Brixton People by Carole Evans (May 23, 2010) 
(16 votes, average: 3.06 out of 5)
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Introduction by Recommending Viewer
Julie Williams-Krishnan, board member of the Renaissance Photography Prize, recommended Carole Evans to us. I liked the idea very much, the quest to archive the people of any given society at any point in time is very valuable as a documentation. Evans’ work reminds me of August Sander’s People of the 20th Century. Sander photographed a series of portraits that aims at showing a cross-section of society during the Weimar Republic, examples can be viewed by following this link. Brixton People is tributary to Sander’s work. It also stands out on its own as a strong work of contemporary documentary photography. Evans takes a lighthearted and spontaneous tone, which fits the way the came about quite well and makes the portraits very inviting to look at.
Next / A Sensitive Record Of The Unseen Work In Private Homes / Previous / I Kept Thinking I Saw My Father Going Past /
Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
At the end of January 2010, I was given the opportunity to create a pop-up studio in the heart of Brixton market, an area of South London with a large Afro-Caribbean population, and a melting pot of many different races and cultures.
For five days, I invited passers-by into my makeshift studio to have their picture taken.
Each evening I would print the photographs, and pin them onto the walls of my unit so the sitters could come back and see their portrait, thereby creating an exhibition which evolved over the week.
And the response from the community was overwhelming; in 5 days I shot over 200 people, many of whom returned to see the exhibition grow and develop.
The pop-up photography studio challenges the idea of street photography by creating a controlled environment for which to shoot everyday people and situations.
And its popularity is growing; perhaps a direct result of the recession as empty spaces become available for artists and photographers to inhabit.
My intention at the beginning of this project was to create an archive of the people of Brixton, and the pop-up was a perfect means in which to do so; the result is an encapsulates the demographic of Brixton in 2010. The variety of ages, religions, fashions and personalities help to provide a sense of the local colour of the area.
Brixton People is a series of portraits of people from diverse cultures and walks of life, united by where they live.
Carole Evans (1979) lives and works in London, UK.
Click weblink caroleevans.co.uk or browse our archives
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