Photography

Ottawa 2023 in photos: Photographer Ashley Fraser’s favourite photos of the year

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Ottawa 2023 in photos: Photographer Ashley Fraser’s favourite photos of the year

Nothing quite captures the tone of a year as distinctly as a collection of images. And so, here’s a look back at Ottawa in 2023, through the lens of Citizen photojournalist, Ashley Fraser.

A look at some of the top images captured by photographer Ashley Fraser during 2023:

Article content

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees claimed a last-second win over the Carleton Ravens in the 2023 Panda Game held on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, at TD Place. Maxim Malenfant of the Gee-Gees battles Raven Eljames Aiguomudu to keep the ball.
The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees claimed a last-second win over the Carleton Ravens in the 2023 Panda Game held on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, at TD Place. Maxim Malenfant of the Gee-Gees battles Raven Eljames Aiguomudu to keep the ball. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

SEE MORE TOP PHOTOS OF THE YEAR

Julie Oliver’s best photos of 2023

Ashley Fraser’s best photos of 2023

Jean Levac’s best photos of 2023

READ MORE HOLIDAY STORIES

Most read stories of the year

Peter Hum’s food reviews in 2023

People we lost: Looking back at the obituaries of 2023

Top animal stories of 2023

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Ottawa 2023 in photos: Photographer Julie Oliver’s favourite photos of the year

By in Photography

Ottawa 2023 in photos: Photographer Julie Oliver’s favourite photos of the year

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These Are The Best Wedding Photos Of 2023

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These Are The Best Wedding Photos Of 2023

The best wedding photos are evocative, stirring up powerful emotion. They showcase a couple’s deep love amid striking backdrops.

Wedding planning website Junebug Weddings recently announced the finalists of their annual Best of the Best Wedding Photography contest. Photographers from around the world submitted nearly 10,000 photos; 50 images made it into the final collection.

Below, we’ve gathered some of our favorites. You can view the rest of the collection on the Junebug Weddings site.

1
In Bianco e Nero
2
Kelsey Justice
3
Fotolux
4
Bettina Vass Photography
5
David Conaty Photography
6
Eye of the Tyne Photography
7
Shari + Mike
8
Juliana Noelle Jumper
9
Juniper Woods Photography
10
The Ferros
11
Sara Rogers Photography
12
The Kitcheners
13
Will Khoury
14
Tara Lilly Photography
15
Cassie Cetlin Photography
16
Sebastien Bicard Photography
17
LOOKIMAGINARY.
18
Carissa Marie Photography
19
Jaakko Perälä
20
Autumn Marie Photography
21
Nikolaichik Photo
22
Shari + Mike
23
Margo Ermolaeva

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Opinion | A.I. Is the Future of Photography. Does That Mean Photography Is Dead?

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Opinion | A.I. Is the Future of Photography. Does That Mean Photography Is Dead?
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John Szarkowski, the legendary curator at the MoMA, once described photography as “the act of pointing.” And for the nearly 200 years since its inception, photography has consisted of capturing a visual perspective from the physical world using light — first with light-sensitive plates, then film, then digital sensors. When digital cameras became widely available, many photographers lamented the move away from analog technology but basically Szarkowski’s definition still held: Photography consists of pointing, as a reaction to something that exists in the world.

With advent of A.I. image generators, however, this definition feels obsolete.

Generative A.I. tools can produce photorealistic images, typically in response to written prompts. These images are available for purchase from major stock photography agencies, alongside traditional photos. They routinely go viral before being debunked. They even occasionally win prestigious photography prizes. All if which has reignited a two-centuries-old debate: What exactly qualifies as a photograph?

Taysa Jorge is a dancer turned visual artist who uses A.I. to generate moody, otherworldly landscapes: one part Ansel Adams, one part Todd Hido and one part “The Twilight Saga.” “I see both photography and A.I. as tools that help me convey my vision,” she said. “Their synergy serves as a conduit.”Taysa Jorge

This is not a matter of etymological nit-picking. Calling A.I. images “photographs” — a practice I encounter often — can add to a sense of disorientation in what already feels like a profoundly disorienting moment. Thanks to the ubiquity of digital cameras, we live in a world that’s already flooded with photographs — more than a trillion are taken each year. These digital images can already be easily manipulated through existing tools, including ones built into your phone. Yet they still have some direct relationship to real scenes and events that have occurred.

