Political Issues | >Re-PHOTO

Police Watch

I try not to get obsessive about the police. We need a police force of some kind, and some of the things that they do I’m thankful for, even though there are other things that I condemn. I’ve been rather glad that they were there when people have threatened to smash my cameras as I photographed them, or when a right wing crowd moved rather menacingly towards me. And there have been many other occasions when they’ve acted sensibly and professionally, as well as those others where their actions seem arbitrary and senseless. And at times downright criminal.

Of course I’ll try to photograph them when they behave badly, but equally I do my best to photograph when others attack them. But mostly I’m not at events to photograph the police except as they get themselves involved with those taking part.

But I was photographing a protest Against Undercover Police in Protests which was about police behaving badly. Police posing as protesters, living a life undercover infiltrating groups involved in legal protest. At times trying to persuade other protesters to engage in illegal acts, or starting and encouraging trouble at otherwise peaceful protests. Pretending to fall in love with other protesters – and some fathering children by them. Taking the names of dead children to produce fake identities.

Other operations like deliberately setting out to try and discredit witnesses such as Duwayne Brooks; beating up people who they claim are resisting arrest; ‘restraining’ people to death; shooting unarmed people and claiming they pulled a gun when the evidence shows otherwise; lying to protect colleagues and otherwise frustrating the attempts to investigate other officers; taking bribes and illegal payments for information and so on. It is a very long list.

Of course, not all coppers are bent and despite the song, not all are bastards, but too many are and too many get away with it despite their colleagues knowing. Just as there was (and to some extent still is) institutional racism there are other institutionalised faults in the police. But at least here in the UK we expect our police to behave properly and legally – in some countries it would be virtually unthinkable. Many of us do still feel a little surprise when we find our police behaving badly.

So I didn’t feel too bad about a little photographic exaggeration when I was photographing one of the speakers at the event, talking about police surveillance and harassment. Perhaps 20 yards behind her were two police standing and watching the protest, and it seemed a good idea to use a very long lens to make them seem rather closer. The picture above was taken at an equivalent focal length of 45mm – a standard lens.

Changing to 168mm gives a rather different impression, of the officers being much closer and I’ve also used a lower viewpoint so the male officer seems to be looking down on the speaker – Zita Holbourne of BARAC (Black Activists Rising Against Cuts) and the PCS union.

It is perhaps a little unfair, as I don’t think these two officers were actually taking a great interest in what was happening – I didn’t see either making a single note – though they had obviously been posted there to keep an eye on things.

The protest was taking place in front of a wall of blue glass at Scotland Yard. I don’t think the police can see out through this, but I don’t know. It did reflect the protesters and it also had the police coat of arms at intervals, which I’ve brought out a little in the pictures, increasing the contrast a little. The blue colour is significant too – the colour of the lamp which marked all police stations.

I couldn’t resist making use of that blue glass to suggest a solution to the problem of lack of police manpower. Again I’ve used a longish focal length, and have cheated a little in the post-processing, removing much but not all of the blue from the glass in the reflection at left and adjusting the contrast and brightness to almost match. It’s just a pity that I didn’t quite get the image pin-sharp – I think the focus was a little out. I needed to take it in a hurry before they noticed me and moved.

Continue reading Police Watch

Brixton Blues

A few years ago these properties were mainly in a poor state, many squatted and near derelict. Now each block is worth millions.

Nothing is what it used to be, and certainly Brixton isn’t. First developed with large middle-class housing along the main roads out of London to the south and south-west at an easy distance from work in Westminster or the city, by the start of the 20th century it had become a largely working-class inner London area, with many of the larger houses converted to boarding houses or flats and streets of working class housing. In the 1930s it was the best shopping centre in South London, and it still has one of the best markets in London.

The London County Council and the local council built social housing in large estates around the area in the 1930s, and more followed bomb damage and slum clearance after the war. The first postwar Caribbean migrants came from Jamaica on the Empire Windrush in 1948, and were given temporary housing just up the road in the Clapham deep air-raid shelter, and they found local jobs at the nearby Labour Exchange in Coldharbour Lane in Brixton, moving out into the local boarding houses and flats, forming the nucleus of a new community in the area.

By the 1980s as well as being a centre of London’s Afro-Caribbean community, it was also a haven for white squatters, often unemployed. The area had a huge waiting list for social housing and much of the housing stock was substandard; there was very high unemployment, particularly among the black community and the crime rate was double that of any other area of London. One area was known as the ‘Frontline’, an area the police could neither understand or control, limiting themselves to occasional skirmishes which largely served to further antagonise the local mainly black population.

