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6 the review THE TIMES Saturday March 12 2011 THE TIMES Saturday March 12 2011 the review 7 Likeamuch-loved artordrama or English teacher, butonaglobal scale,David Bowie helped to make culturaland intellectual photography ‘‘aspirationacceptablefor my generation Robert Crampton on David Bowie, Books, pa”ge 10 Photographersfromthe Format International PhotographyFestivalpicktheir favourite image W FredericLezmiBucharest,2008(fromtheseriesBeyondBorders) MartinKollarFromtheseriesEuropeanParliament PollyBradenAppoldStreet,fromtheseriesSquareMile “WhatIloveaboutthispictureisthe light,thecolourandofcoursethe reflectioncreatingthisspecialtransparency between “ThepicturesIusuallytakeareanattempttocapturethe spaceinwhich realityisinconflictwithdesiresanddreams, “About330,000peoplecome intothe Citytoworkeachday;only10,000peoplelivethere.Ihavebeenphotographingin theinandthe outside.Infact,Ihadalreadypassedby thisladysittingintheshopwindowwhen Irealisedwhatagreatimage wherethecomedy andtragedyofeverydaylifemeetandintertwine.Iamwillingtokeepthisspaceopento various theSquareMileforthe pastfiveyears. Ihopethe photosgiveasenseofwhat itmightbeliketobeinthisplaceforthe first itwouldbeanddecidedthat Ihadtowalkback. Igotoutmycamera,madetherightsettingsandpassedbythe shopwindow interpretationsandtosearchforabalancebetweenthe explicitandimplicit, betweenwhat isandwhatideallyshouldbe. time.Toanewcomerthe Citylooksimpenetrable, likeanoiledmachinewithahiddenlogic.Cityfolkmaylookefficient,but again.Itookasingleshot andcontinued.ItwasonlyafterthatIsawthat shewassellingcoffins.” Therealmofdailyrituals, gesturesandbehaviours, whichgivethe worldorderandstability,isoneIfind fascinating.All it’sanillusion.Lookagainandmanyofthemseemoutoftheirelement, asif caughtbetweenoneair-conditioned sanctuary thesethingsgive thetimelessworldcertaindramaturgy.Abeginningandanend.” andthe next.Thesearenotemployees‘onmessage’;intheirgesturesthereisdoubtandindecision.Othersarenotdressed forthe officeat all.PerhapstheyareresidentsoftheCity,fromthe nearbyhousingestates.” BrianGriffinRushHour,LondonBridge,1974 AmySteinFireman’sParade,PortJervis,NY,2004 RaghuRaiWomanCartPusher, Delhi,1974,fromtheseriesInvocationtoIndia “Forthis imageIpaidaLondontaxi driverfiveshillingstodriveoverLondonBridgeslowlyfromnorthtosouth duringthe “EveryyearIattendtheFireman’sParadeinthesmalltownofPortJervis, NewYork.Whilethe localfirebrigadesparade “Raresight,wherethewifewashelpingherhusbandtopushthe loadedcartsothat hecoulddeliver thegoods.Ikept rushhour.Ihadbeenoutofartcollegeforonly18 months,soitfilledme withconfidence uponseeingtheendresult,forI throughthestreets,the townspeoplecomeoutto watchandsocialise.Theseboysarewaiting forthe firementopassby. chasingandclicking,notsatisfiedtillIsawthisbuildingmergingwiththeboxes theywerepushing.Infact,thiswasthe Ilovehowsmallandsweettheyare, whiletrying toappeartough,withtheirguns.ThewhiteT-shirtandsandalsoftheboy knewat lastthatIcouldmakeit asaphotographer.Itwasat thistimethatIdiscoveredGermanExpressionism,andI’msure inthe frontareespeciallynicedetails forme.” lastframeofthe36 exposures.Icouldn’thavegoneonbut,asluckwouldhaveit,everythingmergedandconnectedto IoweadebttoFritzLang’sfilmMetropolis.” createawholesomeexperience.” (Top)DaliaKhamissyMissing,2010 “ImmAhmed holdstheportraitofhersonAhmed alSharkawi,whowas kidnappedin1986,asshe liesinoneofthe bedsinsidetheprotesttentofthe ‘Great streetphotography constitutesanewway of seeing’ parentsofthe missingindowntownBeirut.Anestimated17,000people remainofficiallymissinginLebanonsincethe Lebanesecivilwarof1975to 1990andthe yearsthatfollowed;theywereabductedorkilledatthehandsof differentLebanesemilitias,Palestinianfactions,SyriaandIsraelandtheirallies. plates,allowingphotographers to carry mosthaveembraceddigital. The internet Street Photography,acommunityon public,was overturned. That doesn’t discovered, people began “unearthingref- So what makes agreat street photo- Theparentsofthe missinghavebeeninastruggle fordecades,tryingtoknow Street photographycan be tracedbacktoCartier-Bresson. Now them with them as they walked.Among has allowed photographers to bypass Flickr.With more than 40,000 members, nec-essarily mean that subjects here or erences”,Clements says, “tocontextualise graph? Griffin, with an air of finality, Theviewfrom moreaboutthe fateoftheirloved ones.” these photographers wasHenri Cartier- traditional gatekeepers such as publishers it’s oneof thesite’sbiggestgroups. elsewhereareamenable,though.Inaforth- her and makesense of the enormityofthe answers: “It’swhenit constitutesanew way mobilephones, digitalcameras andphoto-sharingwebsitesare Bresson, godfather of the genre, who andgallerists. “There are virulent debates that go on comingfilm about the renowned NewYork discovery:who she’sasgood