CETell us about your background….

DBI was born and raised on the Isle of Wight, but my parents were both Londoners and our household had a very strong affiliation and loyalty to the big city so it was natural for me to come and live here. My ancestors were eastenders going back 200 years, Hackney, Whitechapel and Bethnal Green, it always feels like home.

My first job was “in the print” in Soho in the late 70’s and there I met up with all sorts of creative people: photographers, painters, film makers and graphic designers. Everyone was ducking and diving, trying to make a few quid and have a laugh. The London scene was undergoing a revival after a bit of a lull, punk had just happened and there was loads of creative energy, clothes, images, music. It all came together. I wanted to take pictures because I loved the idea of preserving frozen moments for eternity and although I was untrained, I thought the medium was well suited to the chancer that I definitely was!

I asked all the big pro photographers I knew if they needed an assistant, Brain Griffin, Red Saunders, Martin Parr……Red said yes and I was with him for a year, he was Hackney based and very politically active, he had set up Rock against Racism, but he is a very versatile professional, doing all sorts, editorial, advertising and portraits. It was a total education, politically and photographically. I felt ready to take on the world after that!

CEWhen and why did start taking photographs in Hackney, London?

DBI was living here (from 1980) and I wanted to document the world around me, I had no desire to travel, at least not with a camera. It was important that my photographic life was integrated with everyday life; I tried journalism but was not ruthless enough to be any good. I needed to find projects that were more personal and took longer to complete. I did building work to support myself and just wandered about with a camera.

Then I got a commission to photograph Hackney Hospitals, the German hospital had just closed and Homerton had just opened. It was great; it took a year to complete, some were published and I felt I was on my way. Hackney was a fascinating place in the 1980s; a bit old fashioned but full of a wonderful mixture of people who seemed to get on very well with each other. The street vibe was very positive, unlike any other parts of London. I felt they must have invented the word community here; no wonder Marx did so much crucial research on these streets! It was the perfect place to photograph if you were interested in ‘social documentary’, the ideal civic template for a perfect world! Still is, that’s why I am still here and my kids are here.

CEHow do you feel the area has changed over the time you have been photographing there?

DBI started living here as Margaret Thatcher’s government took power and the effect was immediate; a lot of the core industries of the area didn’t survive their attitude to manufacturing, which was the areas lifeblood. Unemployment rose rapidly, it seemed nobody had decent work, including me. The saviour was the growth of the area as a cultural centre, though of course in those days, nobody called it that.

It was just that the old empty factories were ripe for invasion by artists and that’s what we did, we took over! By the end of the 1980’s Hackney had the highest concentration of visual artists in Europe. This in turn was used by property developers to sexify the area and create the image we have today. Of course, the Olympics are the proof that the equation works, it’s called regeneration and is now used everywhere in the UK as the template. Marx was right in a way, he saw it coming but big business took over and diluted the essence. So we now have an enterprise culture. That’s how Hackney has changed and that is what I have been taking pictures of over the last thirty years.

CEWhen you started shooting in Hackney were you following certain stories, or shooting instinctively, as a street photographer?

DBI always carry a camera, it’s like a weapon in a holster; it protects me and gets me out of sticky situations if needs be. It sounds weird I know, but I feel like a hunter, every day I walk out the house with a gun and don’t return until I have bagged me a good shot. I don’t plan too much.

The pictures form themselves into groups and concepts later on, and I let them do it on their own, I don’t interfere. Usually after a year or two I realise I have been focusing on tower blocks, cars, people, whatever. Then I have a collection; show it and move on. Often I return to previous projects much later and re-edit, re-shoot, re-interpret them and they become a new work.

CETell us about the three images selected for Contact; is there a story behind each image?

DB

Holly Street Estate: The picture of the Holly Street Estate was taken from the roof of the German Hospital in 1988; it was freezing and a big storm appeared very quickly. I had climbed up a rickety metal fire escape and the wind was getting crazy. I knew the light was something special and waited as long as I could to get the most dramatic sky. By the time I took this frame it was raining fiercely and the camera (Plaubel 6×7 rangefinder) was soaking; this was the last frame before the camera completely packed up. When I look at the contact sheet now I laugh, because the next frame is just a blur as the shutter was completely knackered.

Trowbridge Estate: The deserted tower block is Highworth Point on the Trowbridge Estate, Hackney. I was photographing the whole demolition process of the estate, which had started the year before. It was 4am on a very cold February 1986, with just a security guard and a dog patrolling the estate, but a few squatters remained in the building, which was being prepared for the blow-down. I think it was a 20 minute exposure; the only light source was a small industrial spotlight behind the corrugated fence. I remember jumping up and down and smoking to try and keep warm!

Emerson Garage: The Emerson garage was housed in the old Edwardian Fire Station beside Downs Court in Amhurst Road, Hackney. I lived in the 6 storey 1930s block that overlooked it, it’s still there. This was another very long exposure in winter on the 6×7. That Fujicolor NLP was a great film really neutral colours and enormous latitude in different light sources. The cold light on the gates was from passing car headlights. It was taken in 1987 mid winter, when the air is sharp and clear and great for ultra long exposures.