Documenting Denmark Street

Well, the piece about Brian of Wunjo Guitars is now online

http://streetofsound.uk/stories/street-stories-brian-rowe-wunjo/

brianRowe_1024.jpg
 
Great project well documented with some interesting photos.

I always wondered where the lines

Those old die-hards in Denmark Street start laughing
At the keyboard player's hollow haunted eyes

Now I know :)
 
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BTW, in case anyone wants to keep up with things on Twitter, I have a Twitter account for the project: @StreetOfSound
 
Hey Rob, what an amazing project.

I remember looking at the beginning of this and your first few photos and it's a testament to "never show an idiot a half finished job". It's matured really well since post #1.

I trawled around Denmark street back in the late 80's with my brother who wanted a Les Paul Standard and me who wanted a nice acoustic. We went round and round those shops until we both found one that sounded right. 20 years later, I went back with him to pick up an upright bass for a project we were working on. I loved the place. My Tak got smashed to bits a few years ago and due to geography I couldn't go back to Denmark Street to find a replacement. Liverpool doesn't quite have the choice :)

Reading some of your articles and seeing the photos takes me right back there. This comes across to me as far more a journalistic piece with photos than a photo piece with a bit of writing. And it's better for it IMO. Some fascinating interviews complimented with rich colourful images. Including people and internal shots has transformed the project from what it appeared to be on post #1. You should be proud. It's good work.

One question: Do you tape your interviews or make notes?
 
Harlequin565 said:
Reading some of your articles and seeing the photos takes me right back there. This comes across to me as far more a journalistic piece with photos than a photo piece with a bit of writing. And it's better for it IMO. Some fascinating interviews complimented with rich colourful images. Including people and internal shots has transformed the project from what it appeared to be on post #1. You should be proud. It's good work.

One question: Do you tape your interviews or make notes?
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes, you're right, it has become more of a journalistic thing. I found the stories of the people I was talking to quite compelling and they've rather taken the front of stage with the photographs acting as a backdrop (if you'll forgive the theatrical metaphor... :))

I've been recording interviews on my iPhone. As I mentioned early on, Jim Mortram's Small Town Inertia provided me with a useful model and putting the stories into the first person makes it more immediate, I feel, so I wanted to capture the exact words they were speaking to retain their character. From the responses I've had from those that know the people featured personally, that particular aspect seems to have been fairly successful - their individual voices are being recognised in the written word.
 
Great guitarist. :) I'm enjoying following your blog. Just wish you posted more frequently!
 
Something of a wild thread resurrection and a bit of an announcement...

For various reasons, the project came to the end of its life. I found it more and more difficult to find people who were were willing or able to speak on the record.

By 2016, life on Denmark Street was becoming precarious. I was being told off the record that lots of the shops were operating on leases with very short renewal periods. Usually just two or three months but some of them had notice periods with their landlords of just a month. Their landlords were the owners of the big development by Centre Point. Being dependent on goodwill to be able to carry on trading, nobody wanted to rock the boat commenting on what was going on and risk accidentally offending the wrong person.

Then my company moved their offices away from Dury Lane to Islington and then the City, which made it harder to keep tabs on the changes occurring.

Anyhow, not long after that a friend of mine who is a music journalist invited me for a pint at the Island Queen in Islington. Peter had just finished an excellent book on another topic close to my heart, Up in Smoke: The Failed Dreams of Battersea Power Station. He told me that, partly inspired by what I had been doing, he had started researching his own book on the history of Denmark Street and asked if I would be interested in contributing my photos to the endeavour.

Of course, I said yes :)

To cut to the chase, Denmark Street: London’s Street of Sounds was published this week, and there's a launch event happening in Soho on September 26th if anyone's interested in coming along.

After weeks of waiting since the selection of photos was finalised and it went to print, my copy from the publisher dropped through the letterbox yesterday.

I am a little accustomed to seeing my pictures in magazines or books, and it is a great pleasure beyond just the money they bring in. However, I am especially delighted to see my name on the title page, which is something of a novelty. I don't often blow my own trumpet, but I hope you forgive me this moment :banana:
 

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Musicman said:
Something of a wild thread resurrection and a bit of an announcement...

For various reasons, the project came to the end of its life. I found it more and more difficult to find people who were were willing or able to speak on the record.

By 2016, life on Denmark Street was becoming precarious. I was being told off the record that lots of the shops were operating on leases with very short renewal periods. Usually just two or three months but some of them had notice periods with their landlords of just a month. Their landlords were the owners of the big development by Centre Point. Being dependent on goodwill to be able to carry on trading, nobody wanted to rock the boat commenting on what was going on and risk accidentally offending the wrong person.

Then my company moved their offices away from Dury Lane to Islington and then the City, which made it harder to keep tabs on the changes occurring.

Anyhow, not long after that a friend of mine who is a music journalist invited me for a pint at the Island Queen in Islington. Peter had just finished an excellent book on another topic close to my heart, Up in Smoke: The Failed Dreams of Battersea Power Station. He told me that, partly inspired by what I had been doing, he had started researching his own book on the history of Denmark Street and asked if I would be interested in contributing my photos to the endeavour.

Of course, I said yes :)

To cut to the chase, Denmark Street: London’s Street of Sounds was published this week, and there's a launch event happening in Soho on September 26th if anyone's interested in coming along.

After weeks of waiting since the selection of photos was finalised and it went to print, my copy from the publisher dropped through the letterbox yesterday.

I am a little accustomed to seeing my pictures in magazines or books, and it is a great pleasure beyond just the money they bring in. However, I am especially delighted to see my name on the title page, which is something of a novelty. I don't often blow my own trumpet, but I hope you forgive me this moment :banana:
Click to expand...

Well done Rob, I bet you're feeling chuffed to bits. (y)
 
I came across this thread a bit late! What a wonderful photo project you made of a part of London that like many other places many of us knew and loved in this city, is disappearing under the redevelopers demolition wrecking ball, to be replaced with soulless steel and concrete
 
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