Preparing for the protest. The council removed the seats that used to surround this tree because they didn’t like the kind of people who sat on them.

Iused to go there occasionally, particularly to buy surplus photographic materials from a shop just a few yards away. I’d occasionally wander down the Railton Road, perhaps go into a shop and buy a drink or snack. I even took a few pictures. Occasionally I politely refused an offer to buy what could have been (and probably was) weed as I passed a small crowd of youths.

Few were surprised when there were riots in 1981 – known by some as the ‘Brixton Uprising’. More surprising that it hadn’t happened before and didn’t happen more often. What was perhaps surprising were some of the stories of the solidarity between black and white people involved in defending their area, and some of the more lurid lies in the media about what was happening.

Brixton is now rather a different place, though its history gives if a certain chic for some, and it’s not too long since I looked out of a window and saw a man in the street with a gun, and even shorter that I was last offered drugs on the street. Good transport links and its nearness to the city make it a very desirable place for young professionals. House and flat prices have soared, estate agents have taken over many of the once useful shops, and many of the once-squatted buildings – often converted into short-term lets – are now being renovated. The tenants who have little or no rights are evicted, the flats modernised and then sold or let at ridiculous prices.

There is little new social housing, and nothing affordable for those who are evicted. Even squatting is less of an option now, with recent law making squatting in residential properties a criminal offence.

Whether you choose to describe the changes as regeneration or gentrification, the consequences for many of the poorer residents of the area is the same – there is nowhere for them to live in the area once they are evicted. It is a process that is difficult to fight or even to know how to fight, as the discussion at the protest against the evictions on Rushcroft Road demonstrated. It demonstrates a lack of any concern for people involved that seems shocking in a civilised society, but we seem no longer to live in a civilised society, or at least one which is only civilised for the wealthy. As the recent report Human Development Report from the The United Nations Development Programme indicates, the UK is the most unequal society in the western world, on a par with Nigeria. Of industrialised countries only Russia is more unequal. In the UK, the poorest fifth have incomes on average one tenth of the richest fifth, and have incomes per head a third less in the US and 44% less than in the Netherlands.

This woman and child stopped for a while at the protest

And in the UK the gap is growing rapidly – twenty years ago the gap between rich and poor was only 6.7 times – it has increase by around 50% over the last 20 years. It isn’t surprising that there are problems in the poorer areas of the country, only that in general the poor are so passive about it most of the time. Of course the circuses are being trowled on thick – Olympics, Royal Wedding, Royal Jubilee, Royal Birth, a new Dr Who… – but the bread is getting thin.

People listened intently to the discussion once it got going

It wasn’t an easy event to photograph for various reasons. There was an awful lot of frustration in the air, and a certain negativity towards photographers, and really not very much happening.

There were disturbances in Brixton following the events in Tottenham over the shooting of Mark Duggan a couple of years ago, but our ‘riots’ then were relatively mild and didn’t spread a great deal. But events like these evictions do make me feel that a spring is slowly being wound up that at some point may lead to truly major insurrection. It didn’t seem likely in the former Soviet Union before it happened, nor in Libya or Egypt, but perhaps one day we will have a truly British (or, post-devolution an English and Welsh) Spring. Though I sincerely hope it won’t be another Syria.

I felt depressed as I left Windrush Square, with such rather gloomy thoughts in my mind, and was even more depressed on crossing Coldharbour Lane as I stopped to read the posters of a group of Black Hebrew Israelites or Black Jews. As I stood there the preacher started to attack a black woman passing by – her sin according to him that she was with a white man. She stood her ground and argued against this nonsense, and I felt like congratulating her. But I moved away, not wanting to get involved, and I felt bad about it.

More pictures from Brixton at Brixton Protests Gentrification & Evictions. Earlier in the day I photographed the annual International Brigade Commemoration in Waterloo, a reminder of the commitment and sacrifice of many in the 1930s.
Continue reading Brixton Blues

NHS 65th Birthday

I was one of the fortunate generation who grew up in the Welfare State, some of my earliest memories are of the path which led under a large Cedar of Lebanon to the clinic, where my mother took me to be weighed, measured and checked and to collect the free orange juice and (less welcome) cod liver oil.

The tree is still there, doubtless protected by a preservation order, but everything else has gone, and the NHS is rapidly being transformed into a service run for the private profit of large health companies rather than its only aim being to improve the health and welfare of the people.

Ten years ago, after years of reasonable health, I desperately needed the NHS, and it was there for me. Nobody asked for my insurance plan or credit card details and I got the treatment I needed from dedicated and skilled professionals.

