Martin
Besserman 1996
I have a photo book
coming out in May and, following a year-long hiatus (it was accepted
for publication in February 2014), am now beginning to grapple with
the practicalities of publicising its arrival.
Speakers' Corner:
Debate, Democracy and Disturbing the Peace contains around 100
black and white photographs taken on Sunday afternoons in London's
Hyde Park between 1977 and 2014. The place has a worldwide
reputation as the home of free speech, and a parallel one as (to
quote George Orwell) the
resort of preachers, eccentrics and "a large variety of plain
lunatics". That's a promising combination, and the pictures,
many accompanied by excerpts of speeches, heckles and arguments that
I recorded at the time, are my attempt at documenting the
extraordinary mixture of serious public debate, off-the-wall
religiosity, whacky humour and self-regulating anarchic mayhem that
has repeatedly drawn me back there.
Stuart
Wheeler 1978
Although
it's a book that I hope will attract photo enthusiasts, I would be
disappointed if it didn't also appeal to a much wider audience: to
anyone interested in London history (it is being published by The
History Press), politics, religion, popular culture, public debate and opinion. The publicity needs to reflect this, and it seems
that social media, of which I am currently only a moderate user, will
play an essential role. I'm working on it: this piece is a first step. More anon.
And more
pictures here.
Argument 2014
