Research Point: Boltonworktown.

Research Point: Boltonworktown.

The Boltonworktown project was part of a larger UK project of mass observation.  It’s aim was, “..to systematically record human activity in the industrial town.”  The whole project ran from 1937 to 1960.  The reason for the project was similar to the Farm Security Administration project in the USA, but Spender was far less intrusive than Dorothea Lange and the other American photographers were on their project.

The role given to the photographer Humphrey Spender was to be, “The unobserved observer.” photographing the everyday activities of the residents of Bolton.  Spender’s innovative use of a 35mm Contax camera allowed him to capture discrete images that would not have been possible with the larger cameras in general use at that time.  His employment of a Biogen 28mm lens gave him the ability to obtain good indoor shots.

During the period 1937-8 he took 850 images.  They were divided into 13 groups: Blackpool,ceremonies, graffiti, industry, leisure, observers, politics, religion, shopping, sport, street, and work.  These were not artificial boxes into which people were forced to fit but actual categories that were constructed to explain the activities of Bolton’s residents.

It was like a breath of fresh air going through the available archive on the Boltonworktown site looking at images of people going about their normal lives. There is none of the false imagery found in the work of Sander or Avedon, who seem to put art before documentary.  These were real people in real situations and the photographs recorded it.  These are documentary photographs.

The reason for the project was similar to the Farm Security Administration project in the USA, but Spender was far less intrusive than Dorothea Lange and the other American photographers were on theirs.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass-Observation
[Accessed: 29th. July 2015].

http://boltonworktown.co.uk
[Accessed: 29th. July 2015].