Now we face a new deluge of images that, however artful or convincing, are at a remove from the world. A.I. images are typically digital composites of countless existing photographs, so by what definition are they themselves real? No wonder some observers are asking “how can we believe anything we see?”

Michael Christopher Brown, a photojournalist, has experimented with A.I. in a documentary mode, with controversial results, as with this A.I. image of refugees. ”Photographers know how to create imagery that people respond to,” he said. But these images are “a collaborative effort with a machine.”Michael Christopher Brown

Aside from very real concerns about the livelihoods of professional photographers, especially those who work in commercial photography, I worry that A.I. image generators may leave society as a whole more vulnerable to widespread manipulation — as presaged by hoax A.I. images of Donald Trump violently resisting arrest or, somewhat more comically, of Pope Francis wearing a Balenciaga-inspired coat.

But for all the negative potential, I can also see a possibility that these developments will start a conversation about — and foster an educated skepticism of — all visual media and the relationship of these images, however they are made, to so-called truth.

Bobby Doherty, who is known for hyper-detailed photographs of food, nature and consumer goods captured in a studio setting, has started using A.I. as a compliment to how he works. “I’m blindly mixing different images in a bowl, tossing it in the A.I. oven, and hoping I’ve made a delicious cake.”Bobby Doherty

Artists, writers and theorists have long remarked on our very human tendency to project slippery ideas about truth onto two dimensional surfaces. In 1921, Franz Kafka was told about a miraculous machine that could automatically take one’s portrait, a “mechanical Know-Thyself.” He offered up his own name for the apparatus: “The Mistake-Thyself.” Kafka was ahead of his time — in Susan Sontag’s 1977 essay “In Plato’s Cave,” she wrote, “Although there is a sense in which the camera does indeed capture reality, not just interpret it, photographs are as much an interpretation of the world as paintings and drawings are.” Each photograph, she argued, is inevitably the product of countless decisions informed, consciously or not, by the photographer’s predilections and biases, as well as the limits and parameters of the technology.

So when I hear some people calling the arrival of A.I. an extinction-level event for photography, I often think of the French painter Paul Delaroche who, legend has it, declared painting “dead” after seeing a daguerreotype, one of the first photographic inventions. Painting did not die; it just evolved into a different kind of artistry, freed from the obligations of verisimilitude.

Photography has arrived at a similar crossroads. So I asked four artists who work with A.I.-generated images — Alejandro Cartagena, Charlie Engman, Trevor Paglen and Laurie Simmons — to talk to me about how they’re thinking about the technology and where we might go from here.

Str4nge is an anonymous artist behind A.I.- generated images that imagine hypothetical designs from fashion brands like Nike and Louis Vuitton. “By harnessing the power of A.I.,” Str4nge said, “I sought to minimize waste, reduce the need for exhaustive 3D rendering and generate images that offered a fresh perspective.”Str4nge

This conversation has been edited and condensed.

Gideon Jacobs: Alejandro, you probably have the most experience of anyone here with documentary photography. How do you feel when A.I. images are called “photos”?

Alejandro Cartagena (photographer and publisher of Fellowship, a site dedicated to elevating photography and exploring “post-photography” imagery): Yes, these images are photographic — in some sense. For example, the computer models understand framing photographically. They understand how to use the horizon. They understand how to frame a portrait based on 180 years of photographic diarrhea. These models are looking at images, and the most predominant type of image out there is the photograph. I believe this kind of technology was inevitable because what else were we supposed to do with the trillions of images that have been generated?

Jacobs: That’s so interesting — the idea that these image generators were somehow a natural next step; that we had to find a way to make the glut of photos useful, otherwise we’ve spent the last century amassing an enormous, useless, garbage pile of visual noise.

Laurie Simmons (artist and photographer): Terrence McKenna once said, “Stop consuming images and start producing them” — which is kind of an interesting take on what I have been doing. My first A.I. prompt was on Sept. 2, 2022, and it was sort of … I saw the earth move! I felt like an A.I. whisperer. But at the same time, it raised so many questions and it caused me to go down two consecutive paths: the path of making my work and the path of trying to understand what was going on with this technology culturally, politically and in a corporate sense.

Laurie Simmons has been associated with the Pictures Generation, a cohort of artists whose work examined media culture and photography. She’s one of the most prominent artists to embrace A.I. as a tool, which she has combined with traditional printmaking, as with this modified A.I. generated image printed on silk. “The magical and confusing part for me is how much they feel like they’ve come from my imagination,” she said of the A.I. images.Laurie Simmons, “Autofiction: Indoor Swimming Pool (Three Women)” 2023.

