We can all visualise a Friday or Saturday night out in any U.K city or town; Police and paramedics being on standby, doormen stripping you from head to toe with their eyes before they let you in, long queues outside the venues and the nearby ATM, unlicensed taxi drivers trying to fish some customers at the one corner and drug pushers at the other, the keeper of the nearby off-license shop living in fear, but at the same time hoping to make some extra cash from the booze she/he has on offer, sirens, U.K’s OST, keeping on buzzing all night long, scattered litter across the streets and pavements from the consumption of fast food, the young lad on the pavement vomiting on his £7.00, brand new, made in India, H & M shirt, while his friend is pissing a few feet away from his head.
But let us see how two photographers have captured the essence of drinking in the U.K through their photographic lens.
Cardiff-based, Polish photographer, Maciej Dakowicz in his project “Cardiff After Dark’ takes us in the streets of the Welsh capital where vomit, lust, piss, violence, and love somehow harmoniously coexist. It is as if all these terms have found their natural order in Cardiff’s streets. Dakowicz focuses on young people most of them in their mid- and late- twenties and his images are dominated by humour and the burlesque, capturing decisive moments as they unfold in front of the photographic lens.
His pictures reflect a ‘how-things-are’ atmosphere making me feel as if I was there, bringing back memories of the streets of Bristol, Huddersfield and London, where I have lived. His street photography technique beautifies the scene, giving a sense of theatricality and performance. His pictures are at the same time both windows and mirrors of the beauty and wildness of the everyday life. They reflect upon a reality, as it is, without props, as everything the photographer needs is already there for him to capture and kindly offers to us, the viewers.
© Maciej Dakowicz http://www.maciejdakowicz.com/gallery2.php?dir=01cardiff/01a_cardiffnightlife
His project surely is an invaluable insight to a fragment of contemporary society. However, my question is whether this project and each image contain a punctum and what stance does the photographer take? What does he want to show? Is the photographer critically standing against the phenomenon, is he in favour of it or is he a neutral observer (even though photography and neutrality cannot fit together)?
Let us now move on to English photographer, Peter Dench. In his text accompanying his project ‘drinkUK’, he argues that: ‘Britain has become a nation of binge drinkers. The statistics are alarming - 121% more alcohol is being consumed than 50 years ago. The British are drinking younger, longer, faster and more cheaply than ever before. Binge drinking followed by public order problems are becoming increasingly common in towns and cities.’
Dench wants to showcase drinking as something classless and at the same time hazardous to society. His depiction of a wide range of social classes and situations where binge drinking takes place reflects his concerns that he has put in his introductory text. Yes, the lads are there, the ball games and horse racing, the pub and the club, the car crash and the grave. But, I cannot see how the humour can fit in this project, as the introductory text burdens the project with seriousness.
© Peter Dench http://www.peterdench.com/#/drinkuk/059_1
It could be that Dench’s admiration of Martin Parr, lead him to this path (in his own words ‘Looking through the books of Elliott Erwitt and Martin Parr is the reason I got into photography’). This is not to say that humour cannot be used as a tool to tackle a serious topic like this one. But his pictures, with the exception of the one depicting the grave and the car crash, make me sympathise with his subjects, rather than to think how disastrous alcohol can be. And I do not mean that the text or the images are not good or strong enough, but rather the way the two have been combined strips away something of the photographer’s intention as described in his text.
Although, there is no need to compare the two bodies of work as they both stand in their own right, I feel that what Dakowicz is after is more precise and concrete. Maybe the fact that he is not English makes him focus more on instances he might find striking in a rather Weegeean way.
On the other hand, Dench’s approach is more variable and extended in a sociological sense than Dakowicz’s and directed by his national identity. What I mean by that is that Dench is occupied with alcohol at large, as a societal phenomenon, taking place in his country, with its causes and effects, whereas Dakowicz is more concerned with the decisive moment he encounters in the streets of Cardiff.
But what both projects have in common is the way they reflect upon our postmodern anxieties. These in turn, disguised under the influence of alcohol lead us to seek a bit of jouissance at the end of the ‘hectic’ week we have encountered. Outside the norm of the office or workplace we seek the chance of a pre-constructed adventure in the nearest pub or nightclub; somewhere where we make the rules for ourselves, without taking any responsibility of our ego, but always trying to keep our superego intact. But, as the hours pass the id takes over and then things can go very bad…but, even then there is always the ‘Other’ to blame, namely alcohol. At the end of the night, the only thing remaining is still the hope for some jouissance. So, shall we get pissed next week Friday?
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