This is the panel of 21 prints that formed my FRPS application and for which I was made a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, following my assessment at Bristol in May 2025.The prints were surface mounted and displayed in a single row that stretched for about 18 ft with just a thumb width between each image so that the panel resembled a train as viewed from the platform. Images were displayed in the order shown in the gallery.
For more information about shooting the panel see my blog pages.
Statement of Intent: FRPS – CONTEMPORARY GENRE
The Victoria Line Train
Waiting for someone on a Victoria Line station platform, I found myself opposite the doors when the trains stopped. As trains arrived and departed, I became increasingly intrigued to see what would be revealed when the doors opened, a tableau of infinite variety and actors. What will I see this time? The doors open and close like theatre curtains. Actors enter and exit the stage. The train departs. I am left pondering on the tableau just passed, curious as to the story it tells, in anticipation of the next.
Watching trains come and go is like being at the theatre watching a play without words.
My aim in this body of work is to explore the human behaviour and social interactions seen in these doorway tableaux, and how the stories they portray are affected by the different mix of passengers as the day progresses; from the brief calm of the early morning, through the morning rush hour, the less busy off-peak period with its shoppers and tourists, the evening rush hour, and finally to the end of day when seemingly “anything goes”.
Over many visits to London, I set out to capture candid observations at different Victoria Line stations, sampling the doorway tableaux at various times of day. I wanted each image to depict a slice of life, unwittingly portrayed by the tableaux actors.
The images have been processed for a harmonised appearance that transcends the different lighting and physical constraints at each station. Using the doorways to frame each tableau, the windows, doors and interiors have been aligned to appear as if they were all from one train.
I present a Victoria Line train, as a sequence of doorway tableau images progressing through the day from left to right.
Mike Hawkridge Photography 