0:00:07 > 0:00:08'I am Eamonn McCabe.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12'In the 1970s, I cut my teeth as a sports photographer
0:00:12 > 0:00:15'on local newspapers in the East End of London.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23'Trying to capture the drama of events like this
0:00:23 > 0:00:26'made me fall in love with photography.'
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Boxing has always been my favourite sport to photograph.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34The noise, the energy, the smells, the tension.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37And it's a dangerous place to work, beside that ring.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Anything could happen.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43'I had to follow the action so closely,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46'it really sharpened my instincts.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01'In the '70s, my job was all about rolls of film and darkrooms.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05'But in today's digital age, the way I work is completely different.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08'Now photography is instantaneous.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14'During my career, there's been a revolution in photography.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17'And that's what I want to explore in this programme.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22'From the colour explosion of the 1960s...'
0:01:24 > 0:01:26You can't simply go out and take the same picture
0:01:26 > 0:01:29that you would have taken in black and white.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32'..to the sensation of Instagram today.'
0:01:32 > 0:01:35It's just what I do all the time.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38'And it's a chance to celebrate
0:01:38 > 0:01:41'some of the most influential photographers of my lifetime.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46'John Bulmer, with his pioneering colour work.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50'Jane Bown, who brought new depth to the celebrity portrait.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54'Fay Godwin, who gave landscape a fresh, political edge.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58'And Martin Parr, with his acute and satirical eye.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02'Their unique visions have defined
0:02:02 > 0:02:06'how we've all seen Britain in focus over the last 50 years.'
0:02:09 > 0:02:12It's that idea of, you know, light from out there, almost God's light,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16comes down and hits you, bounces off, into my camera, onto the film
0:02:16 > 0:02:18and then there you are.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27MUSIC: Apache by The Shadows
0:02:30 > 0:02:33It was at the great British seaside that I discovered
0:02:33 > 0:02:35the power of photography.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41"Having a lovely time but the weather is terrible.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44"Hope you're enjoying yours. Amy."
0:02:46 > 0:02:48I first came across these little postcards
0:02:48 > 0:02:51when I was on holiday in Britain in the 1960s.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Like Amy, writing from here in Instow in Devon,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55it was always wet and miserable,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58but the postcards were vibrant and colourful.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02After years of post-war austerity,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Britain was learning to enjoy itself again.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09And black and white really didn't reflect this new-found optimism.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15But one forward-thinking entrepreneur caught this new mood
0:03:15 > 0:03:18by transforming the ever-popular picture postcard
0:03:18 > 0:03:21from monochrome into vivid colour.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28With scenes from every corner of the British Isles.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34The Britain pictured on a John Hinde postcard
0:03:34 > 0:03:36certainly looked a lot more fun.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40But how did he conjure up such magical scenes?
0:03:42 > 0:03:46'Here on the beach at Instow, I want to see if I can create
0:03:46 > 0:03:48'my very own Hinde postcard
0:03:48 > 0:03:52'by restaging the original 1960s shot.'
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Nice to see you again. Hi. Thank you for coming. Lovely to see you again.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00- We rehearsed all this last night. - Yeah.- You know your positions?
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Don't look at me, the most important thing, don't look at me,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05because I want you to pretend to be playing.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07This beautiful beach, look at this lovely weather.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09Look at that sea!
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Perfect day. It was worth waiting for. OK, get into your position.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15MUSIC: For Your Love by The Yardbirds
0:04:19 > 0:04:23'I'm going to use the same equipment as the Hinde photographers.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26'This is a high-quality German Plaubel camera.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28'It might look cumbersome now
0:04:28 > 0:04:30'but back then the Plaubel was top-of-the-range.'
0:04:30 > 0:04:34OK, everybody, that looks great. Going to put it on F6.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37'It would have been loaded with the latest Ektachrome colour film,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41'which had been introduced to the consumer market after the war.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45'And because the camera took a large negative film,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48'it produced high-quality photographs.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50'So this is my effort.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53'The camera has certainly caught some of the depth of the original.'
0:04:54 > 0:04:57But the Hinde look didn't just come from his equipment.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02John Hinde had made colour picture books before the war
0:05:02 > 0:05:05and after a failed attempt at a circus
0:05:05 > 0:05:07he went back to colour photography
0:05:07 > 0:05:10and began his postcard business in 1957.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Hinde now set out to bring the technicolour glamour of cinema
0:05:16 > 0:05:17to the humble postcard.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23And like a Hollywood movie mogul, he personally defined the house style.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26For Hinde, it was all about colour.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30He was a technical innovator and perfectionist.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33To get exactly the right look,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Hinde worked closely with cutting-edge printers in Italy.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41They painstakingly separated out every colour layer
0:05:41 > 0:05:43from the original film.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Then, by hand, they accentuated and changed the colours
0:05:46 > 0:05:48in the image.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Hinde himself oversaw this laborious process.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56I find it fascinating to see how the original
0:05:56 > 0:05:58differs from the final postcard.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01The colours of the clothes are clearly heightened
0:06:01 > 0:06:03in the end product.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Now let me go to Filey.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11'John Hinde's postcards have been a lasting inspiration
0:06:11 > 0:06:15'for one of Britain's most important documentary photographers.'
0:06:15 > 0:06:17The colours are so vivid.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Absolutely. You can see where my own palette and interest
0:06:21 > 0:06:22in, erm...
0:06:22 > 0:06:25in the colour pictures came about.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27It's pretty much down to you that we're remembering
0:06:27 > 0:06:29these John Hinde postcards.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- Why do you think that is? - Well, I think they're great images.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Not only do they show a place at its absolute best,
0:06:35 > 0:06:40all the staging that Hinde was doing then has become, if you like,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43the common language of much of contemporary art photography.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46So, in a sense, although he was doing it innocently
0:06:46 > 0:06:50to make postcards, he was ahead of the game in terms of the techniques
0:06:50 > 0:06:53and the way he would take a whole situation and stage it.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56You know, it's perfect. And when you look at these pictures,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59they tell us about another era so accurately.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03The clothing, the architecture, it's all there, down in one postcard.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06And the great thing is they become art, if you like,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08with the benefit of hindsight, forgive the pun.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11And, erm, you know, they're great images.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15'These little explosions of colour came onto the market
0:07:15 > 0:07:18'just when people were starting to have more cash in their pockets.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22'Everything to do with colour photography - cameras, film,
0:07:22 > 0:07:27'processing and accessories - was becoming more affordable.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31'And throughout the 1960s, the vivid colours of Hinde's postcards
0:07:31 > 0:07:34'would gradually seep into everyday snapshots.'
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Remember this?
