“Who are yer?” So goes the popular refrain directed at rival football fans. So who are we – the British? Nick Dazinger has been finding out. A new book by Cafe Royal press looks at the British through his pictures taken between 1994 and 1999.
From the halls of Westminster to inner-city communities, Dazinger shows us the traditions and reality of life in Great Britain in the 1990s across social classes.
His book The British was first pubished in 2001.
The Angel of the North, a steel sculpture by Antony Gormley in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
The House of Lords
The story is all important to me. I want try and give a voice to those who rarely feature in our media. I want to try and inform myself as much as possible about the context, but focus on the individuals and their lives and spend enough time to capture something of the way they live.
– Nick Daziger
“Almost all my work features people, I seek emotion. Some people just stand out as their spirit shines through all their hardships. However difficult the situation, I aim to produce an image that is strong enough to stay with us for more than a cursory moment. I am trying to communicate what it might be like to live as that person in the image. Sometimes I would rather not take the photograph, but I believe the role of a documentary photographer is to shine a light on places and stories that would otherwise go unnoticed.”
– Nick Daziger
“Whilst I’m shooting, I’m fully focused, I have a job to do. Emotionally the strength also comes from knowing that however difficult the situation, I’m privileged and fortunate to be where I am with an escape route and a return ticket.”
– Nick Daziger
The Duke of Westminster – the country’s richest man
Via: Photo Voice, Cafe Royal
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