I can’t say everything was perfect – the hospital cleaning had been outsourced and two of the three hospitals in which I spent the best part of a month were filthy; there were obvious staff shortages at various levels; a glaring waste of money through the use of agency nurses and obvious inefficiencies due to poor management practices which, among other things doubled the length of my own stay in hospital – but I felt that I was in the hands of people who knew their job and were getting on with it as best they could despite some unfortunate interference from politicians (mainly but not just Tories) with no love for the system and shares in various aspects of private health care. I’ve often felt we would get better health and education systems in this country if a condition of being in Parliament was that members and their families were obliged to make use of our national systems rather than pay as so many do for privileged treatment.

The current coalition government seems determined to undermine the NHS in any way possible and the 65th birthday seemed more of an occasion for a wake rather than celebration. So I had great sympathy with the National Health Action Party’s mock funeral procession, though I’m less convinced that the party has much hope of electoral success – except in a very few areas.

Photographically I wasn’t too happy with the results I got, partly because many of the images taken with the 16-35mm were ruined by an area of softness and flare. I think it was down to the weather, the hot afternoon sun on the black lens barrel vapourising some residual water left in the lens from our month of rain which then condensed on the less rapidly warming large chunks of glass in this heavy optic and was very slow to clear. Mostly it was hardly noticeable in the small viewfinder image, and I took quite a few pictures before realising there was a problem – and that it was inside the lens.

The above image shows it clearly because of the flare – the late afternoon sun was only just out of frame – and lens hoods are not very effective with wide-angle zooms. It also shows a second problem (even after quite a lot of post-processing) which was that the SB-800 flash was misbehaving. It sometimes just seems to ignore all signals from the camera and fire at full power whatever, but always behaves itself when I test it! Cleaning the contacts on the flash and camera sometimes seems to help, but I think it’s something more basic.

But the 70-300mm proved useful in getting images of the speakers, though I was less good at getting down everyone’s name. Whenever I think to myself ‘I’ll remember that’ it is disastrous, and even if I record sound, names are so often not pronounced clearly and can be impossible to spell. In the absence of a decent press release I should always use a notebook and ask to check. But I didn’t.

One speaker I didn’t need to ask about, as I’d photographed her earlier in the day at Lewisham, and should Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign‘s Chair Louise Irvine chose to stand for election for the National Health Action Party I think she would have a good chance of election. The campaign held a 65th birthday party opposite the hospital at lunchtime, where I enjoyed both some chicken curry and a small slice of the impressive Lewisham Hospital cake, though again I had reason to curse that misbehaving SB800 – and this image was one of its better efforts. In the picture she is holding a blue card with a picture of Nye Bevan and the message “65 Years of the NHS – Happy Birthday – Celebrate! Organise! and Defend!’ and we need to do all three.

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My London Diary : Buildings of London : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated are by Peter Marshall and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

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Another Pride

There are some events I wonder each year if it is worth photographing them yet again. But I do enjoy photographing Pride, even if it isn’t like it used to be, and it’s interesting to be able to look back at my record of it over the years since I first went, I think 21 years ago. Since then I think I’ve been pretty well every year to take pictures.

I hope my view of Pride is a little different from some. Of course there are the spectacular and sometimes ridiculous costumes, and I photograph some of these, but I also try to look for the more serious aspects of the parade. There are still serious political issues around gay rights, here and abroad, and there are communities in this country where homophobia is still rife.

I’ve photographed Peter Tatchell many times, and he is certainly someone who has fought to keep the issues at the forefront in Pride, marching at or near the front of the parade with his posters. I started photographing him with some others as they were preparing for the parade, to try and get something a little different from just a man carrying a placard, and was just getting to work with the image above when he said to me “We’re not ready yet”. A pity because I hadn’t quite got the picture I wanted, though the one above comes close. It needed cropping to the different aspect ratio you see above.

Later I caught up with him again, posing at the front of the march for photographs, holding up the placard, and took the same rather boring picture as most of the other photographers there of him holding the Putin placard. But I wasn’t happy with it. Sometimes people are just too concerned about putting across a particular image, too much wanting to control how they are seen. It seldom makes for good pictures.

Then a couple of people came to talk to him and he relaxed a little and I found a different angle which I think works, working from low down and putting Putin at the centre with the balloons to his left and the rainbow flags and Tatchell on the right. It took a little work in post processing to bring Putin’s face out more – it was rather weakly printed, and I’ve also burn down the head and green glasses frame on the bottom edge, and done a litle work on Tatchell’s face where the lighting was too contrasty etc. When the parade actually started I took some more pictures of him with a crowd of other placard carrying activists from the Peter Tatchell Foundation, but it didn’t really work too well.

