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Tuesday and Thursdays are good days
Tuesday and Thursdays are good days
Matt Stuart
July 8, 2016
London is his city, his subject and his hunting ground: Matt Stuart is currently one of street photography’s best representatives. Now he has been called into the hallowed circle of Magnum photographers – initially as a nominee.
An interview with Stuart where he talks about his work, can be found in the current issue of LFI. The photographer has become such an expert that he can recognize and judge the diversity of street life in London just by the week day.
“The streets that I frequent are not just limited to tourists. There’s everybody: tourists, business people, all different types of people; I want to make sure that they are multicultural in every sense of the word. Through doing this work for a long time, I’ve learned that there are different days for different things.
Monday in London is delivery day: you realize there are more people carrying things, dropping things, having accidents. Tuesday is a very normal day, but probably one of the best days, because everyone is going about their business. Wednesday in the West End of London is matinee-day, when old people can go to the theatre or cinema for cheap. So on Wednesday afternoons in Central London you see a sea of grey hair. This is interesting if you’re looking for older people.
Thursday is the busiest day in London. This is the day everyone goes out. It’s when the tourists don’t necessarily come. Of course, foreign tourists are there every day, but the English tourists are not there yet. Friday is actually not the day you would usually associate with being the best day for photography, because the real Londoners who live and work there usually go away for the weekend, and they try to leave London by midday. So it is less of a real kind of day. It is more like a Disneyland day. Saturday is busy, but without any business people, and without deliveries. It’s very touristy. And Sunday is generally quite quiet.”
An interview about his book can be found in LFI 5/2016, and a comprehensive portfolio of his work in the M Magazine No. 2.
An interview with Stuart where he talks about his work, can be found in the current issue of LFI. The photographer has become such an expert that he can recognize and judge the diversity of street life in London just by the week day.
“The streets that I frequent are not just limited to tourists. There’s everybody: tourists, business people, all different types of people; I want to make sure that they are multicultural in every sense of the word. Through doing this work for a long time, I’ve learned that there are different days for different things.
Monday in London is delivery day: you realize there are more people carrying things, dropping things, having accidents. Tuesday is a very normal day, but probably one of the best days, because everyone is going about their business. Wednesday in the West End of London is matinee-day, when old people can go to the theatre or cinema for cheap. So on Wednesday afternoons in Central London you see a sea of grey hair. This is interesting if you’re looking for older people.
Thursday is the busiest day in London. This is the day everyone goes out. It’s when the tourists don’t necessarily come. Of course, foreign tourists are there every day, but the English tourists are not there yet. Friday is actually not the day you would usually associate with being the best day for photography, because the real Londoners who live and work there usually go away for the weekend, and they try to leave London by midday. So it is less of a real kind of day. It is more like a Disneyland day. Saturday is busy, but without any business people, and without deliveries. It’s very touristy. And Sunday is generally quite quiet.”
An interview about his book can be found in LFI 5/2016, and a comprehensive portfolio of his work in the M Magazine No. 2.
ALL IMAGES ON THIS PAGE: © Matt Stuart
Matt Stuart+-
Born in 1974, Matt Stuart grew up in Harrow, a district in north-west London. After three years working as a photography assistant, Stuart turned his hobby into his profession. Since 1996, the photographer is constantly on the move on the streets of London, looking to capture bizarre moments but also the curiosities of every day life. Among other locations, his pictures have been exhibited at the Leica Store in Los Angeles. Stuart is a member of the international street photographer collective iN-PUBLIC. More
