STREET PHOTOGRAPHY DISPATCH: 24/06/2025

Periodical dispatch of my photos. Issue #2

Jun 24, 2025

Liverpool City Centre isn’t really that big. So when I saw images from the famous street photographers - the likes of William Klien, Bruce Gilden, Joel Meyerowitz, or Vivian Maier - the fact that these photographers were capturing the hustle and bustle of New York City initially slipped my mind. Now, of course all the people mentioned are better photographers than me. But it was New York City itself which was expressed through their work and not just the aesthetic inclinations of the person taking the photo. Something clicked when I realised that - selflessness.

This approach, where the subject is the subject, is obvious and common sense. But the ego gets in the way and we end up wanting to prove we know what we’re doing rather than letting what’s in front of the camera take the centre stage. I say that, to say that openness and communication, for me at least, comes first. Attune to the city and the city itself will let you know what tools you need to let it sing and be heard. That’s what I’ve come to learn through taking up photography. There is no perfect style or camera; only what you feel you need to express what you see and you feel. And for me Liverpool is an intimate and close-knit city with a vibrant imagination and a people who are proud and aware of their own mythology.

No need to get into too much technical detail because I’m not that guy. But it was this realisation which made me decide on using a longer focal length from now on - 50 or 75mm - to express the hardnosed individuality but also the tribal like intimacy and exceptionalism the city is known for. I’m also going to move away from the ‘candid’ style even though some of these images are precisely that. It never felt right to me. I started off asking people for their photo because that felt natural to me. And I liked that method but then branched out because I was curious. But being sneaky isn’t my thing. Been a few times I’ve taken candid photos and people have turned round and asked me why I’m taking their picture, and I felt like a little pervert weirdo. Oh, don’t worry, I’m just a street photographer and blah blah blah. Fuck all that. I’ll rob you to your face before I steal something from you on the sly. People who take pictures of other people on the sly with professional cameras are suspected of being one of two things where I’m from: the police or sex beasts.

Anyway, I tend to ramble. These street photo dispatchs will be a reccuring theme here on the blog. Each one will have a short introduction, like this, with whatever is on my mind at the time relating to my photographic process. Going to have to start making you fuckers pay for some of this soon. The game is to be sold not told.