Several of the pictures I liked most from the parade came from the ‘Queer Friends of Bradley Manning’, helped by the strong graphics of their posters and banner.

But one of the strengths of Pride is that almost anything can happen, and there isn’t always time to get things framed exactly how I would like. So when I saw a couple of #aggresive bisexuals kissing I just had time to take two frames, and I think again it’s an image that benefits from cropping to – for me – an unusual format.

You can see the other frame of this kiss, as well as many other pictures from the day at Pride Celebrates Love and Marriage on My London Diary.

Continue reading Another Pride

Cleaners Occupy

Occasionally I’m invited to cover protests which have not been advertised on the web, with the details kept secret so that the organisation the protest is against doesn’t have the chance to put extra security in place. Cleaners Surprise Senate House Invasion was like this, and I didn’t know in advance exactly what was intended (and I prefer to keep it that way) but trusted the organisers to keep things peaceful and legal. The only information I had was to be a meeting point at 1pm.

When I arrived there was nobody there, but I waited and after a while someone I recognised as one of the protesters arrived. He’d had the same information as me. We waited. He made a phone call and found that most of the protesters were waiting inside the building we were standing outside, but would come out shortly. We waited. And waited more, when some eventually emerged in the foyer and I went in to meet them. We were still waiting, though it wasn’t clear to me what we were waiting for. But eventually the protest started, with around 30 people moving quietly around the side of a building until we got to the main courtyard on the west of Senate House, when everyone broke into a run. I paused to take a couple of pictures of the few at the front, then ran to catch up with them as they arrived at the door.

I had no worries in following the protesters into the Senate House, but had I been asked by someone with the relevant authority to leave, I would of course have considered doing so, unless I felt (which I might well have) something was happening that there was an over-riding public interest in recording. Fortunately it didn’t happen, and I was left to get on with my job without having to come to a decision.

I’d deliberately chosen not to use flash, partly because I didn’t want to draw particular attention to myself, but mainly because I knew that most of the time the areas involved were too large to light with my flash and I was likely to have colour balance problems with the flash and the indoor lighting.

It was a dull day outside, and I’d already turned the ISO up to 2500 for the picture of the leading protesters running towards the building, partly to make sure that I got everything sharp (1/400 f8) but also because I thought things might begin to happen as soon as we got inside and I didn’t want to miss things fiddling with the camera before taking pictures – or get everything blurred at a low ISO. It’s always good to think ahead.

We were not challenged at all as we entered the building and made our way through the reception area into the main ‘Crush Hall’ where conference delegates were standing around finishing their lunch break. I had time to increase the ISO to 3200 before taking more pictures, as the lighting was fairly dim inside. Most of the pictures inside were taken on the D700 with the 16-35mm at around 1/80 f4. There were quite a few less than sharp images, some of which had some nice subject movement.

Lighting and exposure got a bit trickier as the protesters made their way up the stairs, with some large windows on the upper floor adding daylight to the scene, and rather confusing the auto-exposure. Fortunately I was able to get one of the IWGB red flags to double as a lighting ‘flag’, though the material they use is perhaps a little thinner than I would have liked. I like the effect of the closer people and flag being blurred – both depth of field and subject movement perhaps helping here. The focus was on the people at the centre, but with the 16mm at f5 there is considerable depth of field. At 1/100th the close figures are blurred by movement, but those at the top of the stairs are out of focus.

At the top of the stairs the protesters went along a short and rather dim corridor leading to some doors into the Vice-Chancellors offices, which they made no attempt to go through, but made a lot of noise outside. Most of the lighting here was from a window on one side of the corridor just before the doors, and the exposures here were still around 1/100 f5 at ISO 3200. In the darker corridor it was down to 1/30 f4.

We were inside Senate House altogether for 20 minutes, and you can see the pictures at Cleaners Surprise Senate House Invasion. The protesters were pleased at having been able to protest inside without any trouble, and I was reasonably satisfied with the pictures, although I knew that there would be little interest in them from the media as it had been a peaceful protest.

Had it happened in Spain or Egypt it might just have made the BBC news (as a small protest in Spain did today, but not the larger march and rally I covered in London), but there seems to be an agreement to avoid anything that might suggest we might have some kind of social unrest arising from inequalities and extremes of wealth, government policies against the poor, and other serious issues lots of middle-class protesters are arrested or buildings are burnt down and things erupt on a scale that simply cannot be ignored.

