LO OKING AT THE OVERLO OKED
JOHN MYERS LO OKING AT THE OVERLO OKED
RRB PHOTOBOOKS BRISTOL
Dual Carriageway, 1974 Overleaf: Lutley Drive, Stourbridge (No. 2), 1974 Lutley Drive, Stourbridge, 1979
Tye Gardens, 1973
Chawn Park Estate, 1974
Heath Lane, no date
Hope Street, Dudley, 1974
Factory forecourt, 1974
Garage, 1975
Garages at the top of Grange Road, 1974
Greenhouse and sheds, 1974 Overleaf: Shop front, High Street, Stourbridge, 1977 Peplows, High Street, Stourbridge, 1977
Lift doors at Waitrose, 1975
Brick structure, 1977
Two road signs at the end of a road, 1974
Cannon in front of flats, 1974
Tree of Heaven, 1975
Multi-storey car park, 1979
Football pitch, 1977
Golf course (No. 1), 1975
Benjamin the rabbit, 1975
Bus Stop, 1975
Ring Road ‘gardens’, 1977
Ring Road ‘gardens’, 1975
Ring Road ‘gardens’ (small conifer), 1975
Petrified tree trunks, 1976
House under construction, Glasshouse Hill, 1979
House under construction, 1979
House façade, 1979
New house, Bittern Walk, Brierley Hill, 1979
Linden Drive, 1974
House and garden, Chawn Hill, Stourbridge, 1979 Overleaf: A house front, Rufford Road, Stourbridge, 1979 Back garden with vegetables, Arlington Court, 1979
Maisonettes, 1974
9 Brook Road, 1979
House on Hungary Hill, 1979
Entrance and porch, Red Hill, Stourbridge, 1979 Overleaf: 19 Swincross Road, Stourbridge, 1979 House entrance and porch, Pedmore, 1979
Pigeon loft, 1981
Tudor house, Lye, 1979
Foleys Butchers, 1974
Junction Fish & Chips, 1974
Turf accountants, 1974
Job Centre, 1975 Overleaf: Shop counter, customer’s view, 1981 Shop counter, shopkeeper’s view, 1981
Sofa in shop window, 1979
Wardrobes in shop window, 1979
Boarded-up shop front, 1981
Greenhouse plastic, 1979
Pedmore Road, water pumping station, 1974
Grange Road, Substation, 1974
Bower Lane, Substation No 11701, 1974 Overleaf: Lower Delph, Substation No 11516, 1974 Unidentified Substation, (No 3), 1974
Unidentified Substation, (No 2), 1974 Overleaf: Saltbrook Road, Lye, Substation No 11242, (No 1), 1979 Saltbrook Road, Lye, Substation No 11242, (No 2), 1979
Unidentified Substation, (No 1), 1974
Caledonia Road, Substation, No 11454, 1974 Overleaf: Westwood Avenue, Substation, 1974 The Broadway, Substation No 11234, 1974
Queensway, Substation, No 11147, 1974
Park Lane South, Substation No 11039 (No 1), 1974
Park Lane South, Substation No 11039 (No 2), 1974
Nether End Lane, Substation No 11473, 1974
Dudley Road, Substation No 11043, 1974
Glebe Lane, Substation No 11237, 1974
Ounty John Lane, Substation No 11126, 1974
Windsor Road, Substation No 11236, 1974
Unidentified subject, 1977 Overleaf: Furniture Store, New Street, Birmingham (No 3), 1974 Furniture Store, New Street, Birmingham (No 4), 1974
Furniture Store, New Street, Birmingham (No 5), 1974
Television No. 4, 1973 Overleaf: Television No. 2, 1973 Television No. 5, 1973
Television No. 6, 1973 Overleaf: Television No. 3, 1973 Television No. 7, 1973
Previous spread: Television No. 1, 1973 Television No. 9, 1973 Television No. 8, 1973
Television No. 10, 1973
The Labour in Vain, 1975
The Bed, 1976
Almost all of the photographs that make up Looking At the Overlooked were taken within walking distance of my home in Stourbridge in the West Midlands between 1972 and 1981. The photographs were predominantly taken in flat light that gave imperceptible shade. The angle of view was also important, eye level, nothing fancy, deadpan, taken just as if you were the first person to come across the Dual Carriageway, the Golf Course or the Lift Doors at Waitrose. The absence of people was quite deliberate. There is no hidden story behind these photographs and no event is about to unfold beyond the frame. They are landscapes without incident. The ‘deadpan’ aspect of these photographs does not just refer to the way the images look, it also describes a way of encountering the world. My intention in these photographs was to acknowledge the refusal of this environment to offer a visual or narrative engagement. The photographs were not intended as views – they are generic and not site specific – merely the backdrop to the mundane and the everyday. Writing on my work in 1979, John Taylor noted that ‘We pass by these totems, each day, in our quest for the exciting and the novel, and ignore the works that tell most unexpectedly of the conditions of modern life’. All my photographs were cropped ‘in camera’ and were taken with a 5 x 4 Gandolfi camera. John Myers was born in 1944.
Thanks to: Rudi Thoemmes, Josie Atkinson, Tom Groves, Louise Little, Mike Crawford
John Myers – Looking at the Overlooked Limited to 450 copies Numbers 1-50 include a signed and limited 10x8” silver-gelatin print Each book is also accompanied by a 5x4 silver-gelatin print /450 In addition to the Limited Edition, there is also a Portfolio set available in an edition of 8 Each Portfolio contains 10 signed and limited 9.5x12” silver-gelatin prints and is accompanied by a copy of the book, as well as a signed and limited 10x8” silver-gelatin print and a 5x4” silver-gelatin print Text and images © John Myers and RRB Photobooks 2019 Book design by Dan Mogford The photographs are reproduced and printed at Narayana Printed in Denmark 2019 ISBN 978-1-9997275-3-6 rrbphotobooks.com