Graham Land ARPS - Enterprising Croydon - DPOTY 2019 Shortlist

Graham Land ARPS - 'Enterprising Croydon' - DPOTY 2019 Shortlist

RPS Documentary Photographer of the Year 2019

This project documents through photography, video and interview a selection of shopkeepers whose premises are close to the main retail high street-road that runs North- South through the centre of Croydon. The aim is to document various enterprising shops that reflect the diversity of Croydon, a town that has one of the largest retail shopping areas outside central London. Approaches varied from the iconic traditional; for instance the photographic shop set up in the 1960’s by Reg and the pie, mash and liquor restaurant of Max. Some had more diverse approaches, such as the mixed hairdressing-African fabric business of Sophia and the mixed hairdressing-art gallery business of Kish. Others cater for more than local trade, such as the audio equipment repair conducted by Alfonso or the flute/music sheet business of Jonathan. This project was instigated last year for a successfully completed course of study for an MA in photography with Falmouth University.

Graham Land ARPS

Graham Land ARPS

Graham Land ARPS

Graham Land ARPS

Graham Land ARPS

Graham Land ARPS

My DPOTY submission is taken from ‘Enterprising Croydon’, an environmental portraiture project. I embarked on it half-way through my studies for an MA in Photography with Falmouth University, a web-based distance-learning course. It became my ‘Final Major Project’ (FMP) and includes photography, videography and interviews involving fourteen Croydon retail enterprises. I graduated in May this year, but the project is still ongoing. It was inspired by a visit, in February 2018, to a local photography supply shop in Croydon High Street to buy film supplies. The cluttered shop looked barely changed from the 1960s. I took a few pictures of the octogenarian founder, Reg Roach, surrounded by his assemblage of old film cameras and accessories, to send to a friend. The image of him in his very distinctive shop nagged at me and led me to consider an environmental portraiture project on this and similarly distinctive shops in Croydon. Initial findings led me to restrict my area geographically to the retail-centred road that has always run North-South through central Croydon. After making several traverses of this route I decided there would be a sufficient number to make the project viable, and two months after those shots of Reg I started in earnest.

Initially my aim was simply to portray, through imagery, the character of the people themselves and the retail environment they’ve created. As the project matured, I also tried to provide an illustration to viewers of the diversity of the community these retailers served. I wanted to show some insight into their personalities and the entrepreneurial flair that makes their establishments stand out from their competitors. The work was undertaken over twelve months in two spurts. The first effort took place over five months, resulting in an exhibition in September 2018. The second phase was for my FMP and was conducted in less than three months, resulting in a two week solo exhibition in April 2019. This exhibition was one of the most challenging aspects involving combining photographs, video, auditory material and local history. I don’t feel April’s exhibition integrated the material as well as it could, particularly the interviews. Room for improvement.

My usual way of working involves noting down ideas as they come to me, although only a few ever make it to a formal project. I have a number of projects in a research phase, where I delve into the likely time and resource needs and viability whilst accumulating associated imagery. The planning takes place when I’ve made the decision for the project to go forward. Editing and post-production is very much an ongoing process, with exhibition or publication dates being a major spur. While I have a number running concurrently, I generally focus activity on just one formal project.

I hail from South Yorkshire but have lived and worked in South London all my working life. I fell in love with photography while studying at Huddersfield Polytechnic and doing work experience in Liverpool. After taking up my first job at a research centre in South London I scrimped up money for a new East German SLR with a 50mm lens. For a few years I was very active, spending many hours in the work club’s darkroom, but gradually other things took precedence. After a varied career in research bioanalysis, management, business consultancy and data-analytics, photography has returned to the forefront.

Moving to digital in 2013 brought back my passion and led to me join the RPS and qualify as a Licentiate. Since then I’ve made photography a full-time occupation, assisting my understanding by studying for an MA in Photography. I was awarded Associate membership on the basis of my MA in July this year.

I get my greatest buzz photographing people. Initially this was largely candid street photography but now the majority of my activity is associated with various forms of portraiture, particularly fashion, cultural and political events. I’ve had a number of commissions ranging from photographing hats to ambassadorial parties. Accredited to photograph at various events, including London Fashion Week, I’m now an active freelance photographer.

I largely shoot in digital, Nikon full-frame or Fuji half-frame, but last year I acquired a medium format film camera (6x6cm) for my ‘Enterprising Croydon’ project. It slowed me down, overcoming a tendency to rush, and improved my compositional skills as a consequence. This approach led me to buy a second-hand large format (5”x4”) film camera to use in my project work and to shoot video with a Fuji camera on a stabilised rig, a practice that is now in my commercial portfolio.

Mark Phillips (Chair, RPS Documentary Group) presents Graham Land with his DPOTY 2019 certificate

Dave Thorp