Continue reading Cleaners Occupy

A New Walk for London

Cody Dock in 2010 behind the fence – the end of the riverside walk along Bow Creek (part of 360 panorama)

One walk in London that you can’t make at the moment is alongside Bow Creek all the way from Bow Locks to the mouth at the River Thames. There are parts of it open to the public, other parts built as public walks in the last millennium that have still to be opened to the public and bits where there is no public access. But a key to opening a walk that would enable you to go from Bow Locks to the Thames is the Cody Dock project of the Gasworks Dock Partnership.

Cody Dock is the former dock to one of the largest of London’s Victorian gas works, and a group of enthusiasts has been busy for several years transforming it into marina, making it the centre of a ‘community hub filled with creative studios, workshops and social enterprises’. This isn’t some huge commercial development being imposed on the area, but a project run by a small group that has already performed a task most thought impossible in getting support and permissions and clearing the site and making it available for community use. As you can see from there web page they are already organising some exciting events at the dock, which is a short walk from Star Lane DLR station.

Cody Dock cleared in April 2012. The dock mouth is still blocked – once cleared a new bridge is needed

They need money, largely to build a new wooden footbridge across the dock mouth that will carry the extended footpath and link to the existing riverside path. Here’s the introduction to their current ‘Spacehive’ appeal:

Cody Dock sits in between London’s new cable car, Canary Wharf and the Olympic Park, built in the 1870s, it slipped through the cracks of east London’s regeneration, lying abandoned and sealed off for decades.

It’s the last barrier blocking people from walking the length of the Lea River.

This project will fund the construction of the new pedestrian bridge – the missing piece in the jigsaw that will enable us take down the gates and open up the dock for everyone to enjoy this lovely section of London’s second river.

At a stroke, we’ll be removing one of the final obstacles in a continuous 26-mile riverside walk, running all the way from Hertfordshire to the Thames.

Eventually, our vision is for the dock to become a thriving community hub filled with creative studios, workshops and social enterprises, all set around a new marina for canal boats and beautiful gardens.

It will be a truly special and unique place – a people-powered regeneration project.

Cody Dock cleared in July 2012.
There are more details on the Spacehive page Unlock London’s secret dock, and they need £79,142. So far 89 donors have together pledged £18,524 and there are only 18 days to go until the project ends on Aug 2nd – and the donors are only charged if the full amount is raised.

They say:

This inspiring project has already drawn the attention of national media and supporters includes the actor David Suchet, public artist Richard Wilson, Lord Andrew Mawson and the local born Billy Bragg. Do join them!

Bow Creek in Feb 2010.

You can see more of my pictures from the area in 2010 in Bow and The Fatwalk, where you can also see the full 360 degree panorama of the end of the footpath of which the image at the top of this post is a small selection. More of Cody Dock at Gasworks Dock Revived, and just a few pictures from a very brief visit at the end of one of their open days at Cody Dock Open Day.

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My London Diary : Buildings of London : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated are by Peter Marshall and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

To order prints or reproduce images

________________________________________________________

Bow Gurdwara Rebuilt

I always like visiting a Gurdwara, because I’ve always been made welcome. As I rushed out to catch my train I’d remembered to pick up a rumal – a triangular handkerchief to tie around my head to cover my hair as a sign of respect, and I put this on as I walked down the Harley Grove towards the Gurdwara, having realised that I was the only person around with uncovered hair.

Tying a reef knot at the back of my head isn’t something I do every day, so I usually leave it tied, and then it’s just a matter of pushing the peak of the triangle under the knot and pulling it down. The knot was a little too loose, and I don’t think I did it very neatly, but it’s making the effort that is important. Once covered I made my way through the crowd to the front of the Gurdwara, and arrived just in time as the Guru Granth Sahib was being brought out to the float for its procession around the neighbourhood. It is the Sikh Holy Scripture, revered as the final Sikh Guru, and is always treated with great reverence.

Bringing out the Guru Granth Sahib

The occasion had a particular importance as it marked the reopening of the Gurdwara which had been destroyed by an arsonist in 2009. A women’s meeting was taking place in the building at the time, but fortunately they all left safely. A man had been seen in the building shortly before the fire was noticed, but the police inquiries and the offer of a large reward failed to find the culprit. Some thought that the police hadn’t tried that hard, but that may well not be fair. They were there today keeping the procession safe.

