Daniel Meadows, photographer and digital storyteller, is a twentieth century pioneer of British documentary practice. His photographs and audio recordings, made over almost fifty years, capture uniquely the felt life of the everyday in England. Challenging the status quo he has always worked collaboratively, in a sensitive and gently respectful way.
Fiercely independent from the outset, Meadows contrived his own ways of working: running a free portrait studio in Moss Side (1972), then travelling 10,000 miles in his converted double-decker the Free Photographic Omnibus (1973-74) to make a national portrait, a project he returned to a quarter-of-a-century later. As an early adopter of digital tools he was among the first to combine audio with photographs to make digital stories. Repeatedly he has returned to those he has photographed, listening for how things are and how they've changed.
Daniel Meadows and his Bus 1973. © the estate of Andrew Sproxton
Born in Gloucestershire (1952), he studied at Manchester Polytechnic 1970-73 where he was a contemporary of Brian Griffin and Martin Parr. Later he taught David Hurn's documentary photography course in Newport (1983-94); also photojournalism (1994-2001) and digital storytelling (2000-2012) at Cardiff School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies where he completed his PhD (2005). In the 1990s he taught photojournalism workshops in the emerging democracies of eastern Europe. After 2000 he travelled repeatedly to Australia and the USA lecturing.
Meadows' work, which paved the way for many of those now working in participatory media, has been widely exhibited. Solo shows include the ICA London (1975), Camerawork (1978), the Photographers' Gallery (1987) and a touring retrospective from the National Media Museum (2011). Group shows include Tate Britain (2007) and Hayward Gallery Touring (2008).
His work is held in the most important photography collections and his archive was acquired by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University, where it was celebrated in 2019 with an exhibition and book, Now and Then: England 1970-2015.
On 22 September 1973, Daniel Meadows set off on a long-planned adventure in a rickety 1948 double-decker bus that he had repurposed as his home, gallery and darkroom. The original bus – a low-bridge decker from Barton Transport – cost him just £360.He was intent on making a portrait of England. He was 21 years old.
Over the next 14 months, travelling alone, Meadows crisscrossed the country covering 10,000 miles. He photographed 958 people, in 22 towns and cities. From circus performers to day trippers. He developed and printed the photographs as he went along, giving them away for free to those who posed for him.
22 September 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of Meadows' bus journey, an event which will be celebrated with an exhibition at the Centre for British Photography, London (opening 28 September), a new book from Bluecoat Press, three new editions from Café Royal Books (CRB) and a special guest speaker spot (and public exhibition) at this year’s Northern Eye Festival.
www.danielmeadows.co.uk
Group portrait from the Free Photographic Omnibus, John Payne, aged 11, with pigeon Chequer and friends the White brothers, Michael and Kalvin, Portsmouth. April 1974 ©Daniel Meadows
Double portrait from the Free Photographic Omnibus, Brighton, Sussex. May 1974 ©Daniel Meadows
Double portrait from the Free Photographic Omnibus, David Leigh and Tommy Kemp, Southampton. May 1974 ©Daniel Meadows
Bowie fan, Weymouth, Dorset. July 1974 ©Daniel Meadows
Tanger Troupe, Circus Hoffman, Plymouth. August 1974 ©Daniel Meadows
Group portrait from the Free Photographic Omnibus, Hulme, Manchester. February 1974 ©Daniel Meadows
Now and Then portrait from the Free Photographic Omnibus, Mother and daughter: left, Karen Cubin; right, Barbara Taylor, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. 1974 and 1995 ©Daniel Meadows
Now and Then portrait from the Free Photographic Omnibus, Florence Alma Snoad, Southampton. 1974 and 1999 ©Daniel Meadows