Part of a unique 40 year project, there's something very special about how Mazzer has captured people on the London Underground. "Every day I travelled to King's Cross and back. Coming home late at night, it was like a party and I felt like the Tube was mine and I was there to take the pictures." said Mazzer. "No one ever protested, or ever complained, or ever tried to stop me. So I kind of felt by accident that everyone thought it was cool."
Thanks to camera phones we're very used to personal and intimate shots like this now, but these images with their raw and grainy effect have a retro modern day history book feel to them. Seeing shots of people with cigarettes is reminder of how much the Tube has changed since the eighties. No smoking, no mobiles, no free papers.
Mazzer admits the Tube looked "pretty grotty" when he fist started. "The stations were rough and that has a character which comes over in the pictures. I think people identify with that and it gives it this historical edge." He's a little melancholy about the current system with lights that are "neon and there's no atmosphere."
The Howard Griffin Gallery has salvaged an entire decommissioned Tube carriage from TfL. The seats have been arranged in the gallery to subliminally encourage visitors to recreate the scenes and situations in Mazzer's photographs.
The free exhibition opens at 6pm on 12th June and opening night expected to be very busy. Howard Griffin Gallery, 189 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6HU - nearest station - Shoreditch High Street on the Overground.