I’d hoped to arrive in time to look around the building, originally built as Harley Street Congregational Chapel in the 1850s and a splendid Grade II listed structure. The restoration of the exterior is impressive. I’d arrived a few minutes before the time for the procession and somehow had not really expected it to start dead on time. Perhaps next time I’m in the area I’ll go in to have a look.

Usually I’ve photographed processions like this at Vaisakhi, in April. There are small variations in them at the different Gurdwaras around the London area, but they follow the same basic pattern, with the Sikh standard bearers and the five Sikhs with raised swords ahead of the float containing the sacred book and the congregation following behind.

Ahead of the procession the road is swept and sprayed with water, and at some events everyone is barefoot or at least without shoes – and on some occasions I’ve needed to take my shoes off – as always in the Gurdwara – to take pictures. Fortunately this wasn’t necessary today, as at every check-up my nurse always tells me I should never go barefoot because diabetes can lead to a lack of feeling in the feet and unnoticed injuries with possible serious complications – even amputation, although as yet my feet are still healthily sensitive – and rather ticklish.

The procession was going around the local area, up to Roman Road and then back, with further celebrations at the Gurdwara with an official opening ceremony. But I left earlier having other things to do later in the day. More about the story and more pictures on Gurdwara Rebuilt After Arson.

Continue reading Bow Gurdwara Rebuilt

Dyke March London 2013

Women applaud a speaker at the rally before the march

I wasn’t quite the only man present when I arrived to photograph the Dyke March – London’s second in recent years – which was starting in a corner of Berkeley Square, but almost, and I did feel just a little intimidated. Not that I had any real need to worry, everyone I talked to was fine, and it had in advance been made very clear that this wasn’t an all-women event – as the interesting FAQ on the event site states:

“There will be no policing of gender or sexuality on the march, least of all due to the diversity of dyke gender expression and presentation. In particular, we do not want any women to be challenged on their right to be at Dyke March – whether due to an androgynous, ambiguous, masculine or feminine (or other) presentation.

Because our focus is on dykes, we’re not actively seeking to involve men with the march, but they are welcome if they want to march with us (as are all supporters of dykes).”

In any case I was of course there not as any kind of dyke or even as a supporter of dykes but as a photographer and journalist. And I was welcome to take photographs, though just a few people turned away or hid their faces when I raised my camera, but this isn’t unusual at public protests, curious and illogical it may be. I don’t really understand why I should have felt at all nervous (or any more nervous than I am at other events.) It really isn’t unusual for me now to walk into an event where I look or talk or dress different to everyone or nearly everyone present. But perhaps I was just a little shaken still after being pushed around a bit by the police (though not with any particular malice) at a previous event.

Of course I wasn’t quite dressed right for the situation, as you can see from the picture of one of the other photographers covering it. Though the dark waterproof jacket I had on was perhaps more practical for the twenty minutes or so of rain before the rally started. Even so, while it was at its heaviest I packed tightly into a doorway with half a dozen of so of the women.

In March 2012 I photographed the first Dyke March in London for over 20 years, and around 800 ‘dykes and their allies’ came. This year it was rather smaller, certainly at the start there were only around 200, although by the time I left it at Piccadilly Circus it had grown to around 300. Perhaps by the time it got to its destination of Soho Square it was larger still. Berkeley Square seemed a curious choice of a meeting place, as I’ve written ‘hidden away in the middle of Mayfair and about as far as it is possible to be from the tube in central London’. Last year too the event started later, and perhaps some who work on a Saturday were able to join it.

The web site welcomes as “all dykes, lesbians, bois, queers, andros, femmes, butches, inbetweenies, lipstick lesbians, leather dykes, dandies, drag kings, bisexuals, transwomen and their allies “to the march and although I couldn’t claim to identify all of these types, there certainly were some interesting looking people, and some of them appear in my pictures.

The Dyke March retains some of the atmosphere and spirit of the Pride marches of perhaps 20 years ago, before it became a parade. Organised by volunteers, it describes itself as “a grassroots, non-commercial, anti-racist, community-centred, accessible, inclusive event” all of which endears it to me. I was sorry to leave it as it went through Piccadilly Circus on its route to Soho Square, but by then I was tired and needed to get home.

The route was based on that taken by a Suffragette march – many of the leading suffragettes were lesbian or bisexual, although at the time this was generally not commented on in public, and certainly not in the press. But perhaps much of the strength of the movement came from the close bonds between many of the women involved.