0:07:39 > 0:07:42MUSIC: Shakin' All Over by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates
0:07:42 > 0:07:44The slide show.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47A domestic ritual that emerged with this new technology
0:07:47 > 0:07:50of colour film and projectors.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52# When you move in right up close to me
0:07:56 > 0:07:58# That's when I get the shakes... #
0:07:58 > 0:08:01These slides belongs to my wife Becky's parents.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Her father took them.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08# Quivers down the back bone
0:08:08 > 0:08:10# I've got the shakes... #
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Her family often gathered on a Saturday afternoon for a showing.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21But then another technical development widened the appeal
0:08:21 > 0:08:24of colour photography even further,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27doing away with the need for projectors and screens.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29'In colour, of course!'
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Kodak were the pioneers.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34# Shakin' all over... #
0:08:34 > 0:08:37In a blitz of advertising in 1963,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40they introduced the cheap Instamatic camera onto the market.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45It was a piece of Swinging Sixties technology in your own hands.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49I remember, when I was 13,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52I had an Instamatic and it was so simple to use.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55The Box Brownie of its time.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59You just slotted in a small cartridge
0:08:59 > 0:09:03rather than fumble with a roll of 35mm film.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Then you sent the cartridge off
0:09:05 > 0:09:08and you got your colour prints back by post.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12It's estimated that over 50 million of us worldwide
0:09:12 > 0:09:15were using these cameras in the '60s.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Soon, colour photos began to replace black and white ones
0:09:19 > 0:09:22in the family album, bringing a new richness
0:09:22 > 0:09:25to how we recorded our lives.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28MUSIC: Body Beautiful by The Ronnie Scott Orchestra
0:09:32 > 0:09:34But some aspects of British life
0:09:34 > 0:09:37just didn't seem to lend themselves to colour photography.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42This is a classic view of the North,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45and in the 1960s you would have expected it to have been shot
0:09:45 > 0:09:47in black and white.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Black and white were still regarded as the proper medium
0:09:51 > 0:09:53for serious documentary work.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57So if you were a photojournalist sent to the North in the '60s
0:09:57 > 0:10:00on a mission to photograph this world of mills, chimneys
0:10:00 > 0:10:04and cobbles, it seemed the only way to get the gritty reality
0:10:04 > 0:10:06of the place was in monochrome.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11As you can see in this fantastic photograph by Ian Berry.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17But one photographer was to challenge this cliched view
0:10:17 > 0:10:20of the North in an amazing set of colour photographs
0:10:20 > 0:10:23commissioned by the Sunday Times Magazine.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28John Bulmer had ambitions early on to be a photographer.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30He was even kicked out of Cambridge
0:10:30 > 0:10:33for taking photographs for Life Magazine.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Here you can see he's not only using colour film,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42but he's mixing natural and artificial light.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50I'm meeting John to find out how he made such striking photographs.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57When I was given the assignment, I thought long and hard about it
0:10:57 > 0:11:00because nobody had ever really photographed the North of England
0:11:00 > 0:11:03in colour before. It was considered a black and white subject.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06- Don McCullin and Neil Libbert and people like that.- That's right.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09And I'd done my own share of black and white North, cobbled streets.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13But I realised in colour that if I went and did it on a sunny day
0:11:13 > 0:11:15it really wasn't going to work.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18It wasn't going to get across the atmosphere of the place.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25I deliberately chose to do it in winter
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and then I also tried to work in rain and fog
0:11:28 > 0:11:31and situations like that, which would mute the background
0:11:31 > 0:11:33and give the whole thing a softer approach.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37I felt that it would give a better atmosphere of the North.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41- And did it change the way you worked?- Yes.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Erm, colour was different.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47And the thing is you can't simply go out and take the same picture
0:11:47 > 0:11:49that you would have taken in black and white.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52It gets too fussy. There's too much in the frame.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54When you take any photographs,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57effectively it's a form of abstraction.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00You're trying to simplify this complicated world
0:12:00 > 0:12:04into something that's simple enough within a frame
0:12:04 > 0:12:06to give you some sort of emotional kick
0:12:06 > 0:12:10and not set your eye spinning in every different direction.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13And if something in the background is the wrong colour,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15it can take your eye away...
0:12:15 > 0:12:17it takes your eye off the ball in a way.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Tell me why this picture is shot in colour.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24Well, I think that it actually works better in colour
0:12:24 > 0:12:27than it would in black and white and that's very important.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30If a picture is better in black and white
0:12:30 > 0:12:32it should be done in black and white.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35And I think this picture would be a bit flat and uninteresting
0:12:35 > 0:12:36in black and white.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38Whereas the blocks of colour are strong enough
0:12:38 > 0:12:39to give you an interest
0:12:39 > 0:12:43but not distract from the woman's face that you want to look at.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48And this is a wide-angle shot, these lovely ladies in their scarves.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51What I love is the way she's looking at you.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53I remember I was walking around the streets
0:12:53 > 0:12:56and I saw these two walking across the bridge in the distance.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59And I did take one shot at a distance
0:12:59 > 0:13:02just to sort of test the waters almost.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04And then as they got closer to me
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I pretended to be photographing the building over to one side.
0:13:07 > 0:13:08- That old trick.- The old trick.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12But at the same time I got my focus and my exposure and everything ready
0:13:12 > 0:13:16and just as they approached I swung the camera round, up to my eye,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20and clicked the shot and you can see she's just noticed me.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24And her friend is smirking a little because she knows what's going on.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Well, I think her instinct was to sort of look away
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and her instinct was to see what's going on.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32But when I met her years later, she said at the time they thought
0:13:32 > 0:13:35I was fooling around and I didn't have any film in the camera.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38But then they did a few weeks, a few months later,
0:13:38 > 0:13:40see the picture in the Sunday Times
0:13:40 > 0:13:44and then years later I met the lady and I gave her a copy of my book
0:13:44 > 0:13:48with her on the cover and I think she was quite touched by that.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51'John's pictures fitted into the great tradition
0:13:51 > 0:13:53'of the British photo essay.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57'But the Sunday Times Magazine had the technology
0:13:57 > 0:14:01'and the budget to showcase its reportage in colour.'
