September 12, 2022

Considering Art Podcast – Adrian Fisk, photojournalist

34 minutes

In this episode, Adrian Fisk talks about how a cyclone in Bangladesh changed his life, how he spent eight years photographing in India, and about his new book and exhibition entitled Until the Last Oak Falls in which he documents the extraordinary campaigns of British environmental protesters in the 1990s, most notably against the Newbury by-pass and the city-based Reclaim the Streets, looking at the issues, the tactics, the conditions and the after-effects.

Adrian Fisk talking with Bob Chaundy

Accompanying images on consideringart.com

“The village of Padmakesharpur is made up of predominantly snake charmers which means there are a lot of snakes milling about. The children are introduced to the snakes at a young age to enable them to overcome fear and for a bond to be created between the child and the reptiles. The scene I shot with the baby and snakes was not as unusual as you might think and was entirely natural.”

Afternoon prayers during a pro independence march in Srinagar, India – 2008 An estimated 350,000 Kashmiri’s marched to the Eidgha communal ground to protest at what they saw as India’s occupation of Kashmir. The movement for independence has seen more than 60,000 Kashmiri’s killed or disappeared over a twenty year period.

Newbury Bypass 1996 – The Sheriff of Newbury’s evicting climbers and police support are overwhelmed by a number of activists.

Newbury Bypass 1996 – 60 feet above the ground a man desperately attempts to hang on to the tree in order to protect it from being cut down whilst physically being pulled backwards by the Sheriff of Newbury’s eviction men.

Newbury Bypass 1996 – A woman called ‘Cake’ is left up a Silver Birch tree for 2.5 hrs in the cold winter wind after the Sheriff of Newbury’s men have cut the trees below her.

Reclaim the Streets. Trafalgar Square 1997 – Environmental protestors dance in front of the National Gallery during what became one of the largest illegal gatherings in the Square’s history.

Critical Mass London 1995 – After a foiled attempt to gain access to the motor show hundreds of cyclists raise their bicycles in an extraordinary moment of unity.

All images are ©Adrian Fisk and used with his permission. Top image is courtesy of Helen Abraham.

You can see more of Adrian’s images on his website here

The exhibition of the book, Until the Last Oak Falls is showing at the Islington Climate Centre until 15 September 2022.

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By Bob Chaundy

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