“The essence of Last Stop is that you might take the same route every day but what you see, the ebb and flow on the street takes on a random nature, like a series of fleeting mini soap operas”
– George Georgiou, Last Stop, 2015
In Last Stop, London-born photographer George Georgiou captured the city through the windows of double-decker buses. His view, mostly from the top deck, shows us the city unfolding on the street below.
“We fill in the blanks, a little like when we drive past an accident on the highway, we glimpse the crashed car and imagine the rest. How we perceive became an important element in the work.” Georgiou says. “Are they secret lovers or a married couple? The essence of the project is that you might take the same route everyday but what you see, the ebb and flow on the street, takes on a random nature.”
As with so much great street photography, we are invited to imaging the stories between…
“The lower level is very close to the street, where I’m almost touching the people in the traditional form of street photography. The upper deck allows me the distance to capture the layers of the urban landscape.”
– George Georgiou, Last Stop
“In 2008 I returned to London having spent the last nine years living and working in Eastern Europe and Turkey and was surprised by the speed of change that had taken place. I wanted to document the city, its movements and migrations, its landscape and architecture, its diversity and energy. I wanted to understand how so many people from all over the world manage to share the same space.”
– George Georgiou
“In sitting behind the window, I also became invisible but the bus also gives you the privilege to see and understand the emotional content of London’s everyday movements, rhythms and rituals.”
– George Georgiou
“The essence of the project is that you might take the same route everyday but what you see, the ebb and flow on the street takes on a random nature. To capture this flow, the concertina format reflects and mimics the feel of a bus journey, but more importantly it gives the viewer the opportunity to create their own journeys by spreading the book out and combining different images together. This moves the book away from an author-led linear narrative to one of multiple possibilities.”
– George Georgiou
“As a photographer I wanted the challenge of not having full control, taking whatever free seat there was next to the window, only being able to photograph, what was within reach of my static position and in front of me. Just a fleeting glance. Nonetheless, my photography is not detached. I try to capture and understand the emotional content of London’s everyday movements, rhythms and rituals. I am part of this, it is also my movement, my community, my home.”
—George Georgiou
Children play in the gardens of a housing block along the route of Bus 188 between Russell Square and North Greenwich.
[This image was photographed through the window of one of London’s double decker busses and is part of ‘Last Stop’, a photo project now published as a book, which aims to document the city, its movements and migrations, its landscape and architecture, its diversity and energy.]
Via: AscentureVegegtal
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