0:14:01 > 0:14:04So when you get back with all these pictures
0:14:04 > 0:14:06that you've taken over three weeks or whatever,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09they put this on the cover and now tell us a little bit about
0:14:09 > 0:14:13the inside, how they used it as a spread to tell the story.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Well, I mean, one of the great things about the Sunday Times
0:14:16 > 0:14:19is they did have the courage to run pictures
0:14:19 > 0:14:21as a double spread like this.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23And sometimes they had lots of little ones
0:14:23 > 0:14:27but they would vary it and they did give good space to pictures.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29And they were brave.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Ten years later, at the Photographers' Gallery
0:14:31 > 0:14:36they had an exhibition on magazine photography from the '60s.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39And they had one room with half a dozen or a few more
0:14:39 > 0:14:42of the well-known photographers like Don McCullin, David Bailey,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46Terence Donovan, Lord Snowdon and myself.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49I was the only person to put any colour photographs on the wall.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52All the rest had only used black and white.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Although, by then, all of them were working quite a lot in colour,
0:14:55 > 0:14:59they didn't really regard colour photography as serious then.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05One of my greatest heroes from this era
0:15:05 > 0:15:08was resolute in her refusal to shoot in colour.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11She worked for the Sunday Times' rival,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13my old paper, the Observer.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19Her black and white photographs gave new depth to the 1960s'
0:15:19 > 0:15:21most colourful figures.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26She captured a moment when Britain was the cultural epicentre
0:15:26 > 0:15:28of the world.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Her name was Jane Bown,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34and although her use of black and white was practical
0:15:34 > 0:15:36as much as an aesthetic choice,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39there's an emotional quality to her work.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Her photographs reveal character.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49For me, Jane Bown was one of Britain's finest
0:15:49 > 0:15:51portrait photographers,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54and I was lucky enough to work alongside her.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59She was a huge influence on me, both as a photographer and mentor.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03I've come to meet Jane's friend and archivist Luke Dodd
0:16:03 > 0:16:05to look through her portraits.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10'Jane used two different cameras,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13'the Rolleiflex and the 35mm.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17'Luke's going to show me how these cameras shaped her style.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22'Here's a great example of a photograph Jane took
0:16:22 > 0:16:23'with the Rolleiflex.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26'It's of Rudolf Nureyev, the Russian ballet dancer.'
0:16:27 > 0:16:31This is an absolutely uncropped image that Jane took
0:16:31 > 0:16:34during the year after Nureyev had defected.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37A session with him and Margot Fonteyn
0:16:37 > 0:16:39at which she was actually using both cameras.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43And, interestingly, the Rollei stuff has all this formal quality.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45This absolute perfection about it.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Every bit of the frame is considered and works.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51The positioning within that frame is so strong.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53And the use of the big white lights as well,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56which some people would find they get in the way,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58but she uses them to very strong effect.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00And wonderful that the hands are slightly out of focus,
0:17:00 > 0:17:05because he's moving them. They give a real energy to the picture. It's an absolutely stunning picture.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08But that shows you how on the edge technically she was.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13She wouldn't trust fast speed, she wouldn't trust fast films,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16so she would go into a foyer like this at the Royal Opera House
0:17:16 > 0:17:18and make it work.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Because I remember her coming back sweating over stuff
0:17:21 > 0:17:22and it was always there.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25But I remember the nerves, you know, she was always nervous.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28There's two things. One is she needed the nerves.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30She talked about time and light being her enemies.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33And she needed that buzz in order to work
0:17:33 > 0:17:37and to master and marshal all of her extraordinary capacity.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39But, at the same time,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42she didn't like it to go into unknown territory.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44That's why she couldn't bear colour.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47Because she couldn't control it to the same degree and she, you know,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49you had to send the films off to be developed.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52She said no matter how bad a shoot went in black and white you could
0:17:52 > 0:17:56salvage something, but in colour it was taken out of her hands.
0:17:56 > 0:17:57And there was too much tension.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06This was a very macho world, the leather jackets,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08you know, the fast lifestyles.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11But Jane was the complete opposite of that. Very quiet, unassuming.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Well, Jane kind of had a schizophrenic life.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19She lived in the country and worked for a Sunday newspaper
0:18:19 > 0:18:22which meant she only came to London one or two days a week.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24That kind of split suited her very well.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26And in the country she was known as Mrs Moss,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30and then had this other life two days a week when she came to London.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34And she really, she talked about enjoying the milieu
0:18:34 > 0:18:36in the office and she liked going to the pub.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38But, again, almost as an observer.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41She was never part of that scene or that set
0:18:41 > 0:18:44and famously she rarely knew who she was photographing.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Two of the biggest heroes of the '60s are Lennon and McCartney.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49When Jane went to photograph them,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52- would she have even know who they work?- Erm, no.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56I mean, she really was not part of the Swinging Sixties in any sense.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58And presumably she knew about the Beatles
0:18:58 > 0:19:01and presumably it was an Observer commission.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04But she was sent to West Ham to one of their fairly early concerts,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06I think it's '63 or '64,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09and she spent two hours with them backstage
0:19:09 > 0:19:12because they had to arrive so early, and worked with the Rollei
0:19:12 > 0:19:16and the 35mm, and this is a good time to, kind of,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19identify Jane's evolving style.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23From the formality of the kind of classic portraits
0:19:23 > 0:19:25of all four of them,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28the McCartney one here, sitting having a cigarette,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32to...this shoot is slightly later,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36she's now using the 35mm completely and far greater licence
0:19:36 > 0:19:40and wonderful cropping and wonderful things happening in the image.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43And how did Jane land on her signature style?
0:19:43 > 0:19:47I think it largely happened when she transferred to 35mm.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51There's two very good examples here, both from the mid-'60s.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Charlie Chaplin and Simone Signoret.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Very shallow depth of field, blurry backgrounds,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58close-up of the face.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02And in the case of the Simone Signoret, the head cut off,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05which was fairly radical at the time.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07And the eyes were so important to her.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10I remember she always worried about the focusing on the eyes.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12Jane would bring somebody towards the window
0:20:12 > 0:20:15if she were struggling for a bit of light, and do a deal with them.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17Say, give me five minutes at the end.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19And these look like two of those pictures.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21She's brought them to the window where the light is.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24And as you say, using shallow depth of field has knocked out
0:20:24 > 0:20:27all the extraneous tables and chairs and waiters and whatever.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29I saw her at work many times.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32She got into a room, she figured out the light,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36she had some idle banter with the person but nothing of consequence.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39And they were usually bemused. When I knew her she was very elderly.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44And they were always intrigued by this figure with battered cameras
0:20:44 > 0:20:46that had no light meter,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49and looked at how the light looked on the back of her hand.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51And then she prowled - she mooched, as she said.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54And she went round them, round, circling and circling.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57And the famous line would be, "Ah, there you are."
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Jane was unlike most of her contemporaries.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08She never wanted to be part of the celebrity scene.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12And because she was able to see beyond its superficial glamour,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15her pictures have stood the test of time.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25'And proud independence was the hallmark of a new generation
0:21:25 > 0:21:29'of photographers who emerged in the 1970s.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34'Working a world away from Fleet Street, they were driven
0:21:34 > 0:21:37'to tell stories they believed no-one else was telling,
0:21:37 > 0:21:42'documenting their own experiences of a rapidly changing Britain.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49'I've come to Handsworth Park in Birmingham to meet Vanley Burke.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54'Vanley's love of photography was triggered when his mother gave him
0:21:54 > 0:21:58'his beloved Box Brownie for his tenth birthday.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01'And as soon as Vanley came to the UK from Jamaica
0:22:01 > 0:22:05'he began to create one of the most important records
0:22:05 > 0:22:08'of African Caribbean people in Britain.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13'Vanley's pictures show Birmingham's growing black community
0:22:13 > 0:22:18'from the inside, as its members established and built their lives.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22'But he wasn't out to get his photographs in the mainstream press,
0:22:22 > 0:22:27'which he believed was only interested in stereotypes.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31'Vanley wanted to speak directly to the people in his pictures.
