Chris Steele-Perkins
Chris Steele-Perkins is originally from Rangoon and moved to London, UK with his family in 1949. He studied psychology at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1967-70 and graduated with honours while working as a photographer and editor for the student newspaper. He moved to London in 1971 to start work as a freelance photographer, starting his first piece of foreign work in 1973 in Bangladesh. He travelled and worked with many companies and clients and joined Viva agency in Paris in 1976. His first book ‘The Teds’ was published in 1979 and he joined Magnum, before he started working extensively in the third world. His large scale projects focused on different political and social issues around the world have earned him a plethora of awards, such as 'The Tom Hopkinson Prize' for British Photojournalism (1988),'The Robert Capa Gold Medal' (1989), 'Cooperative Society Award' & 'One World Award', for the film 'Dying for Publicity' (1994), 'La Nacion Premier Photojournalism Award' (1994), World Press Award, 'Daily Life' (2000) and Royal Photographic Society Terrence Donovan Award (2008).
I found out about Steele-Perkins through Magnum photos, I was searching for a community style of photography and his work drew me in, initially for the project ‘Hidden Tribes’ and then his project ‘The London Family’. For the first project, ‘Hidden Tribes’, Steele-Perkins he documents the diverse communities that shapes King’s Cross in London. The series documents everyone who calls King’s Cross their home, “from forward-thinking retailers to rebel students, to local schoolchildren; from boat-dwellers to land-lubbers; from newcomers to lifelong residents.” It was also a discovery for him, finding out about different bits of London he didn’t even know existed, he was intrigued and I think that helped inspire him even more. What he actually found was a hugely diverse town of local people and local places that make up one neighbourhood, and he shot them in their own environments, their place of work or play in the place they call home. When I read about this shoot in particular, I know he faced the issue of how to make connections with these people, how to let them trust him enough to photograph them in a raw and real way, but it seemed that, although he acknowledged this problem, he liked the challenge of it, of shooting people you’ve never met, in a completely new environment, in a short period of time.
I was drawn to this project for two reasons mainly, firstly, the photographs themselves were very interesting and eye-catching. In each shot, there’s a different community of people, each different from the rest, and their natural clothing really accentuates this, like the builders wearing high visibility jackets, or young kids in cooking aprons, it really sets each group apart and I like that because it lets the audience clearly see just how diverse one single community in one area can be. Colour plays a huge role in these shots as well, Steele-Perkins seems to put the groups in an area more monochromatic as a way to make a distinct difference between the subjects and the busy backgrounds, in the first shot, the teenagers have small pops of bright colours throughout the image that act as pin-points and draw the viewers eyes all over the shot, from the girls bright orange hair, to the standing girls orange jumper, the colour is their way of expressing their style and individuality so it captures who they are. In the last image, there is a similar case, where the ladies clothing has very bright colours that stand out from the background and even the men behind them. I also like how natural some of the shots are, it shows how he hasn’t directed the subjects and told them what to do, it’s more like he’s observing them in their environment, in the first, a few of the subjects are smoking, which is natural for them, and they felt comfortable doing that, and in another shot, the group have drinks in their hands and they’re laughing, so it shows that Steele-Perkins has just caught them in that moment which I like. The other reason I liked this project, was because it relates quite a lot to my own project. Steele-Perkins wanted to go to a place he had never been, to see just how diverse the community was and capture this with his photography, and that’s very similar to my own; before the project started I had never been to Woolwich, I didn’t know anything about the community there, but I want to explore this through the community centre and see for myself just how great and complex a small, local community can be.
The next project of his I was inspired by, was ‘The London family’ where he explores London families in light of Brexit. The project itself started when he wanted to focus on people who had fled to the UK from places of conflict and how they have rebuilt their lives here. “As the project widened, Steele-Perkins came across people who had moved to London from all over the world for a variety of reasons: work, study, love, curiosity. His aim with this ongoing project is to find families in London from every single country in the world.” London is known for being a hugely diverse city, with people from all over the world who have moved here for a variety of reasons. As the works get more recent, when he talks to these people, he realises how Brexit and the EU referendum makes a difference to their perspective and their lives here, as it can affect their jobs, homes and families. He’d noticed how there was a change in the mood amongst the subjects he was photographing, post referendum. Many worried for their futures in London and even more felt a sense of personal upset, they felt that they had given something and were getting a slap in the face for it. This series explores all types of families across London, and I really like how personal each photograph is. It tells their story and no photo is like another, because no families story is like another. All of the families have been photographed in their own environment, where they feel comfortable, something that really inspires me for my own work. There is also a mood, and an atmosphere for each photograph, and without actually reading about that specific family, the audience has a chance to briefly make up their own mind about what their story and situation could be. I’m inspired by this to photograph in people’s own environment, instead of putting the subject in a place of my choice, because they’ll be more comfortable and it also relates to what they’re actually talking about, for example, if someone is talking about the community centre, and how it benefits them, I think it makes the most sense to actually photograph them there.
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