On the 25th January, I attended a talk on Shirley Baker’s work at the Hyde Park Picture House led by Lou Stoppard, Griselda Pollack and Anna Douglas.
Shirley Baker, who was born in 1932 and passed away in 2014, was a social documentary photographer who captured street photography images in the post war era. Around this time Britain faced a recession, and the social care system faced serious neglect.
Through her images Baker attempted to show the reality of every day life of people living within the era, but in a warm and compassionate way which aims to remember people from disadvantaged groups, who may have otherwise been forgotten. Subject matter captured by Baker includes children playing with debris from the war, and people walking their dogs. In the frame Baker commonly included architecture, which further emphasised what struggles people in the time period faced through damaged housing.
Attending the talk sparked my interest in portraying society through documentary photography, as this links to my concept for my photo book module. Like Baker I may choose to include images of people and architecture in my work to reflect a lack of money being invested into certain places.
aimeegleavesphotoppp1 