Stories

Stuart Whipps’ career as a photographer has not been the most conventional. He was not obsessed with cameras as a child and shies away from holiday snaps. He only began to explore his interest in the art form at an evening class he attended while working as an operations manager for a leading high street shop.

By then he was 20 years old- an age at which most people already have some idea of which way life will take them. He went to study photography at Wolverhampton, and despite his late start, just six years later he won the prestigious Observer Hodge Award.

Longbridge by Stuart Whipps

"Enticing"

This prize was established in memory of David Hodge, who sustained fatal injuries while photographing the Brixton Riots. Entrants submit a series of photos that tell a story, rather than just one image. Stuart’s series following the closure of the Longbridge Rover plant won the judges over. They called his work “very enticing”, saying, “photographing absence is a difficult thing to do.”

The eight photos document the stark empty space left behind when, in 2004, workers at Birmingham’s MG Rover plant were told to stop production, and simply downed tools, thinking they would return after a few weeks.

"Peripheral events"

Stuart’s images capture this sense of unfussy departure, with coats left hanging on pegs, and cans of soft drink still littering the tables in the deserted canteen. The vast emptiness of the shop floors evoke the last echoes of machines grinding to a halt, and what’s most impressive of all, in the midst of this human story, is that there are no people in any of the photos. 

Longbridge by Stuart Whipps

According to Stuart, this is because he is more interested in ‘the peripheral events’:

“There were a million photographers at Longbridge when it closed, but I was more interested in the aftermath, and the quieter side of that story. I didn’t take any pictures of people except when I had to. The relationship between photographer and subject, the way you treat them and use them, is tricky. Maybe they use you too, but more often than not it’s a one way relationship.”

Telling a story

It is clear that Stuart has a story to tell, and photography is the medium he uses to tell it. His work is not just about the image, nor does it exist in a vacuum, as some photographs can, to be appreciated exclusively for their aesthetic appeal. So where did this approach come from?

“It’s not that I don’t have a love for photography, I really do. I think I just go about it in a slightly different way. I only start making photographs when I have a conceived idea of what I want to do.”

Rea by Stuart Whipps

His past work bears witness to this strategy. The 2007 series Rea juxtaposes Birmingham’s often forgotten river with images of the changing urban landscape around it, and the people to whom it means something, or nothing at all.

Poems by the city’s Poets Laureate accompany each pair of photographs. Its aim was to explore “the relationships and dialogues that exist between the seen and the unseen.”

The edge of beauty

One of his latest projects concentrates on Blaenau Ffestiniog. This welsh town built on slate quarrying is surrounded by Snowdonia National Park, but as Stuart explains:

“Despite being in the centre of the park, the grey slate waste tips that surround Blaenau Ffestiniog prevented it from being officially included in the national park. As such, it is represented cartographically separate from Snowdonia national park, and defined in opposition to the notion of a natural beauty.”

Drawing his inspiration from the minutes of council meetings held in Gwynedd before Snowdonia was officially opened in 1949, Stuart used a portable GPS device to walk the border separating Blaenau Ffestiniog from the park, taking photographs along his route.

Rea by Stuart Whipps

Order and chaos

In common with his studies of Longbridge and the Rea, this work in progress draws attention to permanence, history, the arbitrary line that exists between order and chaos, and how tiny decisions can change a place beyond recognition.

These themes are emblematic of the city in which Stuart was raised: “I grew up on a council estate called Perry Common in north Birmingham. I lived there until I was 14, then moved to Great Barr.

“There are lots of interesting edges and peripheral space in Birmingham, where different areas butt up against each other, and quite huge differences between north and south Birmingham.

Years of change

“I’m interested in specific periods of shift and flux, like the massive housing development after the war, because of the huge shortage before the war, made worse by the Luftwaffe.

“The way Birmingham has changed over the last 20 years is really interesting, with the shift from an industrial to a post industrial economy. It’s actually faired very well, as much as I think there are have been some big mistakes.”  

Blaenau Ffestiniog by Stuart Whipps

Coming from a council estate in north Birmingham has shaped Stuart’s attitude towards art in the city, especially projects termed “community arts”.

Dubious dumming down

“I came from an estate and I went to art galleries when I was young, all the time with my family. There’s this dubious notion that things have to be dummed down and changed, before they’re brought to poorer peoples’ doorsteps.

“I guess there is a need to try and get people involved, but there’s a danger of just paying lip service and patronising people. I think art can be accessible on its own terms, it doesn’t have to be spoon fed to people.

“My old man can’t afford his season ticket at the Blues anymore, give him some subsidy, you know what I mean? Let him go and enjoy some culture- in the heartbreaking despair of a football game, there’s plenty of drama!”

Merry Hill by Stuart Whipps

A Utopian Dream

Stuart is also currently working on an archive of Herbert Manzoni: “He was the chief engineer for the city from 1938 to 1965. He shaped Birmingham as a concrete city of the future.

“I think it’s quite an interesting period, not just in Birmingham but in the UK. There’s a beautiful lack of cynicism, sheer optimism, a utopian dream to transform lives. Manzoni was quite central to a lot of it, and this guy was just an engineer.

“It’d be very rare to see a portrait of an engineer today alongside an article about something that’s going to happen in Birmingham. During that period, the amount of portraits of him is incredible, it’s so personality driven.”

Making ends meets

With many other projects in the pipeline, video installations at the Ikon, and occasional corporate work, Stuart has a lot to occupy him as a photographer, but he is under no illusions as to the nature of the business, and how hard it can be for an artist to make ends meet:

Stuart Whipps

“I’m loaded! No I’m not, that’s a joke. I was picked up for an exhibition as soon as I graduated, so developing my profile as an exhibiting artist has happened really quickly, but that doesn’t give you any money!

“It was only last February that I was completely self employed, with no other job at all, which was very scary.

What's next for Stuart?

“When I tell people I’m a photographer they generally say, oh do you do weddings? I have nothing against people who do weddings, but I don’t think I’ve got those skills within photography, like running around and marshalling people!”

So weddings may not be on the cards, but what else can we expect from Stuart Whipps in the near future? Apart from his work on Blaenau Ffestiniog and Herbert Manzoni, he is currently working on a collaborative project about farming, agriculture and the rural economy, with fellow Birmingham based photographers Chris Keenan and Dan Burwood.

For more information on Stuart Whipps, click on the link above to visit his website.