0:22:31 > 0:22:32'He showed them locally
0:22:32 > 0:22:36'in churches, schools and community centres.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40'And Vanley continues to add to his invaluable archive,
0:22:40 > 0:22:42'spanning nearly 50 years.'
0:22:42 > 0:22:45What were you trying to do with your photographs?
0:22:45 > 0:22:47What we were having were very negative images
0:22:47 > 0:22:49of African Caribbean people.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51And I felt that...
0:22:52 > 0:22:54..we're not in control of our history.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56We're not in charge of our history.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01We didn't...we are the losers in this battle.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04And the losers rarely get the opportunity to write their history.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07But I felt if we were to...
0:23:08 > 0:23:12..have some fundamental understanding about us
0:23:12 > 0:23:17and our contribution to society, we need to write it ourselves.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19Why have you concentrated on this area?
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Well, I felt that this was quite representative
0:23:22 > 0:23:23of the country, really.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26I didn't need to travel the whole country
0:23:26 > 0:23:29to take little bits of photographs in different communities
0:23:29 > 0:23:32when I have the whole community here.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35MUSIC: Handsworth Revolution by Steel Pulse
0:23:37 > 0:23:40So you feel satisfied that that's your audience?
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- Oh, yes, yes.- You know, your community is your audience.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Yes, very much so. For I do respect the people who I photograph.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51They're offering, you know, erm... a lot.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53You know, I kind of equate it,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56a painter uses a brush,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59you're really sort of using human flesh, you know, for your work.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04'Vanley is a self-taught photographer
0:24:04 > 0:24:07'with a natural instinct for arresting imagery.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15'His framing and composition are bold.'
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Now, you enjoy photographing crowds.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26I personally have always found crowds really difficult.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28This photograph, the crowd shot,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31was taken pretty well from where we are sitting, from this bandstand.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33It's just...just over there.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36- Looking down onto the crowd. - Looking down onto the crowd.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40I think crowds are important because it tells the story,
0:24:40 > 0:24:42it's a collective energy.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46People are investigating that photograph to find themselves,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48and when they found someone else that they know
0:24:48 > 0:24:51they would go away and tell this person or relatives of this person.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54It's amazing how many people come and search for themselves
0:24:54 > 0:24:57in that photograph because they want to belong to that moment.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00Many people say this is your most famous photograph.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Why do you think that is?
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Erm, I think...
0:25:04 > 0:25:08it's because of the whole question of identity and belonging.
0:25:08 > 0:25:14You know, we have the whole story of slavery and colonialism, you know,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18and what brings us here and our relationship with the flag.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21You know, it's fraught with a pretty terrible history.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24So to have this young man with the flag,
0:25:24 > 0:25:29it poses a lot of questions about, you know, who we are, where we are,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32and who we are likely to be.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35And all of those questions are being debated at the moment.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Tell us about this wonderful photograph
0:25:38 > 0:25:41of a group of men and a few boys on the seesaw.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45This photograph was taken in the park here, just behind me,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47where I used to work as a play leader.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51On this occasion these youngsters, they would come in the park
0:25:51 > 0:25:54because they really didn't have anywhere to...to meet.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58And there were not many youth clubs in those days.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01They were, I felt they were in limbo.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04The idea of them on the seesaw for me was quite poignant.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08And I just quickly grabbed my camera and I went across
0:26:08 > 0:26:10and I took some photographs.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13I love the way the three on the left look like they're floating.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16Yes, yes, I think they were pushing, they were going up and down.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19- They were on the way up. - Slightly, yeah.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25While Vanley Burke was busy photographing a growing community
0:26:25 > 0:26:28in Handsworth, 120 miles up the M1,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31another photographer was recording his own city
0:26:31 > 0:26:35as it was being pulled down before his very eyes.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38MUSIC: Shadowplay by Joy Division
0:26:46 > 0:26:51In the 1970s, Leeds was changing beyond recognition.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Across the North, the factory chimneys and the back-to-backs
0:26:55 > 0:26:59immortalised by John Bulmer were being swept away.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Entire working-class neighbourhoods disappeared
0:27:02 > 0:27:06but photographer Peter Mitchell was there to record the demolitions.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12After Peter left art school in London,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15he moved to Leeds and began taking photos.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Around the same time, I'd just started as a newspaper photographer
0:27:21 > 0:27:24but there's no way my picture editors
0:27:24 > 0:27:26would have taken Peter's work
0:27:26 > 0:27:29because he just did not operate like a typical photojournalist.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Peter's photos were gentle and personal observations of people
0:27:36 > 0:27:41in an urban landscape and they were accompanied by diary-like captions.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46"Kingston Racing Motors in Olinda Terrace, spring 1975.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49"Why is the woman with the clapped-out Porsche looking
0:27:49 > 0:27:52"so naughty? The council demolished the lot shortly after this snap."
0:27:54 > 0:27:57"Noel and his lads, the demolition men,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01"at Quarry Hill Flats in Eastgate, Leeds in May 1978.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05"The men complained they looked so small in the photograph."
0:28:06 > 0:28:10But there was one constant in the unrelenting change.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13MUSIC: My Life In Rewind by Eagulls
0:28:21 > 0:28:26The funfair behind Peter's house would return faithfully every year
0:28:26 > 0:28:30and in 1979 he began a series of photographs
0:28:30 > 0:28:32of his favourite attraction.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36The home-made ghost train and its owner, Francis Gavan.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50# A thousand regrets rushed right by... #
0:28:50 > 0:28:53'Over 40 years, Peter has recorded how both the ghost train
0:28:53 > 0:28:55'and Francis have changed.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59'Now he's returning with me to photograph them for one last time.'
0:29:00 > 0:29:03Just a bit different this time, Francis.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07Normally, you just stand in front of it with the skull above you
0:29:07 > 0:29:09- and all the rest of it.- Yeah.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12But as this is kind of getting to the end of the game in some ways,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16I think, would you just manage, I've brought me ladders along,
0:29:16 > 0:29:18I put them there,
0:29:18 > 0:29:21can you get up into the... into the engine compartment?
