Daniel Meadows
Encyclopedia
Daniel Meadows is an English photographer turned maker of digital stories
, and a teacher of photography turned teacher of participatory media.
, "in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the Cotswolds", on 28 January 1952. Both of his parents had Suffolk
origins; his father was a land agent
for the Dumbleton
Estate, in which the family lived; his mother developed multiple sclerosis
when Daniel was young and this gradually became more acute. He spent his early years without television.
With Peter Fraser
, Brian Griffin, Charlie Meecham and Martin Parr
, Meadows studied at Manchester Polytechnic
. (Meadows' 1972 series June Street was a collaboration with Parr.)
Meadows was living in the Moss Side
area of Manchester during termtime, and was aware of its impending demolition. With its many small shops, Moss Side might, he thought, support a "picture shop", so he rented a barber's on Greame Street from January 1972, inviting people to come in to have their photographs taken for no charge. Two months later he had run out of money and had to close but had gained useful experience.
Inspired by what Bill Jay had told him of Benjamin Stone
's travel around Britain by horse-drawn caravan, Meadows thought of a mobile version of the Greame Street studio. He worked at Butlin's Holiday Camp
at Filey
during summer 1972 to pay for the publicity materials with which he hoped to get Arts Council
and other funding for the purchase and one year's use of a double-decker bus
. He succeeded and for 14 months from September 1973 travelled around England in the Free Photographic Omnibus, a Leyland PD1 bus whose seats had been removed to make space for a darkroom and living quarters: its windows were used as the gallery. Some of this work was published in Meadows' first book, Living Like This (1975), which combined Meadows' photographs and text with first-person accounts of those he had talked with.
Among the photographs of this series is Portsmouth: John Payne, aged 12, with two friends and his pigeon, Chequer, 26 April 1974. Payne, holding his pigeon in the centre of the photograph, told Meadows that he caught and bred pigeons. Paul Cabuts writes that:
With its echo of Ken Loach
's film Kes
, the photograph was widely reproduced. It was the cover photograph of the 1975 Arts Council
anthology British Image 1 and the photograph on the poster for and catalogue of the 2008 travelling Hayward exhibition No Such Thing as Society.
Meadows went on to photograph the northwest of England and Factory Records
in the 1970s and to study the people of a middle-class London suburb in the 1980s, the latter published as Nattering in Paradise.
; from 1994 he has taught at Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies
. His students there have included Tim Hetherington
. In the 1990s, he led photojournalism workshops for the Reuters Foundation, the British Council
, and other organizations in Europe and the Indian subcontinent.
Meadows' interest in digital storytelling
was greatly influenced by, successively, Pedro Meyer
's I Photograph to Remember, Meyer's ZoneZero website, and the NextExit website of Dana Atchley of the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) at UCB
. Meadows taught an undergraduate course titled "Digital Storytelling and Photography" and also contemplated ways of adding digital storytelling to the website he was building about the Free Photographic Omnibus and the later lives of the people this had depicted. Meadows corresponded with Dana Atchley and arranged to attend one of the "boot camps" held by Atchley, Joe Lambert and Nina Mullen. Atchley was too ill to appear, but at the camp and a subsequent event at Ben Lomond
he learned and exchanged ideas.
From 2001 to 2006 Meadows was creative director of Capture Wales, a BBC Wales project: "[he] accomplished an innovative reworking of the Californian [CDS] model, adapting it to the 'media ecology' of UK public broadcasting".
Since this time Meadows has also lectured widely about digital storytelling.
Digital storytelling
Digital storytelling refers to a short form of digital film-making that allows everyday people to share aspects of their life story."Digital storytelling" is a relatively new term which describes the new practice of ordinary people who use digital tools to tell their 'story'...
, and a teacher of photography turned teacher of participatory media.
