StreetMax21

Can you tell us about your journey into photography?

StreetMax21 Interview
About the Artist
I was born in Dundee, Scotland. I’ve spent most of my adult life in
London and although I now live in Norfolk, I shuttle between both
locations for work. I became interested in photography by degrees, at
first using it as a means to assist in painting which I studied at art
college. I’ve taken photographs ever since, working professionally for a
while as an architectural photographer. The foray into street
photography came about almost accidentally as a sideline to the large
format architecture I was shooting for clients. I began to realise it was
something I could do on my own terms.
There have been a number of influences on my artistic vision which
have derived from a variety of media, mainly painting. Some favourites
include Nicolas Poussin, Holbein drawings, Ingres drawings, Eadweard
Muybridge, Futurists, Photo-realists including Howard Kanovitz,
conceptualists Opalka, Darboven, Kawara and Lewitt. I believe in
continuity and context in art; one artist/photographer laying the
groundwork for another to follow and reinterpret. That said, I prefer to
perceive what may be relevant artistically/photographically without
looking too closely at the work of other artists/photographers. It’s enough
to be aware of the canon without being overly influenced by it or
committing the sin of repeating it.
About the Winning Series
A series of photographs should have a consistent look. This is made
easier for me given that for 15 years now I’ve honed my own unique
perspective on how to shoot street photography. Asking oneself if
anyone could have taken these photographs, or is it only I who could
have have seen and executed them in this way, is an important question
and one that begets a signature style. A central part of my method lies in
deliberately and relentlessly using photographic layering. It’s a technique
I’ve chosen to give visual expression to the human condition now, and to
comment on aspects of human behaviour in cities.
In this series, as in others, I attempt an other-worldly street scene
designed to illustrate a boundary between the real and virtual worlds. By
waiting, often for long periods, for the right organic distribution of people,
I make photographs which appear fictitious and constructed but are
nonetheless shot in real time. Non-speaking city dwellers are spatially
arranged as if carefully directed. They appear as ciphers preconditioned
to act like self-absorbed passersby, connected by no means other than
where they were when the photograph was taken. Conceptually, these
are simple recordings of people walking with undisclosed purpose,
isolated in seemingly choreographed but otherwise uninteresting
tableaux. A real city appears like a science fictional one.
About Vision…
I’m concerned with how to photograph today’s city. It’s no longer enough
to candidly record the churn and disorderly vitality of a city’s streets like
street photographers of old. Other factors have crept into twenty-first
century living that alter the city’s cohesiveness. We have an increasingly
designed environment where digital technology is omni-present and
manifesting change in peoples’ behaviour. I would contend that this
contextual shift requires a new response from photographers and others
tasked with recording it. Tradition doesn’t have to be repeated but can
be played with and reinterpreted. By working within the conventions of
straight and street photography, it’s possible to reinvigorate these
historically respected genres to a point where our expectations of them
are unsettled.
…and the Future
I’m delighted to have been recognised by NIPA and to have won this
award. It’s always gratifying to have a positive response on introducing
one’s work to new people. Some of the images in this winning series will
be included in a new monograph entitled “Cipher City” to be published
by Daylight Books in New York in Spring 2026.