Hi, I’m Joe. I’m a photographer from Manchester who is currently documenting annual folk customs in Britain. I was born in 1985, growing up in Lancaster and North Yorkshire. At 18 I moved to South London where I studied the History of Art at Goldsmiths, University of London. I now live in South Manchester, and work at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The roots of my interest in photography developed in my teenage years and early twenties through interest in Warhol's polaroids, the candid Soho portraiture of John Deakin and modernist photomontage artists such as Hannah Hoch, John Heartfield and Alexandr Rodchenko. As well as my own photographic practice, I have also periodically made photomontage artworks.

My interest in photography really took off around 2009, when I became captivated by the broader history of the medium, particularly from the mid-20th century. At this time I was especially interested in the work of Bruce Davidson and Roger Mayne.

While working there in 2010, I picked up a copy of the Hayward Gallery's exhibition catalogue ‘No Such Thing as Society’ (2009). The book became an important reference point, depicting a lineage of British social photographic practice through the 1970s and 80s. The catalogue featured work by Tony Ray-Jones, Homer Sykes and Chris Killip (amongst others) who became influential figures on my own emerging practice. I continue to be inspired by their vision, forged in familiar landscapes, that depict an arcane, almost magical quality in the everyday.

In particular, Homer Sykes’ photograph of the Burryman and his attendants enjoying a drink at a bar was so otherworldly and fascinating to me. The scene has an almost supernatural aura (with an undercurrent of menace). 

You can view the image of the Burryman here: The Burryman (1971) by Homer Sykes.

Sykes’ photobook ‘Once a Year’ (1977) opened up a whole world to me – of the seemingly eternal folk rituals woven into the fabric of British life, that represent our relationship to the land, our shared past, communities, and the changing seasons. It taught me that a rich, strange and enduring folk tradition that is easy to overlook, can be found all around us.                   

Two other key formative influences for me were the exhibitions ‘British Folk Art’ at Tate Britain in 2014, and ‘Only in England – Tony-Ray Jones and Martin Parr’ at the Science Museum in 2015. Aside from these British / folk influences, I am also an admirer of the photography of Saul Leiter, Peter Hujar and Karlheinz Weinberger,

I began taking my own photographs with intention in 2011, covering folk events, student protests, the London riots, and street scenes of British life on self-developed 35mm film. Between 2011 and 2014, I documented a number of British folk customs / seasonal events including The Burryman, Deptford Jack in the Green, Epsom Derby, The Britannia Coconut Dancers, Pearlie Kings and Queens, The Clown Service and The Election of the Mayor of Ock Street. In the subsequent years, I covered subjects such as the final season at West Ham United’s Boleyn Ground in 2016, as well as the street life and architecture of Berlin.

During my career as a teacher in the early 2020s, my personal photography temporarily took a backseat, though I enjoyed teaching art and photography to my students. Highlights of this period included constructing a functioning camera obscura with the children, creating photomontages with them and participating in playful photo shoots inspired by the work of Jacques Henri Lartigue.

My photography has been featured in a number of print journals. I published the photobooks ‘Public Order’ (2011) and ‘A Kind of Living’ (2015), which are now out of print. ‘A Kind of Living’ was launched alongside my solo exhibition of the same name in Camberwell, south London.

I am now focused on extending the depth and coverage of my work on British folk customs.

You can view more of my current work on my Instagram page: @joe.dvn.photo