More pictures at Dykes March, though I think I captured the event and the atmosphere better at the previous London Dyke March in 2012.
Continue reading Dyke March London 2013

Anarchists, Anonymous and ENA

Saturday was a bitty day for me. If I hadn’t been taking photographs I might have attended the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, although I wasn’t convinced it would be anything more than another talking shop with no real outcomes, and too many people defending the largely indefensible Labour Party. I don’t like photographing conferences, but I did go along and take a few pictures of the events around it, particularly at lunchtime when many of the few thousand attending came outside.

Some of the better known anarchist in the UK including Ian Bone at left

In fact there wasn’t a great deal happening. Anarchist blogger Ian Bone had called for a protest outside, but hadn’t managed to find more than a dozen or so people who could be bothered to come. Most of them spoke at a little rally, but they only arrived after most people had disappeared back into the conference sittings which were taking place inside Methodist Central Hall (MCH), and in a kind of tent outside and a hall around the corner to which any dissident voices – including Ken Loach – were exiled.

Two young men on a golfing pub crawl come to find out more
Occupy London people were also around, and visually rather more interesting than the anarchists, with Anonymous masks rather than cloth caps. There was a little vignette of farce when they net up with a couple of young men on a golfing pub crawl, but otherwise little to photograph.

Starting a quarter a mile down the road was a march by the English National Alliance, a small extreme right group – or ‘patriots’ as they prefer to call themselves. I’ve photographed their events before, and although I make clear I don’t share their views, I’ve tried to report them and the events clearly and accurately. I do so not just because of my ethical standards as a journalist, but because I think exposing their views and actions to the light makes clear to all what they stand for.

I walked up towards the meeting point and found a small group of photographers standing across the road looking at a few ENA protesters outside the pub. I asked if any of them had talked to the ENA, and no-one had, so I walked across the road towards them. I was warmly greeted and for the next ten minutes or so we talked and argued about what they felt was happening to our country and their feeling that they did not get a fair deal in the media. I doubt if they particularly liked what I wrote about the protest, but I think it was – as I assured them it would be – fair and accurate.

The left on the left and the right on the right – one in a brown jacket shouts and another gives a finger

There were only 11 of them – they had expected rather more, but eventually they decided not to wait and to carry out their march as planned. I think their decision to march directly in front of MCH where the People’s Assembly was being held was deliberately meant to provoke, and shouting – as some of them did – ‘No Surrender!’ seemed to be proof of that. A minute earlier, one of the younger protesters had boasted as we went along Tothill St that he wasn’t scared and that he could take on 25 of the ‘commies’. There were few people around outside the hall, mainly on several literature stall, and they heard the shouts and saw the ENA t-shirt worn by their leader and reacted, milling around and shouting ‘Racist Scum!’ and other similar insults, and shouting matches between the two groups ensued.

A woman on the ENA march points and shouts at a man who has called her a racist

I was surprised that the police had allowed them to turn down in front of MCH rather than continuing along the direct route. There were just not enough police present to keep the two groups apart, and I think it was an error of judgement to allow the ENA to proceed without further police reinforement – which did arrive after the trouble had started. But the situation would have been much easier to control had the ENA simply continued directly into Broad Sanctuary rather than confronting the leftists.

A woman police officer hold back an ENA protest while a leftist points and shouts at thim

There was quite a lot of pointing and one of the ENA giving the finger to the leftists and such like but I didn’t see any physical violence by any of the leftists, and the police pushed there way through them and kept pushing the ENA (and me) to keep them moving. The situation was pretty confused, but I did see one of the ENA trying to hit out at someone and being restrained by police. I was told one was arrested by police, though I don’t know for what offence and if he was charged. One of my photographer colleagues says she was hit by one of the ENA with his walking stick and came to ask me if I had got a picture of the assault, but I hadn’t seen it. My pictures show the left shouting but keeping back, and the police having to restrain some of the ENA, though mainly they were simply trying to keep them moving and get them away from the left.

It’s difficult to work and get decent pictures in situations like this, and I’m not too good at it. I was being pushed around, and was working at rather a low an ISO given the dull weather. At some point too, I got something on the camera filter which left a diffuse spot on the images – it wasn’t really visible in the viewfinder, but messes up many of the pictures. Possibly it was a finger mark when I was being pushed around. There was even a curious 10 seconds or so when everything I took was out of focus, despite using the 16-35mm on autofocus, and a camera setting which isn’t supposed to take a picture unless it has focussed.