Jacobs: Many have recognized the use of manipulative tools like Photoshop and digital filters for decades, but I don’t remember those conversations ever being as heated as the current one around A.I. images. It seems really difficult to orient oneself or take a position on A.I. when the landscape is constantly shifting. Laurie, does working with an A.I. image generator like DALL.E ever feel to you like a photographic process? Do the resulting images feel to you like photographs?

Simmons: Not really — but I don’t consider myself a photographer. I’m an artist who uses a camera. I see these A.I. images in this sort of interstitial space between drawings, photographs and sculpture. They exist somewhere I don’t have the language for yet.

Charlie Engman (photographer and director): I am interested in photographic imagery because of its ostensible relationship to reality, truth — or whatever. With A.I., a big criteria for me is how well it is able to make photographic-looking images — I’m not personally interested in systems that make images that look like paintings, illustrations or 3-D renderings; I’m invested in the photographic image because it has some kind of direct through line to a notion of truth. Even though I know that images are not true, have never been true, part of me does believe in pictures. Part of my interaction with photographs is a willing suspension of disbelief.

Charlie Engman’s photography has appeared in The New Yorker and Vogue, and he’s recently been commissioned to make A.I. images for commercial and editorial clients. A.I., he said, generates “images that are structured by visual culture but not beholden to its meaning, so they reflect visual codes in surprising and often challenging ways.”Charlie Engman

Trevor Paglen (artist and geographer): The idea that a photograph, in and of itself, can record some kind of truth has always been a fiction. Look at Gustave Le Gray, right from the get-go. Look at spirit photography. It’s not possible to make an unmanipulated image.

Simmons: When I picked up a camera initially, I was interested in the fact that pictures could lie, the camera could tell lies. I was never interested in the truth, which is why working with A.I. is such a natural progression for me.

Paglen: You never trust a photograph, right? I’m less worried that we are going to lose some notion of being able to use images to make sense of the world — because we have never made sense of the world only by looking at images. When we do, we end up in weird Loch Ness monster territory.

Cartagena: Everything is subjective. Everything is a selection of reality, hence not reality — not truth.

Trevor Paglen is an artist and geographer whose work explores how computers “think,” as with this photograph that’s been overlaid with information that replicates how A.I. “sees” images. “In the artworks I make, I try to think of A.I. in an expanded sense,” he said, “from individual algorithms to the large-scale cultural, legal, political and environmental implications.”Trevor Paglen, Near Point Arena Haar, 2020

Jacobs: The immense size of the data sets and the way the A.I. generators connect language and image — it makes me wonder if these images are the closest humanity will get to some version of idealism, to seeing Plato’s concept of forms. Maybe DALL.E’s output with the prompt of a word like “cute” is the closest thing we’ll ever have to some consensus of what “cute” looks like.

Charlie Engman: I recently had an article about my A.I. work published in The New Yorker, and in it I’d sort of flippantly said, The amazing thing about A.I. is that I can make, like, 300 pictures a day. Of course, people on the internet read this as the death of creativity! What was so interesting to me is that labor — the time invested in the creation of an image — was an assumed metric of value. So if you can make it that fast, it’s not art.

Cartagena: But it was the same when film transitioned to digital. I remember the heated conversations in the photo club where everybody was like, “You can make 300 images on one shoot? That’s not right! That’s not real photography.”

Jacobs: Reactions to large technological leaps often tend to fall into one of three camps: the alarmist camp, which sees the technological leap as unprecedented and negative; an optimist camp, which sees the leap as unprecedented and positive, and then a camp we could call the perspectivist camp, which tries to keep things in historical perspective by assuming the leap is similar to previous leaps in some way — leaps to which society, to some extent, adjusted. So which camp do you each align with when it comes to A.I.?

Engman: I would position myself in that last camp — the realist camp. Obviously, I have embraced A.I. in my work. I’m excited about its uses from a creative perspective. But I do empathize with people having anxieties about it and I think we should look at what those anxieties are.

Jacobs: Trevor, are you feeling optimistic, pessimistic or somewhere in between?

Paglen: Probably none of those! These camps are based on the premise that the development of technologies and civilizational progress have something to do with each other, and I don’t think they do.

Jacobs: Laurie?

Simmons: I’m going to go with Terence McKenna on this one and say, “You don’t know enough to worry.”

Jacobs: Alejandro?