0:29:21 > 0:29:22Yeah.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24If I fall off, don't laugh.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27'I'm intrigued to see how Peter stages his shots.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31'He's very deliberately choreographing the picture.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35'As a sports photographer I had to react instinctively to capture
0:29:35 > 0:29:40'the action as it unfolded before me, totally different from this.'
0:29:40 > 0:29:43A bit more across, I think. So you've got to maybe stretch.
0:29:43 > 0:29:44- Over here?- Yeah.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47- Here?- Yeah, that's OK,. Yeah, that'll do.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51- Do you feel all right there?- Yeah.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53It's just the usual business, Francis,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56just looking at me with that slightly quizzical look.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59Yeah, just...just hold it there.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05'I've noticed that Peter is using his Hasselblad.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07'It isn't a typical photojournalist's camera.
0:30:07 > 0:30:12'Shooting onto large negatives, it produces more detail.
0:30:12 > 0:30:17'Peter is using this camera to create his uniquely urban vision.'
0:30:17 > 0:30:21I'm really pleased to see that Francis is A, vertical,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23and B, that he's actually still got it.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27And, as he said to me last time, it just needs a new tyre
0:30:27 > 0:30:32and a coat...a new coat of red and we'll be away again, so...
0:30:32 > 0:30:35- And a bit of a push. - Slight push, maybe, yes.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39What was Leeds like back in the '70s when you started taking photographs
0:30:39 > 0:30:42- around the city?- There were great demolitions going,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45great block of flats in the middle of Leeds was being demolished.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49Lots of back-to-backs and so-called slums were being taken away.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Factories were going bust and being demolished.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55So I kind of got this reputation that if I photographed it
0:30:55 > 0:30:58it wouldn't be there in a couple of months' time.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00Which is patently true.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03Your contemporaries at the time were photographing in black and white.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05Why did you choose colour?
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Colour's the natural thing. It's the way we all look at stuff.
0:31:08 > 0:31:13And I made some effort to always use kind of muted colours and suchlike.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16And this was before the invention of...
0:31:16 > 0:31:19saturated colour work, you know?
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Erm...flash and all the rest of it.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27And I've again retained natural light nearly all the time.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30Making sure usually that I photograph
0:31:30 > 0:31:32on reasonably dull days.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35Hand-held all the time. Never used a tripod.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Does this labour of love now feel over for you?
0:31:44 > 0:31:46Today's shooting has been excellent.
0:31:47 > 0:31:52This is a special day because I've not seen Francis for some years
0:31:52 > 0:31:55and to find out he was still active...
0:31:57 > 0:31:59..it gives me great pleasure, Francis. Thanks again.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03I still regard photography as...
0:32:03 > 0:32:05almost slightly religious.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08But it's that idea of, you know, light from out there,
0:32:08 > 0:32:11almost God's light, comes down and hits you,
0:32:11 > 0:32:13bounces off into my camera, onto the film.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15And then there you are, you know,
0:32:15 > 0:32:20the speed of light, as I think David Bailey used to say, or somebody.
0:32:22 > 0:32:28Peter captured a changing Britain in a humane and idiosyncratic way.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32We can clearly see the value of his photographs now.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36But back in the '70s his work might have been overlooked
0:32:36 > 0:32:39if it hadn't have been for an emerging network
0:32:39 > 0:32:41of forward-thinking galleries.
0:32:42 > 0:32:47In 1979, curator, historian and champion of British photography,
0:32:47 > 0:32:53Val Williams, exhibited Peter's pictures at her gallery in York.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58Nearly 40 years later, the gallery is still going strong
0:32:58 > 0:33:00and showing Peter's photographs once again.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05How important where these galleries to create a new culture
0:33:05 > 0:33:07in photography?
0:33:07 > 0:33:09I think without them some of those photographers
0:33:09 > 0:33:12probably would have given up because there was no outlet
0:33:12 > 0:33:14for what they did.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17I think they were important politically because they said
0:33:17 > 0:33:20to the Arts Council and to the major museums, you know,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22we're here, we're not going away.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25And the climate in photography was truly dreadful at that time.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28The Tate refused to buy photographs.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30I think it was the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester
0:33:30 > 0:33:34actually had a statement saying it would not exhibit photographs.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39Independent galleries played a crucial role
0:33:39 > 0:33:42in nurturing outsider talents like Peter Mitchell.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45But this new independent scene was diverse.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48It also included publishers and workshops
0:33:48 > 0:33:51and these went on to foster a photographer
0:33:51 > 0:33:53who was very different from Peter.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10One of the most acclaimed photographers of her generation,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14Fay Godwin, worked in that most traditional of genres - landscape.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21Fay struggled to make ends meet as a professional photographer
0:34:21 > 0:34:24but she doggedly pursued her love of landscape photography
0:34:24 > 0:34:28and she finally made her name in 1985
0:34:28 > 0:34:32by publishing a striking black and white collection called Land.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39These were beautiful photographs in a Romantic tradition of landscape
0:34:39 > 0:34:41going back centuries.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46So it's not surprising that her book
0:34:46 > 0:34:49became a coffee table bestseller.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53Land presents a picturesque vision of Britain.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57For Fay, this stood in contrast to her own disillusionment
0:34:57 > 0:35:00with other aspects of national life.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02'I think we're a grotty little country
0:35:02 > 0:35:04'with all sorts of things wrong with it,
0:35:04 > 0:35:08'but that we have some of the most varied and delightful landscape
0:35:08 > 0:35:10'that I've seen anywhere.
0:35:10 > 0:35:11'I love the light here.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15'The weather is often infuriating but it's full of surprises
0:35:15 > 0:35:18'so one can never get bored with it.'
0:35:19 > 0:35:22While Fay was putting together her book,
0:35:22 > 0:35:27she attended photographic workshops in Derbyshire to hone her skills.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33The South Bank Show filmed Fay on one of these workshops in 1986.
0:35:33 > 0:35:38But here, politics was discussed as much as f-stops and lenses.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41'The workshops aimed to bring together
0:35:41 > 0:35:43'like-minded photographers
0:35:43 > 0:35:47'to talk about ideology as well as technique.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51'I've come to Derbyshire to follow in Fay's footsteps
0:35:51 > 0:35:53'and talk with the founder of the workshops
0:35:53 > 0:35:56'that transformed her practice.'
0:35:56 > 0:35:59The time was right with a sort of sense of independence
0:35:59 > 0:36:01in photography.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03A lot of photographers were fed up
0:36:03 > 0:36:06with having only to be, you know, making work
0:36:06 > 0:36:09to illustrate text or sell products.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12- As ordered by a picture editor? - Exactly.
