Peter Merry

Peter is a project based street photographer working mainly in London and the south coast towns. His photography explores the urban; looking at how people live, create and interact with their surroundings.

His images often capture poetic and dreamlike elements of the city and rarely include identifiable people. Movement plays a major part in many of his images.

Most of his photography is presented in triptych or project form, preferring to show images in complementary groups.

Peter's images prepared for the Summer Exhibition are shown below:

DARK LONDON

The ‘Dark London’ triptych gives an impression of the darker side of the city. There are bright lights but it’s the dark corners and shadowy figures that add interest to these late night exploration.

In the first image a silhouetted group approach down the tunnels of Leake Street toward a lone cyclist making their way home.
In the second a late night scene unfolds with individuals dot- ted through Green’s Court, one of Soho’s more interesting alleyways.

In the third someone in the shadows watches people passing along a wet Shaftesbury Avenue late at night.

London is a very safe city but photographs can easily exag- gerate the unease we can feel when out in the city at night.

TAJ MAHAL IMPRESSIONS

The ‘Taj Mahal impressions’ show the monuments visitors in an impressionist light.

We probably all know the classic views of the Taj Mahal; from endless holiday snaps to iconic images (such as Princess Diana alone on a marble bench). So, I used the bright sun and long exposures to create a pair of colourful abstract images. Impressionist images of the visiting tourists.

In the first image movement is allowed to progress within the picture as the two friends explore the beauty of the Taj Mahal. The scene has much of the colour bleached out by the bright sun during the longer than normal exposure.

In the second the light is used again to bleach out all detail other the simple line of visitors, sat on a long step gazing to- ward the mausoleum (built by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1631 for his wife, Mumtaz Mail, who died in childbirth).

MOVING STREET

The ‘Moving street’ triptych is part of an ongoing project capturing movement on the streets of London (through longer than usual exposures).

The first image sees a London Taxi hurrying down Oxford Street.

The second uses a circular movement of the camera to distort the image into a dynamic street scene. The movement leaves the centre of the image sharper than the edges, allowing details of the telephone box (just off Oxford Street) to be seen quite clearly.

The third is simply a bicycle on a Soho street. The image was shot from the waist without great concern for composition, re- lying more on colour and pattern for its interest.

Each image was taken using a shutter speed of about 1/10th of a second to allow movement to be seen in the finished image.

TAJ MAHAL DETAIL

The ‘Taj Mahal details’ pair shows some interesting water based details.

The Taj Mahal sits on the bank of the Yamuna River. Water from the river is stored in elevated tanks feeding the pools and fountains.

This pair of images use the pools to show interesting and beautiful details of the Taj Mahal.

The first image is a simple reflection of visitors against a back- drop of the Taj Mahal. The distortion and colour caste provid- ed within the reflection creates an unusual magical view.

The second is a bold pattern picture, using the colours and shapes created by craftsmen almost 400 years ago. Their work remains after all these years, enhancing the space around the mausoleum.

WEST END COLOUR

The ‘West End Colour’ triptych highlights the strong colours found at night in London’s West End.

The large advertising screens, street lighting and shop dis- plays all add to the contrast between the bright lights and the dark corners.

The first image sees someone leaving the scene at Piccadilly Circus. Colourful reflections add interest and intrigue to the wet winter pavement.

The second is of two men outside a Soho club. The first, a delivery rider is waiting to at the side of the road while a sec- ond peeps into the club through the eye level letter box.

The third shows a cold winter evening on Oxford Street. Everyone is wrapped up against the cold wet evening.
The brightly coloured coats and reflected lights bring some joy to this winter scene.

Web: www.PeterMerry.co.uk
Email: info@petermerry.co.uk
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