Without the lubrication of alcohol, it seems people are too ashamed to be pictured feeding their nasty little habit. That’s the impression I get anyway.
Things got so bad last week while trawling the streets of Bolton that I ended up photographing a woman who was rigid with fear when she set eyes on my camera and approaching some Chavs* in a backstreet who threatened to sue me if I put the picture in the paper. Ever tried to tell a Chav that, no, he couldn’t sue me if I used his picture in a newspaper? It’s better just to walk away.
As for the woman… well, at least she said ‘yes’. Photographing smokers at work has been a far from satisfying experience.
But at Bolton University we had renowned photographer and documentary film maker Pieter van der Houwen fly in from Holland for a talk and to asses our project pictures.
Houwen, who produced the documentary Thru Dutch Eyes (well worth a view), said he liked some of my portraits, but suggested I forget about trying to represent all smokers in my project.
So, taking his advice on board, I have decided to concentrate on the social side of smoking for my project, which I now see as a documentation of the working classes as much as smoking (or at least the working classes who smoke).
Enthused by Houwen, I took to the streets of Blackpool again for four hours of dash and grab photography.
Now I have the laborious task of doing a first edit of my photographs, which I will present to Houwen on his next visit to Bolton later in November.
* Chav is a phrase we use here in Britain to describe hooded-top wearing, slightly aggressive teenagers who vandalise and terrorise. They demand respect while failing to give it, fuel themselves on cheap booze and drugs and collect ASBOs.