0:36:12 > 0:36:13And one of those was Fay.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17What she found, I think, from the workshops was about ideas.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20And I think this, you know, was important,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22that it was about her,
0:36:22 > 0:36:26not just about a particular style, you know, or an approach.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28And to be more experimental.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30And to push the boat out a bit.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33I think this gave her the confidence to actually do that
0:36:33 > 0:36:37and obviously the result of that you can see in her work.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41Do you think the workshops freed up Fay's radical spirit?
0:36:41 > 0:36:43I think so, because she could see it was about ideas.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45She could say something with her pictures.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48Really, that's what she wanted to do, she wanted to say things
0:36:48 > 0:36:51about the land and access to the land
0:36:51 > 0:36:54and she was very political in many respects.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58And I think she felt that photography could be a vehicle
0:36:58 > 0:37:03for her ideas but also her beliefs and her opinions.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09Curator Val Williams also attended workshops in the late 1970s.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14And she watched on as Fay's work took a new turn.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21Fay Godwin was an important person in independent British photography
0:37:21 > 0:37:23because she represented landscape.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26And that was thin on the ground.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30She found out a lot of things about the way the land was being used
0:37:30 > 0:37:35and particularly about so much land had been corralled by the MoD
0:37:35 > 0:37:38in the Second World War and then not given back.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40They were supposed to give it back but they didn't.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43So, gradually, as she got to know more about the land
0:37:43 > 0:37:45she became more political.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51In the pages of Fay's follow-up book, Our Forbidden Land,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53you can see the change in her photography.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00Here she works almost like a photojournalist,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03trying to convey a message about how the land is being bought up,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06restricted and controlled,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09and how little influence we have over this.
0:38:12 > 0:38:17Fay Godwin was showing how politics, money and power
0:38:17 > 0:38:20were transforming the landscape.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23But, elsewhere, another photographer was examining
0:38:23 > 0:38:27how these very same forces were changing us.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32MUSIC
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Is he serious? Is he a satirist?
0:38:52 > 0:38:56Martin Parr's acutely observed images of British people
0:38:56 > 0:38:59have certainly divided opinion.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02But they've also made him one of the most famous photographers
0:39:02 > 0:39:04in the country today.
0:39:07 > 0:39:12I notice when you're working, when you start you're very discreet, you work around the edges.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15And as you warm up and probably as they get more relaxed with you
0:39:15 > 0:39:18you move in amongst the dancers.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20Are you conscious of that way of working,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22that you soften them up a little?
0:39:22 > 0:39:26It's funny, you tell me that, and it's something I'm not conscious of.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28It's something that you do.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33And, of course, you have to watch and observe and see what's happening
0:39:33 > 0:39:38and then find a way of lining up the things to really make it work.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48What attracts you to these old seaside towns like Scarborough?
0:39:48 > 0:39:51When I was a kid I used to come and stay with my grandfather.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54He used to take me here and he's an amateur photographer.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57So in a sense the person that really got me excited about photography
0:39:57 > 0:39:59was him.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01And one of the places we came to was Scarborough.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06But it's the photographs Martin took of another seaside town
0:40:06 > 0:40:08that made his name.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12# Shout, shout, let it all out... #
0:40:12 > 0:40:16In 1984, he published a book of photographs taken in New Brighton
0:40:16 > 0:40:18near Liverpool.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20He called it The Last Resort.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24# I'm talking to you, come on... #
0:40:24 > 0:40:27There's something about these photographs
0:40:27 > 0:40:30that remind me of John Hinde's postcards.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35Martin Parr mixes the quality and colour of commercial photography
0:40:35 > 0:40:37with documentary realism.
0:40:37 > 0:40:42The resulting pictures are hyperreal, almost cartoon-like.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46But some critics accuse him of being cruel, even snobbish.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53Val Williams showed some of his early work at her gallery.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55There was a kind of strange feeling at that time.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59Maybe there was a kind of element of hysteria in it,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02that there were people you were allowed to photograph,
0:41:02 > 0:41:03which was basically toffs.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06You could kind of make fun of them as much as you wanted to.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10But there were other people that you weren't allowed to photograph.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13I think that was a very, kind of, tricky and difficult position,
0:41:13 > 0:41:15which is, erm...
0:41:15 > 0:41:18which really pervaded photography for a long time.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22That kind of discussion about who you could and couldn't photograph.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26And it's an argument that's full of holes, really.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32Parr denied that he was making fun of his subjects in The Last Resort.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35But the criticism must have touched a nerve
0:41:35 > 0:41:40because in his follow-up book he turned his camera on his own tribe.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42# I find it kind of sad
0:41:42 > 0:41:46# The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had... #
0:41:46 > 0:41:48Why did you focus on the middle classes
0:41:48 > 0:41:50for your book The Cost Of Living?
0:41:50 > 0:41:53I mean, previous to that I'd done a project about
0:41:53 > 0:41:57the working-class resort of New Brighton, just near to Liverpool.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00And I decided after that that I should try and do another class,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03a class that actually hadn't been photographed that much,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06and that's the class that I was a member of.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09In order to do this we decided that I had to move from Liverpool,
0:42:09 > 0:42:12about the least middle-class city in the UK, down to Bristol,
0:42:12 > 0:42:14which is where I currently live.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16# Because I find it hard to take
0:42:16 > 0:42:18# When people run in circles
0:42:18 > 0:42:20# It's a very, very
0:42:20 > 0:42:22# Mad world... #
0:42:22 > 0:42:24For me it was partly therapeutic
0:42:24 > 0:42:27because here we were in the time of Mrs Thatcher.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29I didn't like Mrs Thatcher at all.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32I felt quite uncomfortable about her, yet my career was thriving.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36So that sort of guilt that's always associated with the middle classes
0:42:36 > 0:42:39was one of the reasons why I wanted to explore it as a subject matter.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43I went to things that I was part of, such as, you know,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46my partner was pregnant so we went to the antenatal classes
0:42:46 > 0:42:48run by the NCT.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52But then I also photographed things that I didn't feel particularly
0:42:52 > 0:42:55connected to, like craft fairs. I've never been a big fan of them.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57So I went to them.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00So I used my prejudices as almost my starting point.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04So I did both the things I liked and the things that I didn't like.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06How important is humour in your work?
0:43:06 > 0:43:09People are funny. I mean, there's no question about that.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13To pretend that people and what they do aren't...isn't funny and...
0:43:13 > 0:43:15It would be ridiculous.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18But it's not just to take the piss out of people, you know?
0:43:18 > 0:43:21I'm taking, remember, the piss out of myself, you know,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23that's the first thing to say.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26And I'm just photographing people with a sense of mischief.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30And there is a great, sort of, satirical, you know,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33tradition in the UK which I feel I'm part of.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37Martin Parr's eye misses nothing.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40He made a comedy out of life in the '80s
0:43:40 > 0:43:43by scrutinising the most banal of activities.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46This was a decade driven by aspiration.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48How you looked, what you wore,
0:43:48 > 0:43:52and where you shopped wear badges of social status.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55Religiously attending aerobics classes
0:43:55 > 0:43:58or buying the right kind of furniture
0:43:58 > 0:44:00were tickets into a new middle class.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04With his use of colour and flash,
0:44:04 > 0:44:08Parr's photographs look more like glossy magazine shots
0:44:08 > 0:44:11than traditional documentary images.