as, who she’s ofseeing.”ForTurpin,thatisexemplifiedin thestreets ... credited the Leica35mm rangefinder with “Ten years agonobody talked about there about the nuancesofCartier- Times street fashion photographer Bill better than.”This in turnstokedinterest in Meyerowitz’s1967 photograph The Fallen (Above)NickTurpinStreetScene,Artemare,2010 affordinghim “the velvet hand and the street photography,” Turpin says. “Itreally Bresson versus [Robert] Frank or [Bruce] Cunningham, there’sascene in which he contemporariesofhers such as the New Man,ofasuited Parisian on the ground at a contributingtoanexplosionofthe genre, says Hermione Hoby hawk’seye”. He spoke about “the simul- wasn’tasubject.Bystanderwasallaboutthe GildenversusMeyerowitz,”Clementssays. snaps twogirls walkingdown the street. YorkerHelenLevitt,whoalsodiedin2009. Métroentrance, seemingly having afit. “It FormatInternational “ThisimagewastakeninasmallvillageinsoutheastFranceandcomesfrom taneous recognition, in afraction of a past, the Sixtiesand the Seventies, and I “It’saverylivelygenre.” He’s at least15ftaway, but they spot him. Turpin calls street photography “sortof lookslikethislittletragedyispartofamuch PhotographyFestival mycurrentproject, TheFrench.IamexploringmodernFranceasastreet invested in what we’veleftbehind and tography simply means anyphototaken second, of the significance of an event”, a thought:‘Whyisn’tthere anybodyworking Howarthsays: “We’re seeingwork from “Don’t f***ingtakeapicture of me!” one Chaplinesque —it’stragic and humorous wider,citywideevent,” he says. “All the VenuesacrossDerby,untilApril 3. photographer,arrivinginnewvillages,townsandcities.Iamparticularly wherewe’reheading,buttherearesomany outside,butformost,thetermcomeswitha notion that subsequently seizedstreet likethis now?’Andofcoursethere was.” parts of the world that were not repre- shouts. “I’ll break that camera over your at the same time, justlikeour experiences traffic has stopped. The other thing Ilove 01332290606; formatfestival.com fondofthisimageofthe youngboy withthe flag,becauseithassuch little quotidian delights that Ithink are setofvalues—ofcandour,spontaneityand photographers in 1970sNew York. They Having tracked them down, he set up sented before. We associatestreet photo- head!”theotherscreams. in life”.But he also thinks that “the pictures about it is there’sprobably 25 or 30 people worthpausingand lookingat. I’m trying to the hope of capturing something extra- included Meyerowitz, who,appropriately iN-PUBLiC, awebsitededicated to anet- graphy with the really busy sidewalk of a Cunningham is positively meek com- we takeonOxford Street are as important in that picture but none of them is goingto LondonStreetPhotography beautifulechoesofthepastandreferencesFrance’shistoryofrevolution. get afingerhold on these moments. Being ordinarywithintheordinary. enough, met his fellow street photographer work of street photographers, including first-world countrybut then what does it paredwith manystreet photographers. as picturesmadeinTahrir Square. They’re help that guy.They’re fascinated by him Photographsfrom1860 tothepresentday. Thevigourandpassionwithwhichthisyoungboywaswavingthe flag able to grab yourarmsreally widearound a “Itreallyishavingamoment,” saysGrace GarryWinograndonthestreet.“Thetwoof Powell, across the world. “By showinga looklikeincountrieswhere there aren’t Bruce Gilden’s portraits are, forexample, all different sides of the same coin. I andconcerned,butthey’realsorevulsedby Museumof London,London EC2,until remindedmeofLibertyLeadingthePeoplebyDelacroix.Thefamilyhad bunch of things and tryand hold them and Pattison, head of programmingfor the usworkedtogether,” Meyerowitzexplained galleryofall of them in asingle place, it really streets, where people don’tchitchat taken in his unsuspectingsubjects’faces actually think street photographers are this failure of health. They lookunreal September4.020-70019844; www.museumoflondon.org.uk justfound thefadedflag,datingfromtheSecond WorldWarintheirattic, organisethem, that’s excitingtome.” London Street Photography Festival, lastweek. “Wediscoveredthe language of reinforcedthis definition of street photo- and gossip,orwhere there are no women and it’s this intrusiveness that makes the servingan important socialpurpose.” these picturesbut they all are real. It’s We walkonforamoment,thenhestops. whichwilltakeplaceinJuly.“It’s beenthere street photography together and began to graphy,” Turpin says. “Now it has really onthestreets?” imagessoarresting. Meyerowitzrecently Forsome, though, it’s simply amatterof intoxicatingreally.” alongwiththe armytunic heiswearing.” “This guy sittinghere is nice,”hesays, since the beginningofphotography but it’s lookatthoseleaderstoeducateus.” becomeabig thing.” Some of those

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