Wow , What a year that was, from both a personal and photographic point of view !
This year certainly had a sweet and sour flavour to it and as I write this the bitter taste of electoral failure remains. The big news for me photographically is that I completed The State Of Britain project 2015 -2019 , I now have to find ways of sharing this work with a larger audience,
A period of rest might benefit this work and myself , as things are still a bit raw here in the UK !
The year started slowly for me as it often does , although the first serious shoot of the year delivered what might be my best pic of the year, like many of my urban landscapes I had pre-visualised this shot and the kind of conditions needed , I was prepared to wait …..
February delivered a decent start to my 2019 photographic year .
I was contacted by Barcelona based photo mag Dodho earlier this year and given the opportunity to share some work from The State Of Britain series with their international audience, this was the first endorsement of this series , interesting that it came from outside the UK ?
https://www.dodho.com/the-state-of-britain-by-david-barrett/
I am also grateful for the support I received from the kind folk at online photography magazine Togspace , appreciated !
https://togspace.co.uk/the-state-of-britain-david-barrett/
In March I was invited by The Martin Parr Foundation to attend the Only Human exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery , the man himself led the tour around the gallery , I enjoyed both the work and Martins insights of this memorable “best of” exhibition . I regret that I did not make better use of my Parr Foundation membership this year , sometimes life & work gets in the way !
Martin Parr leading a tour of the Only Human exhibition, March 2019
In April I attended the 1980’s British Photography Symposium at The Martin Parr Foundation , this was one of the highlights of my photographic year, as the eighties was not only a important time for my own photographic development , but possibly the decade when British Art Photography came of age. The speakers are listed below.
10.00 / Anna Fox
11.10 / Jem Southam
12.10 / Karen Knorr
13.00 / lunch
14.30 / Paul Graham
15.40 / Chris Killip
17.15 / panel discussion
I managed to photograph one of my photographic heroes Chris Killip at the syposium , we chatted about Walker and Wallsend and the infamous Scrogg Inn, our local pub for a time . A picture of the pub can be seen in the In flagrante dummy book held in the archive at The Parr Foundation. I can not overstate the effect that Killip , Knottinam and all things Side Gallery had on me during the mid 70’s early 80’s ! To see your everyday photographed and interpreted by photographers of this caliber was a huge help for me as a young photographer .
Great to meet one of my teenage photographic heroes !
In June I returned to Tyneside to say goodbye to a friend and revisited the familiar locations of my life on Tyneside. I revisited the site of my old school (demolished) , the house in Walker where I grew up and the area around the former Swan Hunters Shipyard in Wallsend, this really was a trip down memory lane. The High Street in Wallsend was much quieter than the bustle of my memories , I was also saddened to see The Ship In The Hole, (ship Inn) gone !
As the year progressed the division and uncertainty of Brexit continued and I did my best to maintain the State Of Britain series , the effects of the political conflicts were not easy to see & photograph in my day to day, real world, although you could photograph a protest march every weekend if you wanted ! I started looking for more symbolic views that reflected how I was feeling rather than make more pictures of conflict and the effects of austerity , I was surprised how the colour palette and distress of this found view reflected social vandalism and anxiety , serendipity ?
This picture could well be adopted as the signature picture of this era and this series .
The distress, colour palette and subject of this found view reflected my feelings of Britain this year perfectly !
As the year progressed I continued to photograph my everyday as I went about my life , as the political debates continued the economic effects of Brexit uncertainty impacted upon my local economy and community , this uncertain trading climate led to my employer seeking redundancies on a voluntary basis due to difficult trading conditions , I volunteered to go and became unemployed !
The State Of Britain , No 182 , 2019
In October I traveled to London to photograph The Peoples Vote March as I had come across very few folk who supported a remain position in rural Gloucestershire, The protest provided me with a number of important photographs, and was a memorable optimistic day , The portrait below and the Unicorn picture are amongst my favorite images from 2019 , the unicorn pic is a real grower as it is rich in metaphor and symbolism !
I have no desire to write about recent events as I’m still suffering from Brexit / Election fatigue ! I’m delighted to have completed The State Of Britain series and will be pleased to put 2019 behind me . It’s probably too early to understand the consequences and reality of what has just happened !
The series is made up of 236 captures that I have edited down to a series of sixty sequenced photographs .
Looking back I’ve achieved far more this year than I thought I had when I started writing this , I am really looking forward to 2020 !
Thanks to everyone who has supported my work over the last 12 months and good luck with your personal photography ! Best wishes for the New Year !
The State Of Britain , No 236 , 2019