0:44:11 > 0:44:16This made his satire of consumerism even more pointed and effective.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20I was picking up on the language of commercial photography
0:44:20 > 0:44:24and I wanted to show almost, like, quality of advertising
0:44:24 > 0:44:26with the colour but, of course, I'm applying it
0:44:26 > 0:44:30to my own art situation rather than, sort of, a commercial situation.
0:44:30 > 0:44:35So even now I still use flash a lot because I like the intensity
0:44:35 > 0:44:36that it brings.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40It makes things...it gives them a slightly surreal feel to it.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44So even though I often don't need flash, I will have it on the camera
0:44:44 > 0:44:48and include it because it just helps to, sort of, detach it
0:44:48 > 0:44:50from the reality that we're looking at
0:44:50 > 0:44:53and it makes it clearer that it's an interpretation of the scene
0:44:53 > 0:44:56rather than just a depiction of it.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00There's an absurdity in this book which is just wonderful, I think.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04And I think probably it's his most autobiographical book
0:45:04 > 0:45:07because he was in exactly that same position, as we all were.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09You know, we'd stopped being very young
0:45:09 > 0:45:12and we were trying to work out who we were and where to go
0:45:12 > 0:45:15and how to deal with, kind of, all this stuff.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18And I think that it's a kind of growing up book, I think.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20And I've always loved it because of that.
0:45:22 > 0:45:27In his photographs, Martin Parr shows us a parallel reality.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31One that's instantly recognisable but somehow ludicrous.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34A kind of Parr World, if you like.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37And his pictures appeal, I think,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40because they show that everyday life
0:45:40 > 0:45:43can be both humdrum and boring
0:45:43 > 0:45:47but at the same time incredibly strange and surreal.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51Since the publication of The Cost Of Living,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54Martin has been keen to embrace whatever new technology
0:45:54 > 0:45:56can improve his practice.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00Today, I see he is using a digital camera
0:46:00 > 0:46:02to photograph the dancers.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06The advances of the technology in terms of digital
0:46:06 > 0:46:09have been quite profound in the sort of nine or ten years
0:46:09 > 0:46:11since I've been using digital.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14And the quality you get now is quite staggering.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17It's just mind-blowing when you see the big prints you can get
0:46:17 > 0:46:20from a 35mm DSLR.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27But unlike Martin Parr, I'm a little bit more sceptical
0:46:27 > 0:46:30about digital photography and what it means for my own work.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33BELL RINGS
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Today I also use a digital camera
0:46:36 > 0:46:39that can take thousands of high-quality images,
0:46:39 > 0:46:43some of which can be sent over to picture editors in seconds.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49And these cameras are more like computers.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Focus and exposure are automated,
0:46:52 > 0:46:56which certainly makes photographing fast action easier.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01But my worry is now that the camera does so much of the work
0:47:01 > 0:47:05that less consideration goes into the actual composition
0:47:05 > 0:47:07and framing of the picture.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11And, of course, everybody's a photographer now.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17In the mid-1990s, it was estimated that 20 billion images
0:47:17 > 0:47:20were being taken worldwide.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24And by 2013, that figure had doubled.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30So, in this vast ocean of images, how are you supposed to take
0:47:30 > 0:47:34a really great photograph - one that actually stands out?
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Though I've got my doubts about digital,
0:47:45 > 0:47:48I know it has opened up fresh possibilities
0:47:48 > 0:47:50for a new kind of photographer.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52I've come to Manchester to visit someone
0:47:52 > 0:47:55who's exploring the new frontier of photography.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00Mishka Henner makes startling pictures using material
0:48:00 > 0:48:01he finds on the internet.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05'But in his studio there's not a camera in sight.
0:48:05 > 0:48:10'Mishka uses satellite imagery to access forbidden places
0:48:10 > 0:48:14'such as these areas of industrial farmland in Texas.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19'Now, it strikes me that Mishka has something in common with Fay Godwin.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22'These are very different kinds of images
0:48:22 > 0:48:27'but both try to reveal how the landscape is used and controlled.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31'Mishka is following on from Fay by pushing the limits
0:48:31 > 0:48:33'of this oldest of photographic genres.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39'So I've asked him to follow her and create a new set of photographs
0:48:39 > 0:48:42'revealing secret parts of Britain.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45'Places that she could only dream of accessing.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51'And I want Mishka to show me, step-by-step, how he works.'
0:48:52 > 0:48:54So, what do you think this is?
0:48:54 > 0:48:59Well, to my eye, I think this is an industrial park of some sort.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03I imagine, by looking at this, a series of buildings
0:49:03 > 0:49:07that are interconnected, which are quite big and quite important.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11Well, an industrial park would be, yeah, an interesting take on it.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13It's a map of Britain.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18And each colour represents a different zone
0:49:18 > 0:49:21that is restricted or hazardous for one reason or another.
0:49:21 > 0:49:26So the red areas are danger areas where military activity takes place.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29The grey areas are the flight corridors
0:49:29 > 0:49:33used by commercial and non-commercial aircraft.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35And how do you find this information out?
0:49:35 > 0:49:37This is a map that's available online.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41It's a map that any pilot or would-be pilot would use
0:49:41 > 0:49:45to know where they can and can't go in the British Isles.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48The minute you start to find restricted areas
0:49:48 > 0:49:50you're already on to something
0:49:50 > 0:49:53because the fact that it's restricted means
0:49:53 > 0:49:57there's something there that is being hidden away, if you like.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59And then what do you do with it next?
0:49:59 > 0:50:02There's a reference document that goes with the map
0:50:02 > 0:50:05that tells you the exact co-ordinates of these areas.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07So what we would do is we would take those co-ordinates
0:50:07 > 0:50:11and put those co-ordinates into a basic satellite image
0:50:11 > 0:50:13piece of software like Google Earth
0:50:13 > 0:50:15and see the aerial imagery of that area.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18So we can take... we'll take this one here.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21MUSIC: Sun by Caribou
0:50:30 > 0:50:34So this is a site in Essex called Fingringhoe Ranges.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38It's a site used by the military to...
0:50:38 > 0:50:41As a...as a live firing range.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44It's also, as it happens...
0:50:44 > 0:50:47A Site of Special Scientific Interest
0:50:47 > 0:50:49and a special protection area
0:50:49 > 0:50:51and there's a nature reserve in there as well.