Cartagena: I guess I am a perspectivist — because I already went through a cycle of fear and anxiety during the transition from film to digital in the 1990s. I entered photography right at that moment, when film photographers were going crazy because they did not want digital photography to be called “photography.” They felt that if there was nothing hitting physical celluloid, it could not be called “photography.” I don’t know if it’s PTSD or just the weird feeling of having had similar, heated discussions almost 20 years ago, but having lived through that, and seeing that you can’t do anything about it once the technology is good enough, I’m thinking why even fight it? It’s here.

Gideon Jacobs is a critic and a writer on photography.

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Berkshire’s Big Picture: 25 December

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Berkshire’s Big Picture: 25 December

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2023’s most arresting photo series from around the world

By in Photography

2023’s most arresting photo series from around the world
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From Washington’s ‘beat-ya-feet’ dance scene to Sikkim’s young skateboarding community, here are the most spectacular photo stories from this year

26December 2023

Photography continues to operate as a potent universal language, granting us the possibility of glimpsing unfamiliar worlds and cultures. As technology advances and the proliferation of images grows exponentially, photography reminds us of the importance of human connection and building on our empathy and understanding of one another.

In 2023, Dazed had the pleasure of showcasing the work of some truly inspiring image-makers. Revisit some of our favourites here.

Born and raised in Washington DC, Nate Langston Palmer began photographing the group of ‘beat-ya-feet’ dancers after first encountering them in his childhood neighbourhood, Columbia Heights. Over the next four years, he spent time with them, photographing them practising in public spaces and homes, contorting their bodies and occupying great significance in the city. “Beat-ya-feet is kind of built into the fabric of DC at this point, and these dancers have become instrumental in keeping Black culture alive here,” Palmer explains.

The exhibition of Song of Sons contained interludes of stillness and tenderness, as well as crescendos of dynamism and intensity. Just like the pace of the dance itself, there’s an urgency to Song of Sons, highlighting and holding tight to DC’s roots – a city mostly recognised today as the nation’s political epicentre, with the White House at its heart. “DC used to be nicknamed ‘Chocolate City’ because for decades it was a majority Black city,” the photographer says. “But it’s currently experiencing some of the most advanced rates of gentrification in the country. And with the displacement of long-term Black residents comes the interruption of this vast cultural network – one that is deeply rooted in music and dance and play,” Palmer tells Dazed. Performed on street corners, in car parks, and at competitions, the portraits in Song of Sons document, celebrate and preserve the culture surrounding ‘beat-ya-feet’, their footwork-driven style of dance, which was created in and remains specific to the city.

Lauded for her documentary-style portraits chronicling American youth culture, in 2017 the Japanese-born New York-based photographer visited the rural southern states for the first time on a trip to her friend’s hometown of Dora, Alabama. A genuine example of a small town, Fumi Nagasaka was introduced to all the modest landmarks of the area: college football, church and the popular fast food chain, Jacks. Over the following seven years, she returned many times, taking portraits of the town and forming the poignant and cinematic archive that became her 2023 photobook release.

The dreamy series showed the uninitiated a view of this region as seen by an outsider who found a profound affinity with the landscape and people she encountered. “Dora, Yerkwood, Walker County, Alabama is a photographic record of the incredible experiences I had during my time spent in Walker County,” Nagasaka says. “I witnessed kindness, pain, and humour, but most of all beauty. Beauty seemed to radiate from the landscapes and the people I met.”

Manju Journal’s debut book is a self-defining account of Ghanaian artists, reclaiming the impact that African art has had on shaping global and cultural trends. Since the journal was founded in 2015 by Richard Orlando Mensah, the Ghana-based pan-African digital platform and creative studio has sought to celebrate contemporary Africa at the intersection of fashion, photography, art and culture, representing ancestry and embedding the historical significance of the art that is too often forgotten. 

Featuring work that spans a range of styles and techniques, from sculpture and textiles to photography and fine art, collaboration and the mightiness of community is at the heart of the book. “Ghanaian art is deeply rooted in its diverse cultural heritage, reflecting traditional beliefs, values and history,” Mensah told Dazed earlier this year. “From intricate Kente cloth weaving to symbolic Adinkra symbols, and expressive drumming and dance forms, Ghanaian art is a celebration of community, spirituality and the richness of the country’s past.”

Dan Boulton is no stranger to documenting youth culture, having spent over a decade capturing the skaters of London’s Southbank. Whereas those images captured split-second snapshots of a moving scene, in his most formal work yet, he captures his subjects still and sitting in three-quarter portraits and close-ups, most staring directly into the camera.