Life and career as photographer
Meadows was born in Great Washbourne, GloucestershireGloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, "in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the Cotswolds", on 28 January 1952. Both of his parents had Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
origins; his father was a land agent
Land agent
Land agent may be used in at least three different contexts.Traditionally, a land agent was a managerial employee who conducted the business affairs of a large landed estate for a member of the landed gentry of the United Kingdom, supervising the farming of the property by farm labourers and/or...
for the Dumbleton
Dumbleton
Dumbleton is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire. The village is roughly 20 miles from Gloucester and 50 miles from Bristol.The village is known to have existed in the time of Ethelred I who granted land to Abingdon Abbey, and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book.St Peter's church is...
Estate, in which the family lived; his mother developed multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
when Daniel was young and this gradually became more acute. He spent his early years without television.
With Peter Fraser
Peter Fraser (photographer)
Peter Fraser is a British fine art photographer. He was shortlisted for the Citigroup Photography Prize in 2004.-Early life:Fraser bought his first camera at the age of 7...
, Brian Griffin, Charlie Meecham and Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parr is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take a critical look at aspects of modern life, in particular provincial and suburban life in England...
, Meadows studied at Manchester Polytechnic
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
. (Meadows' 1972 series June Street was a collaboration with Parr.)
Meadows was living in the Moss Side
Moss Side
Moss Side is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre and has a population of around 17,537...
area of Manchester during termtime, and was aware of its impending demolition. With its many small shops, Moss Side might, he thought, support a "picture shop", so he rented a barber's on Greame Street from January 1972, inviting people to come in to have their photographs taken for no charge. Two months later he had run out of money and had to close but had gained useful experience.
Inspired by what Bill Jay had told him of Benjamin Stone
John Benjamin Stone
Sir John Benjamin Stone , known as Benjamin, was a British Conservative politician, and noted photographer.Stone was born in Aston, Birmingham the son of a local glass manufacturer...
's travel around Britain by horse-drawn caravan, Meadows thought of a mobile version of the Greame Street studio. He worked at Butlin's Holiday Camp
Butlins
Butlins is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Butlins was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families....
at Filey
Filey
Filey is a small town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the borough of Scarborough and is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on the North Sea coast. Although it started out as a fishing village, it has a large beach and is a popular tourist resort...
during summer 1972 to pay for the publicity materials with which he hoped to get Arts Council
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
and other funding for the purchase and one year's use of a double-decker bus
Double-decker bus
A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...
. He succeeded and for 14 months from September 1973 travelled around England in the Free Photographic Omnibus, a Leyland PD1 bus whose seats had been removed to make space for a darkroom and living quarters: its windows were used as the gallery. Some of this work was published in Meadows' first book, Living Like This (1975), which combined Meadows' photographs and text with first-person accounts of those he had talked with.
Among the photographs of this series is Portsmouth: John Payne, aged 12, with two friends and his pigeon, Chequer, 26 April 1974. Payne, holding his pigeon in the centre of the photograph, told Meadows that he caught and bred pigeons. Paul Cabuts writes that:
The photograph, like many other photographs in the exhibition [No Such Thing as Society], offers a window on a lost world, one that is difficult to perceive without considerable culturally-specific contextualisation. Meadows’ photograph is however a masterstroke in providing clues about the life and times of those recorded through his lens. The boys became the subject, although the pigeon had been the vehicle for this particular engagement. In offering up their pigeon (the photograph was taken at their request), we enter a world of friendship and pride, the social activities on a working class housing estate. . . .
With its echo of Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
's film Kes
Kes (film)
Kes is a 1969 British film from director Ken Loach and producer Tony Garnett. The film is based on the novel A Kestrel for a Knave, written by the Barnsley-born author Barry Hines in 1968...
, the photograph was widely reproduced. It was the cover photograph of the 1975 Arts Council
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
anthology British Image 1 and the photograph on the poster for and catalogue of the 2008 travelling Hayward exhibition No Such Thing as Society.
Meadows went on to photograph the northwest of England and Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
in the 1970s and to study the people of a middle-class London suburb in the 1980s, the latter published as Nattering in Paradise.
Career as teacher and digital storyteller
Meadows taught in the Documentary Photography course at Newport College of Art and DesignUniversity of Wales, Newport
The University of Wales, Newport is a university based in Newport, South Wales. The university has two campuses; Caerleon on the northern outskirts of the city and a £35 million campus on the banks of the River Usk in Newport city centre opened in 2011...
