Art & Photography: Daniel Meadows - Library of Birmingham

Wednesday 4 June 2014

Daniel Meadows - Library of Birmingham

Daniel Meadows, Portsmouth: John Payne, Aged 12, with Two Friends and his Pigeon, Chequer, 26 April 1974, 1974

Daniel Meadows: Early Photographic Work is at the Library of Birmingham until 17 August.
I saw this exhibition when it was at ffotogallery in 2012 and thoroughly recommend it. (I also recommend the Library of Birmingham - see blog entry here.) Read The Iron Room blog about the exhibition. My own earlier blog is recycled here:
Daniel Meadows describes himself as a 'documentarist' ...by which I mean that I am one who, in an attempt to make sense of the times in which we live, engages with others to gather, create and present – with as few fictional additions as possible – stories made out of photographs and/or oral testimony.

Meadows graduated from Manchester Polytechnic in 1973. After working at Butlin's, and collaborating with fellow graduate Martin Parr on Butlin's by the Sea, he toured England in a double-decker bus he bought for £360, in search of ordinary people to photograph. In the course of a 14-month journey, he offered free portrait sessions in 22 different towns, and photographed a total of 958 people, alone or in groups, the majority of whom remained anonymous and collected their free portraits the following day.

Once upon a time, I lived in a double-decker bus, reg. JRR 404, better known as the Free Photographic Omnibus. She was my home, my travelling darkroom and gallery.We were an unlikely couple; she with her crash gear box and temperamental ways, me with my bushy hair and homemade flares. But we got along okay and, during 1973 and '74, we travelled about making a national portrait of the English. We covered 10,000 miles shooting pictures and giving them away.

Read an interview with Meadows on WalesOnline.