I Was Doing Psychogeography But Didn't Know It!

For a long time  I have appreciated the work of the bass player Jah Wobble.  https://jahwobble.com/

 I love the fact he went from being a founder member of Public Image with John Lydon to having a great career exploring a huge range of music, from Dub to English folk music.

In the course of listening to an interview he mentioned something called “psychogeography”. The photographer in me was instantly intrigued. He spoke of how, as a Londoner, he has long walked around London, and how the urban landscape influenced his music. He said he was practicing psychogeography.

When I did a deeper dive I realized, apart from the fact I have no musical ability whatsoever, he and I did have some things in common.

From my earliest days I have wandered the streets. Initially as a 5 and 6  year old around my local area, where  even  at  this  young  age,  I “felt” the  difference  between my street, and  those  of a few  streets  away  that  seemed,  quieter,  greener,  with  houses on  their  own  instead  of linked  together  like  mine. 

Later, particularly in my teens,  I  would  saunter  around central London. I caught  the early 36B or 141 bus from Grove Park, South London, and an hour later would  be at be at Liverpool Street or Victoria. I would then spend the entire day wandering around, usually ending up in a pizza place at Leicester Square.

What I was doing was psychogeography, but I did not know it.

So what are the principles? Simply put it is the exploration of urban environments that emphasizes interpersonal connections to places and arbitrary routes. (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography

In 1955, Guy Debord defined psychogeography as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals."

This resonated a great deal. Environments have always had an impact. I am one of those fortunate people that can feel “at home” in almost all environments, whether they are urban, woodland, coastal, or rural. I feel at one with the area I am in.

One of the key tactics for exploring psychogeography is the loosely defined urban walking practice known as the Dérive. Dérive is an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually urban, in which participants stop focusing on their everyday relations to their social environment.

This was precisely what I was doing as I wandered the streets of London. I knew where I would start, and had a good idea of where I might end up, but in between was a mystery. I just went where my instinct took me, and often this was well away from the famous main streets and on to the side streets. The phrase “London is composed of small villages” is so true—London has many very different parts to it that have their own distinct feel and culture. I so wish I was interested in photography at that time.

"Working From Home""

The concept of the Flâneur is also cited as an influence on the development of psychogeography. Flâneur is a type of urban male "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", or "loafer".

Psychogeography has become an academic study in its own right, and also has political implications for some. You can read more about it in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography)  

An application of Flâneur to street photography comes from Susan Sontag in her 1977 collection of essays, On Photography. She describes how, since the development of hand-held cameras in the early 20th century, the camera has become the tool of the Flâneur:

"The photographer is an armed version of the solitary walker reconnoitering, stalking, cruising the urban inferno, the voyeuristic stroller who discovers the city as a landscape of voluptuous extremes. Adept of the joys of watching, connoisseur of empathy, the Flâneur finds the world "picturesque."

When I began photography almost 3 years ago, I was immediately attracted to street photography. It brought the street alive in ways I had not experienced before. I wrote a bit about this in this blog piece: https://www.battleswithbokeh.com/post/in-da-hood-a-mooch-around-quadra-village-part-1, and here: https://www.battleswithbokeh.com/post/hooped-further-mooching-in-quadra-village-august-10-2023

The  possibility of incorporating  the  principles of  psychogeography and  photography, particularly urban photographers  is  obvious. By stepping  out of ones   comfort  zone  and  exploring less  well known  areas will   generate new  and  possibly  interesting images. Seeking  the  small  details in an  environment can  help focus our  photography practice.

This is a short  introduction to psychogeography  and  photography  from the Peta Pixel website: https://petapixel.com/2012/12/05/psychogeography-go-and-get-lost-to-shoot-something-new/

Here is an  excellent article linking psychogeography and photography by M.P. Osborne: https://mposborne.com/psychogeography-photography/

I was amazed to discover there are now psychogeography apps that help you to discover unfamiliar parts of your city with prompts to look for specific things. This conforms  to the intention of  psychogeography  to make this a meaningful practice. There are also Instagram posts.

I enjoy going on photo walks with the intention of deliberately going to streets and areas that are unfamiliar to me. I nearly always find something of interest.  As I  utilize  the  principles of Derive  I am  beginning  to see  some useful connections  with  mindfulness photography  practice  which  I will write about at a later  date.