In his debut monograph, Boulton captures the defiant spirit of youth culture in Paris. Published at a time of protest, the photos display determination and strength and, while it doesn’t document these demonstrations, Paris Youth does offer us something much harder to capture – the quiet resilience that remains once the placards are set down. As the book’s epigraph reads: “La beauté est dans la rue,” which translates to “beauty is in the street.”

Street-style photographer Kido Mafon began her career snapping outside and inside fashion shows, but soon moved to documenting Tokyo’s electric hive of subcultures. Out every night, Mafon captures the city’s frenetic youth culture which is experiencing a rebirth since the end of the pandemic, from the club kids with layered, multi-coloured hair, to new wave tech-bloke core j-rappers and die-hard Tokyo Vitamin fans.

“A year ago, I [thought] youth culture in Tokyo was pretty much dead… But recently, I feel like a lot of us started realising that we need to change things up. I feel like the power shift will come soon, [like a] revival of youth, where we, young creatives, come together and create a movement,” Mafon told Dazed. Using Instagram as her own exhibition and gallery space, she brings Tokyo’s underground into the mainstream consciousness. “I feel like there are many chances lying in the current society for IFUCKTOKYO to bring a new wave, so I’m very excited,” she says.

In a tradition handed down from generation to generation, photographer Tom Marshak explores Croatia’s largest carnival, a timeless initiation into adulthood for the country’s children. The photographs offer an insight into the local folklore of Rijeka: an enduring devotion to the land and desire to reconnect with the earth and others, the festival stretches back beyond medieval Europe. It was born as a fertility ceremony in the spring harvest and has become more generally a celebration of life ahead of Lent.

“Coming from London to Croatia’s endless mountains and the small towns nestled in between them – where everybody knows each other, united by nature, old customs and traditions – reminded me of the life we could have if only we wanted to,” says Marshak. His camera was drawn to the teenage participants, whom he photographed as a symbol of hope. “To me, that photograph evokes all the harmony and unconditional support nurtured by the younger generation in their fight for a better future,” he explains.

Born in the US, raised in Germany and Malawi, and later a student in the UK, Delali Ayivi uses photography to celebrate Pan-Africanism through multifaceted stories of Black communities globally, specifically her Togolese heritage. By applying the lessons in colour and composition that her grandmother taught her in early childhood, Ayivi creates spectacular portraits that reflect the golden days of Alex A Acolatse’s West African photo studio. Not only was Acolatse Ayivi’s grandfather, he was also one of the first photographers in Togo and a true pioneer.

Beyond this artistic approach, Ayivi approaches image-making like a scientific study. “I draw a socio-political hypothesis that I will then aim to prove or disprove through research – though I don’t think I’ll ever be able to draw a conclusion. This is how I stay curious and open to my surroundings,” she says. “I used to think I had to make one big final statement about my work, and about African diaspora or racial identity. This is, of course, an impossible task.”

Seoul-based photographer Taemin Ha ended up in Sikkim by coincidence. After protests had broken out in Guwahati, India, his original shoot location, he decided to settle in the Eastern Himalayan state of Sikkim for a couple days. He first saw the skate group from his balcony and in a split-second decision his plans had shifted. 

He began documenting their days on the terrace and gradually he was welcomed in as a friend. They invited the photographer into their houses daily and he spent time with their families uncovering a culture hidden within the mountains. Ha’s journey with the boys is traceable through the sequence of his images in Sikkim. Skate shots open the book, but soon lead to more intimate moments, like Purba helping his mum in her restaurant, discovering their inner world beyond skateboarding. “This isn’t simply a book about skateboarding, Ha notes. “It’s a book about the time the kids and I spent together.”

For the photo book, Good News, Kyle Weeks’ intention was to be one of the many positive stories coming out of Africa. It represents the lineage of African photographers representing the continent through the lens of youth culture and style dating back decades, showing how style could express personal and cultural identity. Weeks’ also observes this style zeitgeist through Ghana’s youth, their clothes often sourced from Kantamanto, one of the world’s largest second-hand clothing markets.

“[Good News] started when I was photographing more fashion,” he explains. “Naturally, I found myself drawn to people who are expressive through clothes, but it was also the people I met and the circles I worked in. They were pushing fashion in Ghana; young stylists, models, musicians.” In many cases, these relationships went beyond the pictures. “It’s as much about making good images as building relationships. I always show them the pictures before publishing them because I want them to feel proud of how they’re represented. Collaboration is an important part of this book,” he says.

