Street photography & social research: Brick Lane re-visited

A visual sociology day school for postgraduate students funded by the British Sociological Association:

Sunday 29 June 2008

This workshop will be convened and run by Professor Les Back, Professor Caroline Knowles, Paul Halliday and Charlotte Bates. 

There are 15 spaces available and previous experience with large-format cameras is not required. The deadline for applications is 1 May.

The About the Streets project was conducted by Paul Halliday and photography students from Croydon College in 2001. A 4x5 large format camera was set up on Sunday mornings in the midst of the market in Brick Lane, East London, and people were invited to have their portrait taken while doing their shopping. Individuals took their turn before the lens and the ensuing photographs created a visual narrative of metropolitan life. During this day workshop we will re-visit Brick Lane and again invite people to present themselves before the Victorian camera. This practice-based experiment will form the basis for discussion about the use of photography as a means to open up a space for exchange, alter relationships between research subjects and observers and record social life.