Art & Photography: Daniel Meadows

Saturday 14 July 2012

Daniel Meadows - ffotogallery

Daniel Meadows, Portsmouth: John Payne, Aged 12, with Two Friends and his Pigeon, Chequer, 26 April 1974, 1974

Daniel Meadows describes himself as a 'documentarist' ...by which I mean that I am one who, in an attempt to make sense of the times in which we live, engages with others to gather, create and present – with as few fictional additions as possible – stories made out of photographs and/or oral testimony.

Meadows graduated from Manchester Polytechnic in 1973. After working at Butlin's, and collaborating with fellow graduate Martin Parr on Butlin's by the Sea, he toured England in a double-decker bus he bought for £360, in search of ordinary people to photograph. In the course of a 14-month journey, he offered free portrait sessions in 22 different towns, and photographed a total of 958 people, alone or in groups, the majority of whom remained anonymous and collected their free portraits the following day.

Once upon a time, I lived in a double-decker bus, reg. JRR 404, better known as the Free Photographic Omnibus. She was my home, my travelling darkroom and gallery.We were an unlikely couple; she with her crash gear box and temperamental ways, me with my bushy hair and homemade flares. But we got along okay and, during 1973 and '74, we travelled about making a national portrait of the English. We covered 10,000 miles shooting pictures and giving them away.

Daniel Meadows: Early Photographic Works is at ffotogallery, 14 July - 8 September 2012. Read an interview with Meadows on WalesOnline and details of the exhibition at Photomonitor.