Initially popularised through self-published zines and social media, the Beijing-based photographer’s lens remains interested in the unusual but nevertheless everyday moments in the lives of his friends and lovers. His images are poetic fragments of stories unfolding, capturing young people finding alternatives to China’s often culturally conservative society. Lin Zhipeng portraits of China’s youth counter-culture explore solitude and desire, echoing the dreamlike melancholy of Wong Kar-Wai’s colour-saturated movie, Chungking Express – a sensitive, stylish film about longing and loneliness set against the high-key colour of 1990s Hong Kong, which inspired Zhipeng’s pseudonym. 

Earlier in the year, a new exhibition at Saint Laurent’s Rive Droite stores in Paris and Los Angeles, curated by resident creative director Anthony Vaccarello, brought together work from No.223’s archives. Spanning 2016 to 2019, the show was composed of intimate scenes shot in China, Tibet, Southeast Asia, Japan and Europe.

The self-taught photographer Sabiha Çimen picked up a camera for the first time at the age of 30.  Over the next five years, she would develop, Hafiz: Guardians of the Qur’an, a project focusing on young girls learning to recite 604 pages of the religious book. Despite the intensity and isolation of Hafiz, Çimen’s work offers an affectionate homage to the tradition. Her lyrical photographs subtly investigate the transition of childhood into adolescence, as well as the solidarity among the girls.

Today, she feels nostalgic about her time among a tight-knit community of girls. While paying respect to their sheer discipline and diligence, her compassionate gaze celebrates their spirit of rebelliousness and resistance to the school system, expressed through pastel pinks, crushed watermelon, chipped nail polish, lilac hijabs and self-possessing gazes. “I wanted to show the poetic and playful moments of their lives – the broader picture beyond the act of studying,” she says. “I wanted to give Muslim women a chance to speak for themselves. In both Western and Islamic cultures, they are often underrepresented.”

Marcin T Jozefiak’s photographic series and debut photobook, Fearless Flowers, is his way of exploring the complexity of Seoul’s cultural landscape and the true diversity of its inhabitants. Taken over the course of two years, the intimate, powerful studio portraits feature Korean youth – many of whom are openly queer – proudly embodying their identities.

“It all comes from me trying to learn more about the culture and understand it,” he says. “I was just trying to understand where the diversity [was] or where the subcultures are – actually seeing how people feel about living here and just wanting to connect.”

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Squatters, bikers and skateboarders in hijabs: Brits’ wild communities exposed

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Squatters, bikers and skateboarders in hijabs: Brits’ wild communities exposed

‘This is vandalism on a grand scale,” the photographer Tish Murtha once wrote about the way the Thatcher government had decimated working-class communities in her native north-east England. “Our society has no solution to their problems.”

Through her camera lens, Murtha saw the pain, hardship and turmoil that these communities underwent during periods of stark unemployment and poverty. But she also saw strength, community and unity. The photos she took – be it kids playing knee-high in rubble or unemployed teenagers aimlessly wandering the streets – captured an unflinching raw beauty and intimacy that came from a place of empathy. It was the work of someone who was capturing a community that they were a part of. Indeed, her images often featured her own family members.

Murtha’s stunning photography – and the tragic story of her death a decade ago, in relative obscurity and poverty at the age of just 56 – is the subject of a recent documentary, Tish, by Paul Sng. Inspired by Murtha’s work, and to celebrate the spirit that drove it, the photography project Document Your Community was launched to tie in with the release of the film. Created by the British Culture Archive, in association with Modern Films and supported by the British Film Institute, it invited the public to follow in the footsteps of Murtha and document their own communities.

Everyone was welcome to submit photos, be it keen amateurs, budding professionals or simply those who happened to snap something in passing on their phone. These 11 images taken from the project, picked in collaboration with Paul Wright from the BCA, capture the breadth of modern life in Britain via fun fairs, squat parties, skateboarders, window cleaners and broken-down bikers.

Skateboarding girls, Hull by Jess Bennett

Skateboarding Girls in Hull by Jess Bennett.

