Tracy Marshall-Grant considers…
The Sun, Early Sunday Morning, by Peter Mitchell
I have been writing this column for almost a year now and this is the first time I have thought of selecting a picture by my old friend Peter Mitchell. This surprises me as firstly I love so much of his work, secondly his popularity is immense, and thirdly his images are constantly enjoyed by so many of you.
Bristol bedroom
In addition, I have one of those strange overlapping relationships with him that often make my life in photography so varied and amusing. For over a year each week in 2019 either Peter or I would visit the Bristol home of publisher Rudi Thoemmes and use his spare room as a base for our work – Peter on his archive and books, me on the development of Bristol Photo Festival. Peter one week, me the next. As a result, I can claim that rare distinction of having had a ‘bedroom share’ with Peter Mitchell.
To remedy my lack of inclusion of Peter Mitchell images up to this point, I’ve selected one to coincide with his exciting new book and exhibition in May 2024.
The image I’ve chosen is of the Sun pub in Leeds taken from Early Sunday Morning, Peter’s new publication by RRB Photobooks. The book is made up of over 90 images, selected and sequenced by fellow photographer John Myers from a cache of 500 negatives which had sat previously unseen for over 30 years.
There are so many great images in the book, and in Peter’s archive overall, but what I like particularly about this image is that it shows a different Leeds from that shown by Mitchell’s earlier series and publications. It is not the sombre look of destruction and dereliction of Memento Mori nor the detached view of his Viking 4 Space Mission work. It is a more intimate and personal look at the city, his city, the city he sees day in, day out during the 1970s and ’80s.
Urban changes
This image particularly exposes the changes in the urban landscape of those decades. Post-war buildings, 1970s concrete flats, all combined with a 100-year-old pub in all its retained 19th-century glory. It is the one singular building left on the street which is now dominated by mass living accommodation. The yellow door is the only bright element in an otherwise very drab and grey picture. That could be depressing. Yet for me there is a real beauty in the image and a real consistency in the look of the buildings also, despite the many decades between their design and build.
