Art / Documentary photography
Oliver Bennett’s photographs document one year at Bristol Temple Meads
Oliver Bennett is both a street and landscape photographer with a prevailing fascination with “private moments in public spaces”, as well as in finding the humour in the everyday.
Opening on May 4, his forthcoming exhibition People on a Platform will be shown over a three-month period at the Sandwi Café in Clocktower Yard, on the approach to Bristol Temple Meads.
The collection of images documents a year at the historic station, where he returned month after month, at varying times of the day and week, to gauge the varying atmosphere of the place.
“A Monday morning would feel very different from a Friday evening”, he recalls, “just as the week of the Cheltenham Races would have a very different feel from that of Glastonbury Festival or Christmas.”
Despite the variances in mood, there were unifying factors, too. “I was struck by the many human dramas that seemed to play out every day, as people greeted one another, said their goodbyes, missed their trains or struggled to get on crowded ones” says Bennett.
“All this went on while that other near universal aspect of station life continued in the background: waiting. Even when the station was busy and packed, people seemed able to create a bubble around themselves, a private space in a very public area, in which they waited for time to pass.”
During his visits to Temple Meads, Bennett was able to capture many interactions between passengers, staff, and on occasion, the police. Through them all, he reflects on the way “the extraordinary can so often be seen in the ordinary”.
People on a Platform: One Year at Bristol Temple Meads is at the Sandwi café in Clock Tower Yard from May 4-July 28. For more information, visit www.oliverbennettphotography.com.
All photos: Oliver Bennett
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