Leah Renz speaks to a Palmers Green photographer whose new exhibition captures portraits of visitors to Broomfield Park

One of Barbara Luckhurst's photos of people sitting on a bench in Broomfield Park — One of Barbara Luckhurst’s photos of people sitting on a bench in Broomfield Park

A new outdoor photography exhibition is coming to Broomfield Park this month.

On Sunday, 23rd March, local photographer Barbara Luckhurst will be displaying her latest series of photos, called This is Our Seat, along the railings near the tennis courts.

The exhibition features a collection of 14 photographs, with each capturing a Broomfield Park bench and local park-goers either sitting on or clustered around it. The bench forms the central theme of each photo and the people are variations on a theme: sometimes a young couple, a triplicate of friends, a set of new acquaintances, or a father and son.

Why the fascination with park benches? I spoke to Barbara about the meaning behind the photographs. She told me: “Walking around Broomfield Park, I realised that when two or more people sit on a bench together, they turn a part of a public space into their own private space for a while.”

The photographs are an interruption into this private space; Barbara compares the encounter as akin to walking into their living room and introducing herself. She explores how private lives manifest themselves in public spaces, and also, partly, about how people “react to the camera, and to the interruption”.

In one photo – a candid shot – a mother is still fixing her daughter’s hair; in another, a boyfriend leans into his girlfriend as she smiles at the camera – the caption suggests he enjoys coming to the park because it is an opportunity to see her.

Each photograph is incredibly characterful. The way in which someone crosses their legs, or smiles slightly off-camera, becomes strangely revealing. The unconscious mirroring of body language, unnoticed by the sitters, reveals their relationship to the viewer.

The photographs are born from a curiosity about other people – Barbara walks around the park and sees people on benches and “wonder[s] who they are, how they know each other, and what their lives are like”.

This becomes beautifully evident in the expressiveness of each photo; it is remarkable how quickly the viewer can paint a story of the people photographed. The one-line captions beneath each image, taken from Barbara’s brief conversations with the sitters, offers a glimpse into the various personalities and life experiences of the locals, and reminds us of the humanity of the strangers we encounter all around us.

The title of the collection, This is Our Seat, is a verbatim quote from one of the photographed park goers.

Barbara also hopes that the photographs highlight the value of Broomfield Park as “an amazing community resource”, being one of the places in which city-dwellers may encounter nature and “the living environment”.

This is Our Seat will be displayed in Broomfield Park, on the railings near the tennis courts, on Sunday, 23rd March.

To see more of Barbara’s work:
Visit barbaraluckhurstphotography.com/portrait.html

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