George was very influenced by London's largest migration number within history so it reflects the big social change London has gone through and wanted to express how diversity has been increased due to this and also how we are having to share the spaces of London with these migrated people.
- George also liked to photograph more on the upper deck than the lower deck on the double-decker bus as it allows him to have the distance to portray the 'layers of the urban landscape' in the words of George. He enjoys photographing on a bus as he feels a sense of invisibility because he feels like he can photograph freely covered behind a bus window.
- This research will help me gather more conceptual ideas for my mode of transport stimuli and will base a shoot soon taking inspiration from George Georgiou's intentions and his project 'Last Stop'.
