%SSAY BY #AROLINE +NOWLES
7RITING AND PHOTOGRAPHING kTHE URBANl DEMANDS COMPLICITY WITH THE VIEW THAT CITIES EXIST AS DISTINCT REALMS OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT WHILST KNOWING THAT THEY DO NOT THAT THEY ARE PLATFORMS FROM WHICH IT IS POSSIBLE TO LOG THE COMINGS AND GOINGS THAT ACCUMULATE TO THE DENSE NETWORKS OF EVERYDAY LIFE WE CALL CITIES 4HE CITY IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS !ND IF IN NOT BEING WHAT IT SEEMS IT WERE TO HAVE A CENTRE A SET OF DEüNING FEATURES p WHICH IT DOESNlT p THEN TWO IDEAS ABOVE ALL OTHERS ARTICULATE THE URBAN SURFACE AND MOBILITY 4HINK OF THESE IDEAS AS CONSTITUTIVE OF AN URBAN THAT ISNlT WHAT IT SEEMS 7HERE DOES THIS LEAVE STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 3TREET PHOTOGRAPHY TANGLES MOST EFFECTIVELY WITH URBANISM WHEN IT ENGAGES WITH SURFACE AND MOBILITY IN PRACTICE AND AS A PRACTICE 5RBAN PHOTOGRAPHY AND URBAN LANDSCAPE ARE THUS CO CONSTITUTIVE AND IN THIS DYNAMIC ISSUES OF REPRESENTATION ARE SIDELINED BY CRUCIAL QUESTIONS THAT CAN BE ASKED WITH THE LENS 7HAT IS A CITY (OW ARE CITIES PRODUCED 7HAT HUMAN AND ARCHITECTURAL FABRIC DO THEY ARTICULATE !ND THROUGH WHAT GRAMMAR OF IMAGES MIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY AS A SET OF PRACTICES AND ENGAGEMENTS PRODUCE CITIES 7HAT IS THIS URBAN SURFACE !ND HOW MIGHT URBAN PHOTOGRAPHY DIALOGUE WITH IT #ONCEPTUALLY THE URBAN SURFACE IS A PLANE OF ENGAGEMENT WHERE EVERYTHING THAT CAN BE KNOWN AND EXPERIENCED TAKES PLACE 4HERE ARE NO HIDDEN kREALITIESl OBSCURED BY DEPTH IN THIS CONCEPTION OF SURFACE "ECAUSE THE URBAN SURFACE IS WHERE EVERYTHING HAPPENS IT IS HERE THAT WE MIGHT USEFULLY AIM THE ANALYTIC PHOTOGRAPHIC LENS OF URBAN INVESTIGATION "UT THIS IS NOT A SMOOTH SURFACE OF URBAN kČOWl CONTRA 3OCIOLOGIES OF MOBILITIES )T IS A TEXTURED SURFACE NAVIGATED WITH EMBODIED SKILL AND KNOWLEDGE ACROSS WHICH WE STUMBLE AND FALTER NOT ČOW 4HIS URBAN SURFACE IS TEXTURED BY AND WITH HUMAN ACTIVITY AND OBJECTS OF MATERIAL CULTURE INCLUDING ARCHITECTURE 4HE URBAN SURFACE IS CREATED IN THE FABRIC OF SOCIAL LIFE COLLECTIVE EXISTENTIAL EVERYDAY LIFE TEXTURE NOT TEXT 5RBAN PHOTOGRAPHY OPERATES BOTH WITHIN AND APART FROM THIS SOCIALLY TEXTURED SURFACE "UT IT DOES NOT READILY REVEAL ITS CONSTITUTION ITS MODES OF OPERATION AND ITS SOCIAL MORPHOLOGY &LEETING ENCOUNTERS WITH THE CAMERA LENS ALONE WILL NOT EXPOSE THIS SURFACE "UT IN CONCERT WITH DEEPER RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT WITH URBAN THEORY THE LENS CAN DELIVER BETTER APPROXIMATIONS OF WHAT WE CAN NEVER REALLY KNOW +NOWLEDGE IS ALWAYS TENTATIVE AND PROVISIONAL #ITIES ARE ALWAYS DUPLICITOUS LAYERED REPOSITORIES OF MULTIPLE TRUTHS AND THEY SHARE THESE FEATURES WITH PHOTOGRAPHY 3O THE ISSUES BECOME HOW TO UNRAVEL SOME OF THIS DUPLICITY (OW