; from 1994 he has taught at Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies
Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies
The Cardiff School Of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University was founded in 1970 by Sir Tom Hopkinson and as such is the longest established postgraduate centre of journalism education in Europe...
. His students there have included Tim Hetherington
Tim Hetherington
Timothy Alistair Telemachus Hetherington was a British-American photojournalistwith work that "ranged from multi-screen installations, to fly-poster exhibitions, to handheld device downloads." He was best known for the documentary film Restrepo , which he co-directed with Sebastian Junger; the...
. In the 1990s, he led photojournalism workshops for the Reuters Foundation, the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
, and other organizations in Europe and the Indian subcontinent.
Meadows' interest in digital storytelling
Digital storytelling
Digital storytelling refers to a short form of digital film-making that allows everyday people to share aspects of their life story."Digital storytelling" is a relatively new term which describes the new practice of ordinary people who use digital tools to tell their 'story'...
was greatly influenced by, successively, Pedro Meyer
Pedro Meyer
Pedro Meyer is a well-known photographer based in Mexico. He is one of the pioneers of the digital revolution in contemporary photography...
's I Photograph to Remember, Meyer's ZoneZero website, and the NextExit website of Dana Atchley of the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) at UCB
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Meadows taught an undergraduate course titled "Digital Storytelling and Photography" and also contemplated ways of adding digital storytelling to the website he was building about the Free Photographic Omnibus and the later lives of the people this had depicted. Meadows corresponded with Dana Atchley and arranged to attend one of the "boot camps" held by Atchley, Joe Lambert and Nina Mullen. Atchley was too ill to appear, but at the camp and a subsequent event at Ben Lomond
Ben Lomond, California
Ben Lomond is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, and also the name of the mountain to the west. The population was 6,234 at the 2010 census.-History:...
he learned and exchanged ideas.
From 2001 to 2006 Meadows was creative director of Capture Wales, a BBC Wales project: "[he] accomplished an innovative reworking of the Californian [CDS] model, adapting it to the 'media ecology' of UK public broadcasting".
Since this time Meadows has also lectured widely about digital storytelling.
Selected exhibitions
- "The Other Britain." National TheatreRoyal National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
(London), and touring in Britain, 1982. - "National Portraits: Now and Then." Irish Gallery of Photography (Dublin), 2000. (Solo exhibition.)
- "The British Are Coming." Stephen Bulger Gallery (TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
), 2007. With Chris Coekin and Tony Ray-JonesTony Ray-JonesTony Ray-Jones was an English photographer.Born Holroyd Anthony Ray-Jones, he was the youngest son of Raymond Ray-Jones , a painter and etcher who died when his son was only eight months old, and Effie Irene Pearce, who would work as a physiotherapist...
. - "How We Are: Photographing Britain from the 1840s to the Present." Tate BritainTate BritainTate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
(London), 2007. - "No Such Thing as Society." Aberystwyth Arts CentreAberystwyth Arts CentreAberystwyth Arts Centre is one of Wales' busiest and largest arts centres, based on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales...
, 2008. Tullie House (Carlisle); Ujazdów CastleUjazdów CastleUjazdów Castle is a castle in the historic Ujazdów district, between Ujazdów Park and the Royal Baths Park , in Warsaw, Poland.-History:...
(Warsaw); 2008–2010. - "Projections of Reality." Red October (MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
), 2010. Meadows contributed "The Photobus". - "The Other Britain Revisited: Photographs from New Society." Victoria and Albert MuseumVictoria and Albert MuseumThe Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
(London), 2010. - "Cameras in the Community" (Fotonow). Plymouth Arts Centre, 2010. With Camper Obscura, Laundrette Residencies and South West Graduate Photography Prize.
- "Daniel Meadows: Early Photographic Works." National Media Museum (Bradford), 2011.