“In 2019 I started documenting the familiar faces of the people who frequent the bars and businesses around the Princes Ave area of Hull. One day three girls, all sisters, whizzed past me on skateboards in height order with their hijabs blowing in the wind. I didn’t have my camera on me, just my iPhone, and it’s really difficult to go up to someone and say ‘can I take a picture of your kid?’ but I’m glad I did. The skater girls were a refreshing change to the bar antics I had previously captured. This image is of Maysa, who was about seven or eight at the time and their mum Hasina is amazing. She didn’t know what to do with them in that period of lockdown when you had one an hour a day to go outside and do something, so she bought them all a skateboard and showed them the basics. It all happened from there. They’re all sponsored skateboarders now and they’re rapping as well!”

Oldham, Greater Manchester by Grace Potts

Oldham, Greater Manchester by Grace Potts.

“This is the local kebab shop in my home town and the photo was taken as part of my final year Uni project at Manchester Met. It was about looking back on Oldham and trying to see past negative stereotypes. I used to be like, oh I hate Oldham, I want to get out of here, but it’s so nice to go home and have that sense of belonging. I love living in Manchester but sometimes you can get lost there because it’s so big and there’s so many people. It’s quite easy to feel like an impostor. Whereas the kebab shop feels like home.”

Pontefract, near Wakefield by Phil Jones

Near Wakefield, 2019 by Phil Jones

“I’m a window fitter by trade and I was working that day. There were some goalposts drawn on the wall, so I said to my mate to go and stand in the goal and I’d take a few shots. It was the school holidays and then the kids came out to play while I was still working up and down the ladder. I thought, I’m having a shot of this. It was just taken on my iPhone 7 but I really like this one because it looks like it could be from a different era.”

Holme Wood, Bradford by Chris Wright

Holmewood, Bradford by Chris Wright.

“I was living in Leeds and teaching in Bradford and I saw a news item on Look North about locals complaining around the Holme Wood area of people tethering horses all over the place. I thought I’d go and have a look. I got there and there were horses everywhere. I was standing around taking pictures, which is not a normal thing to do in the middle of a council estate. These lads arrived and I wasn’t really sure what reaction I would get, but I’m not very good at running so I talked to them and they were absolutely fine. I think they had come out of school at lunchtime to feed the horses or something. I’ve been taking photographs for about 15 years around West Yorkshire but this is my favourite. I really like it because they posed; it’s very obviously a posed photograph, but they were very close to the horse, there’s a tenderness there.”

Ghost train, Hornsea by Carmina Rippolles

Ghost train, Hornsea by Carmina Rippolles.

“I was having an evening walk on the seafront of my small east Yorkshire town. It was the end of summer and there’d been a little family funfair there but that evening it was packing up and moving on. I asked if I could take some pics of the dismantling – the light was good and the sun was setting. As I was doing this the fairground owners’ kids appeared, dressed up in these old-fashioned frocks and crocs – they were too good to miss. Their parents were happy for me to take photos so I followed the kids to the ghost train and just started snapping. They didn’t talk to me much but they were very natural in front of the camera – especially the older girl who suddenly decided to empty her cup of hot chocolate on the floor.”

Window cleaner, Bedford by Cameron Scrimgeour

Window cleaner David, Bedford town centre by Cameron Scrimgeour.

“David is 85 and has been cleaning windows in Bedford town since he was 14 years old – that’s 71 years of experience! He’s quite well-known around town. You see him most days, as he’s always scooting around on his bike and cleaning windows. I grew up in Bedford and the idea of the town and what it means to be from this town, is something I’m still exploring but David definitely represents this place. People like him are really important as they’re so ingrained in the community. He told me he has no plans for retiring just yet.”

Trini, Deptford by Harry Foster

Trini, Deptford by Harry Foster.

“Trini is a legend of Ace Cafe – the famous London biker hangout – and an original member of the 59 Club. His home-built motorbike just happened to break down outside his old flat in Deptford as I was passing one Sunday. So he very kindly humoured me for a few minutes, told me some great stories of the old neighbourhood and allowed me to take a couple of frames.”

Fight for Socialism, Liverpool by Sam Jones

Fight for Socialism! Smithdown Road, Liverpool by Sam Jones

“This photograph was captured in the Smithdown Road area of the city, in the streets surrounding the church where my brother is a priest. The L15 and L8 areas of Liverpool have long been social melting-pots; they are ethnically and culturally diverse, working-class and full of lively hustle and bustle. Liverpool has for many years gravitated towards the political left, so the sprawl of graffiti reading ‘Fight For Socialism’ felt like a fitting tribute to my city’s state of mind and provided a striking backdrop with which to capture the two hooded youngsters speeding past me on a motorbike.”