0:50:52 > 0:50:57It's the kind of place that is full of all of the contradictory elements
0:50:57 > 0:50:59that make up Britain.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02This is the area that we were looking at on the screen.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05So what I've done is, I've taken the boundaries
0:51:05 > 0:51:07set by the aerial chart
0:51:07 > 0:51:12and I've superimposed that over the satellite image.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15So you've got the exact co-ordinates of the location,
0:51:15 > 0:51:17which the boundary marks.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20And then you've got the name of the site itself.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23Now, is this documentary photography?
0:51:23 > 0:51:26Well, I think it's trying to make things visible
0:51:26 > 0:51:31that are, for the most part, I think, kept hidden away from us,
0:51:31 > 0:51:35which is what I think all good documentary and art does.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39There is a photograph in there that's in the world
0:51:39 > 0:51:42that I have changed the context of
0:51:42 > 0:51:45but there's also a combination of lots of other elements
0:51:45 > 0:51:49such as the graphic element which comes from the chart,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52the text element which comes from research documents.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54So, in a sense, it's...
0:51:54 > 0:51:57You can think of them as samples, different samples...
0:51:57 > 0:52:00- As in music? - Like, like, that's right, yeah.
0:52:00 > 0:52:05As a musician might work today, taking samples of different things
0:52:05 > 0:52:08and then putting them together to make a new composition.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11You know, we're living in a time where
0:52:11 > 0:52:13there's an absolute abundance of material.
0:52:13 > 0:52:18And to not work with it, regardless of whether you are
0:52:18 > 0:52:22the original author of the original sample seems...
0:52:22 > 0:52:25it seems absurd.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32The digital revolution hasn't just profoundly changed the way
0:52:32 > 0:52:36we make photographs, but also how we present and share them.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39MUSIC: The Look by Metronomy
0:52:42 > 0:52:46Instagram fuses two aspects of the digital world -
0:52:46 > 0:52:49photography and social media.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55And 16-year-old Molly Boniface from Huddersfield
0:52:55 > 0:53:00is one of 500 million Instagram users worldwide.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05With her smartphone,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08Molly takes snapshots and shares them instantly online.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13This clearly isn't just a hobby for Molly.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15Look how many photographs she takes.
0:53:22 > 0:53:27Molly expresses herself through photography every day of her life.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37The medium has never been more alive
0:53:37 > 0:53:40than in the hands of someone like her.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46'I've come to learn a little bit more
0:53:46 > 0:53:48'about its role in Molly's life.'
0:53:54 > 0:53:57Tell me how important photography is to you.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00Right, I think, for me personally, it's really important
0:54:00 > 0:54:03because I've always liked art
0:54:03 > 0:54:07and I think photography's the most instant way of doing that.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09And all the time, like, wherever...
0:54:09 > 0:54:12If I go out, that's what I look forward to.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15To taking pictures of whatever I see.
0:54:15 > 0:54:17Since I've got a phone as well,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20that's something that I can just use all the time.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24- And that's always there. - So the camera is always with you?
0:54:24 > 0:54:27Yeah, yeah, it's just what I do all the time.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29I don't know.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32And, essentially, are you having fun with photography?
0:54:32 > 0:54:34- Is that what it's really about? - Yeah, yeah.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36It's a social thing as well, like.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41Me and all my friends, sort of, that's something that we bond over,
0:54:41 > 0:54:43it's the photos that we take and...
0:54:43 > 0:54:46we share them and it's cool.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Do you have any idea how many people are looking at your photos?
0:54:49 > 0:54:54Well, I have on my account about 1,300 followers.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58So, that's quite a lot of people, I think.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02More people than I could show otherwise.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06There are people that follow me that I don't know,
0:55:06 > 0:55:08they don't know me,
0:55:08 > 0:55:11we never speak, you know, they could be from anywhere.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14But they've just seen my pictures and thought that they like them.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Are the photographs of you on Instagram really you
0:55:17 > 0:55:19or a version of you?
0:55:19 > 0:55:23I think it's very much a version of me that I choose to show everyone.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25Because I am aware that I have a lot of followers
0:55:25 > 0:55:27and everyone can see that.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30And I think it's kind of like a public diary
0:55:30 > 0:55:32that I think looks nice.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34So I choose to show everyone.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38And when I look back it's like a refined version,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41whereas I keep other stuff, other pictures, just for me.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44MUSIC: The Look by Metronomy
0:55:54 > 0:55:56What makes a great photograph for you?
0:55:56 > 0:56:00Well, I actually took one of my favourite ones on my Instagram here.
0:56:00 > 0:56:01I'll show you.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05It was my friend taking a photo of this view.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08So you're taking a picture of your mate taking a picture?
0:56:08 > 0:56:10Yeah, yeah, basically.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13I just...I really like this one because I really like the symmetry,
0:56:13 > 0:56:17you know, and I like the contrast of her jumper, you know, and bag,
0:56:17 > 0:56:20it's so bright against just green.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23And can you show me how you worked up to this picture?
0:56:23 > 0:56:26Well, yeah, I took a few others but that was the only one I posted.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30You know, I took, like, panorama ones because it's nice.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33This place is so spooky, isn't it? Look at the mood of that.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35Yeah, it's quite dark light.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38- What would you do with the rest? Would you keep them, or...?- Yeah.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42I mean, I've kept them all and I think I've printed a few off.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45But, yeah, that was the only one that I chose to put online.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49So that's gone out there to all your followers around the world.
0:56:49 > 0:56:51That was the one that was worthy!
0:56:57 > 0:57:01'Taking photos is central to who Molly is.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05'And it's the self-portrait that dominates her pictures.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07'For her and many others,
0:57:07 > 0:57:11'it has become THE photograph of the 21st century.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15'So the most important subject for the everyday photographer
0:57:15 > 0:57:17'is now themselves.'
0:57:19 > 0:57:22MUSIC: Dayvan Cowboy by Boards of Canada
0:57:28 > 0:57:32I've travelled a long way since my journey began
0:57:32 > 0:57:34in front of a window in Lacock Abbey
0:57:34 > 0:57:40where the first British photograph was taken more than 180 years ago.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44I've seen the changing ways we've pictured ourselves.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49I've learned how science and technology
0:57:49 > 0:57:51have shaped the course of photography
0:57:51 > 0:57:53at every stage of its history.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57And how great art has come from the camera,
0:57:57 > 0:58:02with every era producing its own photographic masterpieces.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07And looking at all of this,
0:58:07 > 0:58:12I can only marvel at the genius photography has for reinvention.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15And that makes me optimistic for the future.
0:58:16 > 0:58:20Because my profession has always shown itself ready and willing
0:58:20 > 0:58:23to find ever more extraordinary ways
0:58:23 > 0:58:26of bringing Britain into focus.