People surveys

Exercise 17 - Listen to Daniel Meadows talking about his work. Then read the essay "The photographer as recorder" by Guy Lane.

Lanes review assesses Meadows 'Free Photographic Omnibus' against three lines of inquiry from Foucault's 'The Archaeology of Knowledge' namely: discursive events; surfaces of emergence and archive.

In summary...

Meadows was lucky - right time, right place, things came together and he was able to collect on the opportunity.

1. Post war need to document the massive changes that were occurring across the country - the baby-boom resulting in unprecedented population growth; the shift from small towns to sprawling cities and a resultant increase in pollution.
2. The developing understanding of what photography, as a recording medium, had to offer the country and business; thus the availability of moneys in terms of public funding and private grants.
3. The emergence of 'spaces' (galleries) suitable and willing to hold photography exhibitions.
4. The need for change, for new and fresh ideas; a constructive move away form the past. Bearing in mind the last time the nation was recorded was by Sir John Benjamin Stone around the turn of the 20th century; as such in 1972 Meadows was considered to be very much an alternative artist.

I believe one of the most interesting elements of the paper is Lane's discussion about tradition - the crux of the reason for Meadows bus travels was to record the English way of life (tradition) that was rapidly being eroded because of the pace of change driven by post-war circumstances. At the time Meadows sponsors were aware of the change and therefore it was obvious that traditional life style would be lost. However, Lane's investigation shows that the 'longest' tradition that Meadow's photographed was the West Indian community in Moss Side who moved in after the second world war! Whilst this does not detract from the recording exercise carried out by Meadows, it does rather drive a hole through the rationale for the project.



The Revival

Some twenty years after completing his 'Free Photographic Omnibus' Meadows found his photographs and was surprised how fresh and current they looked. He was persuaded by a friend to carry out a 'revival'. This resulted in Meadow's advertising in the local papers of the various towns he had visited for those who appeared in his original photographs.

One of the advertisements in the local newspaper

When people got in touch, Meadows went and re-photographed them. The culmination of this activity was a new book called "The Bus", where the original photographs are paired with an up-to-date version; at the back of the book is a short write-up telling a little bit about the individuals.

Debbie and Martin Pout

Debbie Pout is a graphic designer now working in Kent and her brother is a postgraduate sports scientist at Loughborough University.

Both images are taken by me of pages in The Bus.



Anecdotes from the book:

One day Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) turned up at the bus offering (a) Meadows tea and a hot bath and (b) to have his photograph taken. Offer (a) was gratefully accepted; however, offer (b) was rejected because Plant was "not ordinary enough" and therefore did not fit the criteria for Meadows bus photographs!

Twenty years after leaving art school, Meadows bumped in to Peter Marlow (London-based photographer) who told him that he had spent an afternoon looking at his images and waiting to speak to him - he wanted to know how to become a photographer.
Meadows states, "if he'd asked me, I'd have probably said "F*** knows mate. Why do you think I'm living on this bloody bus?"