Books of work by Meadows
- Daniel Meadows. Living Like This: Around Britain in the Seventies. London: Arrow, 1975. ISBN 0099114003.
- Daniel Meadows. Nattering in Paradise: A Word from the Suburbs. London: Simon & Schuster, 1988. ISBN 0671698907. With Sara Tibbetts.
- Daniel Meadows. Set Pieces: Being about Film Stills Mostly. London: BFI, 1993. ISBN 0851703895, ISBN 0851703909.
- Daniel Meadows. National Portraits: Photographs from the 1970s. Edited by Val Williams. Salford: Viewpoint Photography Gallery; Derby: Montage Gallery, 1997. ISBN 0901952818.
- Daniel Meadows. The Bus: The Free Photographic Omnibus, 1973–2001: An Adventure in Documentary. London: Harvill, 2001. ISBN 186046842X.
- Val Williams. Daniel Meadows: Edited Photographs from the 70s and 80s. Photoworks, 2011. ISBN 1903796466.
Other appearances
- British Image 1: Photographs by Homer Sykes, Claire Schwob, John Myers, Daniel Meadows, Bryn Campbell, Roslyn Banish, Ian Dobbie, and Paul Carter. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1975. Meadows' "The Free Photographic Omnibus" appears on pp. 38–49.
- Julian Bream: A Life on the Road. London: Macdonald, 1982. ISBN 0356078809. About the lutenist Julian BreamJulian BreamJulian Bream, CBE is an English classical guitarist and lutenist and is one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century. He has also been successful in renewing popular interest in the Renaissance lute....
. Text by Tony PalmerTony PalmerTony Palmer is an American football guard in the National Football League who is currently a free agent. The former University of Missouri guard who was selected by the St. Louis Rams. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers after being cut in the 2006 preseason by St. Louis...
, photographs by Meadows. - God in Wales Today: Religion in a Cathedral Town. The Newport Survey 6. Newport: Gwent College of Higher Education, 1986. ISBN 0950731757. Edited by Meadows.
- Education: The 5 Rs: Reading, Riting, Rithmetic, Right, Rong: A Photographic Survey of Education in Newport. The Newport Survey 8. Newport: Gwent College of Higher Education, 1988. ISBN 0950731773. Edited by Meadows.
- Love Stories. Granta 68. New York: Granta, 1999. ISBN 0964561182. Ed. Ian JackIan JackIan Jack is a Scottish journalist who was the editor of the literary magazine Granta from 1995 to 2007. Granta 98 "The Deep End" was the 48th issue which Jack edited and the last.Jack was educated at Dunfermline High School...
. Includes "Then and Now" by Meadows.
Awards
- BAFTABritish Academy of Film and Television ArtsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
Cymru Award, 2002, for Capture Wales. - Honorary fellowship of the Royal Photographic SocietyRoyal Photographic SocietyThe Royal Photographic Society is the world's oldest national photographic society. It was founded in London, United Kingdom in 1853 as The Photographic Society of London with the objective of promoting the Art and Science of Photography...
, 2008.
External links
- Daniel Meadows' site
- Daniel Meadows at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural StudiesCardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural StudiesThe Cardiff School Of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University was founded in 1970 by Sir Tom Hopkinson and as such is the longest established postgraduate centre of journalism education in Europe...
- Capture Wales.
- Original site with videos in Real Media format
- Newer site with videos in Flash format (together with other material)
- Frost, Thomas. "Joy Division and Daniel Meadows". 4ortherecord.com.
- Meadows, Daniel. "Introduction to Digital Storytelling" BBC Wales.
- Meadows, Daniel, Lisa Heledd, and Carwyn Evans. "How Public Broadcasting Serves the Public Interest in the Digital Age" (PDF). Transcript of a paper presented to the Australian Centre for the Moving ImageAustralian Centre for the Moving ImageThe Australian Centre for the Moving Image, or ACMI, is dedicated to the moving image in all its forms. It is located in Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, across four levels of the Alfred Deakin Building...
on 5 February 2006. - Steele, Heather Louise. "Cameras, Joy Division and a Double-Decker Bus...".