Paul Fletcher
Photographer and Ethnographer
Paul’s photography is born of encounters; with people, vernacular architecture, industrial sites, and new forms of urbanization. He meanders. Often exploring the marginal, fragmented, and minimal elements of the urban landscape. Not to create, but to immerse himself and become a place, endeavoring and hoping to capture what it feels. through photo – art intended to spark sociological imagination and curiosity.
Paul never intended to become a photographer. A belief that the urban environment should first and foremost serve the needs of society led him to study architecture: why he became an architect and why he no longer is. Frustrated by the culture of profit-before-people that, since the 1980s, has totally transformed the motives of property development. Despite the great work of many, a profession forced to acquiescence to this reality was not something he could be part of. In protest, Paul ended his career in 2016.
Disillusioned having lost agency as an architect and overwhelmed with mental health battles, he picked up a camera. Walking London afforded him mindful respite. At the time learning and shooting intuitively, he now knows the emergent photography was reflecting his mental wellbeing. It seems we photograph that which we know. During 2018, helped by these photo walks, his health was evidently improving.
Come 2019 with his health stable Paul shifted attention to building a human-centered design and innovation consultancy. Plans derailed by coronavirus. He again picked up a camera, again walking city streets. This time during a pandemic. The more he shot, the more evident the passion that led him to architecture was informing his photography. A vocation reawakened and repurposed as photographer-artist. Paul’s opportunity to bring insight to policymakers, local authorities, and communities. Informing urban planners, architects, and developers in the reinvention of cities post-pandemic. How he now contributes to the understanding and creation of architecture for people.
…a developing practice