Hackney, by Mia Gillen

Hackney, 2023 by Mia Gilllen

“This was taken in my local area, Hackney Central. I’ve been working on a project trying to capture areas of London that have been subjected to gentrification. I wanted to capture the community and interview them about their feelings towards the changes. Otis [centre] owns and runs a food truck and here he is alongside two other gentlemen who had set up their own DJ decks next to it. The guy on the right had built the whole system himself which he can fold up in a case and carry it around with him. There were people dancing around, vibing and just enjoying the music, which I loved as I felt like this is what community is all about.”

Hulme and Manchester by Anni Kay

Hulme and Manchester by Anni Kay

“This was taken at a squat party, in an abandoned building next to a car wash. It was a mixture of all the different subcultures in Manchester from the squatters to the queer community and underground rave scene. An event for the people, by the people. The DJ is Jack Banner. He does a lot of stuff in Hulme, where I live, and has a whole studio set-up in a flat. We’ve got our own version of Manchester culture and community in Hulme and meeting all these people from there and seeing them do all this amazing stuff is just so cool. Many of these underground parties have signs saying no photos – but I get away with a lot because I’ve grown up here. I’m honoured that they let me capture these mad places that loads of other people don’t get to see.”

The Hoppings, Newcastle upon Tyne by Maria Maza

The Hoppings, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2023. Maria Maza

“This photo looks like it’s from another era but it was taken this summer. The Hoppings is a travelling fair that comes to Newcastle every summer. Lots of photographers go because it’s vibrant, exciting and full of people, noise and lights. I’ve been going for years but I find myself looking for the quieter moments. I first caught sight of the boy because he was quite smartly dressed for the fair and then I realised that he was in front of this very old-fashioned pram. I tried to position myself so as not to disrupt the scene and to capture the moment as I saw it. I knew I had got something good. It just fell right.”

The SEAO Guide to Epic Photography with the Galaxy S23 Ultra: A Guide for Every Photographer

By in Photography

The SEAO Guide to Epic Photography with the Galaxy S23 Ultra: A Guide for Every Photographer

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Woman poses for pictures without realizing the photographer’s about to capture her proposal

By in Photography

Woman poses for pictures without realizing the photographer’s about to capture her proposal

A surprise proposal is a very special moment when one partner unexpectedly pops the question to the other, often involving a romantic gesture or setting. It can be a nerve-wracking but exciting experience for both parties and is often seen as a symbol of commitment and love.

Photographer Nick Laferriere (@banff_photography) was part of such a special moment between a couple. He documented the entire proposal through a TikTok video that went viral, gathering over 3.8 million views. Speaking to Upworthy, Nick revealed that Neal reached out to him because he wanted a professional photographer as he planned to propose to his partner in the scenic Canadian Rockies.

Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography
Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography
Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography
Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography

Originally, Neal only planned to find a spot to propose to his partner but at the last minute, all of them decided to spruce up the surprise. “Last minute we decided it would be great if his family member who was with him, would ask me to take a photo. I looked like a tourist just taking photos of the mountains, which is quite common,” Nick explained.

He is known across Canada for preserving timeless moments through his photography and even instructed Neal to do the proposal at Lake Louise, on the frozen lake. In his TikTok video, Nick can be seen just taking pictures of the beautiful surroundings of Lake Louise, when the designated family member walks up to him. She requests him to take a couple of pictures of them as per the plan.

Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography
Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography
Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography
Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography

Nick plays along well and even says, “You picked the right guy. I have got my camera and everything.” He takes a couple of group photographs and then singled out the couple saying, “I can take a couple different variations. I have time to kill.” He instructs the couple to take a look at each other for a photograph and then asks them if he can take an “artsy” photo of the couple.

Neal and his now-fianceé agreed and he asks them to turn their backs to each other and step away. At this exact moment, Neal turns back towards his partner and goes down on his knees with a ring in his hand. She turns back and is absolutely surprised to see and comprehend what is actually happening. Neal captures every moment between the couple while Neal says, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography
Image Source: Nick/Banff Photography

She said yes and complimented everyone for carrying out the surprise plan so well. The comments section of his video is filled with people applauding his photography and how well the proposal was carried out.

TikTok user @krskur commented, “Not only was she caught off-guard but so was everyone on TikTok, that was so good!” Another person @pbredahl said, “These photos are amazing! Congrats to the newly engaged.”

Expressing gratitude for the love his video has gotten, Nick said: “The response from the online community has been positive and reinforced the notion that love and positivity reciprocates and this moment between these two have had a positive impact on viewers around the world.”

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