The ENA leader was wearing an ENA t-shirt with the St George’s flag and carrying flowers for the Cenotaph

I wasn’t too happy with the pictures I had taken, although at times I’d been in the right place, I think at times I was too close, and hadn’t taken the time to look around and see what else was going on. I do tend to get too involved in keeping taking pictures when at times it would be better to stand back a little. But then you might miss the picture, and once quite a few other photographers had joined us at MCH, if you step back two other people step forward into the space you have vacated. I’d also decided most of the time to keep with the leader of the ENA, because he was the only one with distinctive clothing that would show in pictures – an ENA t-shirt with the St George’s flag – and because of the bunch of flowers he was carrying. But some of the younger ENA were probably more likely to get physically involved.

The police pushed the ENA past the first confrontation, but by now others were aware of what was happening, and a larger group came to meet them and shout at them in front of the QEII Conference Hall. Again police tried to keep the ENA moving, and finally managed to get them out onto Broad Sanctuary and to hold most of the left back, though a few followed them and continued to shout at them from a distance.

By the time the ENA march reached Whitehall it seemed to be down to seven or eight from the original eleven. There was a brief pause while the flowers were laid at the Cenotaph, then they continued to Downing St, where some were to go in to deliver a letter for the Prime Minister. Earlier outside the pub I’d been given a copy of that letter and was able to give a summary of its contents in my article. It was very long and I felt rather confused and said so, and repeated most of what had already been said in their previous letter to David Cameron. I didn’t go into Downing St to photograph the letter being handed over because I was on my way to a final event for the day. But I don’t like Downing St. It’s a pain having to empty your pockets to go through the metal detector and to have your bag searched, and the opportunities for taking pictures are very limited. They had planned on a rally afterwards, but I think had decided there were not enough of them.

More pictures at:
People’s Assembly
Action Not Talk?
Anonymous Occupy the Grass
ENA Meet Left Opposition

Continue reading Anarchists, Anonymous and ENA

Trade Union Turks Protest

The protest at the Turkish Embassy on Friday 21st was called by the London Taksim Solidarity Committee and the trade unions, including international trade unions and the TUC, and I think there was relatively little overlap between these protesters and those I had photographed the previous Sunday. As well as international unions including the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) and IUF (International Union of Food workers), there were also people from Unite, RMT, PCS, UCU and NUT at the protest, several of whom spoke, and the main attraction for the bunch of photographers present was Frances O’Grady, the TUC General Secretary.

I’ve photographed her a number of times, and unlike some other public figures she is always a pleasure to photograph, going out of her way to make sure photographers get their pictures. And the group of trade unionists and others going across the road with their arms linked to take a letter to the Turkish Embassy certainly made a good picture of solidarity. I’d watched (and photographed) them getting ready for it, but it wasn’t until they were halfway across the road that I got a clear picture of the whole line without anyone standing between me and them, and by then it seemed a little less dynamic, and as they got closer my frame was filled by other photographers running across in front of me to get close to the embassy door.

I moved back and slightly to the side. The second image is full frame and you can see one photographer’s foot at the extreme left, but I don’t think it was in the viewfinder and I wouldn’t normally hesitate to crop it out. But I was in a rush to get the images on-line after the event and didn’t, nor as you can see did I get rid of the slight red cast that the Nikon autobalance has given the image. O’Grady stands out in part as the only woman in the line of nine, but also because of the forward lean of her body, almost as if she is pulling the rest of them forward, and the white rectangle of the letter she is holding.

After this there were a few moments of confusion as the group unlinked arms; the police on duty decided that only one person should go up the steps to deliver the letter. And up she went, the press moving behind her to the bottom of the steps as she rang the bell.

I’d been about the first photographer on the spot and had chosen my position well (and with a little luck) looking at the door and the brass plate and where she would stand, but really it was her performance and the sheer delight she had in it that I think makes the image. Though it didn’t make the Turks inside come to the door! Which gave us plenty of time for some more pictures, and for her to play up to the cameras.

Of course public figures like her share a common interest with the press, but they don’t always seem to recognise this. I’m lucky not to want to photograph pop stars.

Of course there were others at the protest, and my favourite images came from some of the Turks from Halk Cephesi, variously translated as ‘Popular Front’ or ‘People’s Front’, though I’m not sure either gives the right impression in English.

This is one of several images that I particularly liked, I think here because of the almost symmetrical figure in the middle with arms over each other in front of his body. But the head disappearing into the red flags and apron at the left is important, and almost balanced by the third head in the image at right. It’s a nice touch to have some blue at both edges – and also the blue shirt of the central figure. There are a couple more I rather like on My London Diary, along with other pictures that help to round out the story, TUC Support for Turkish Protests. There are some others of Frances O’Grady I like too.
Continue reading Trade Union Turks Protest