High Street Stories
High Street Stories, 2017 © Daniel Meadows
In 2017 we rolled out the red carpet at the Odeon Cinema in West Bromwich for the premiere screening of Daniel Meadows’ High Street Stories. Made up of hundreds of Daniel’s photographic images that are sequenced to accompany the sound recordings he made on location, in and around the indoor and outdoor markets on West Bromwich high street. Multistory commissioned Daniel, known for his insightful and moving digital stories, in 2016. The film follows some of the people that Daniel made connections with and includes Mush, who helps West Bromwich be spick and span with his longstanding hoover stall; Dr Sun, who practices Chinese medicine and acupuncture; and Jenny and Veronica, who make sure that Jackson’s Afro-Caribbean stall is well stocked.
The special event captured the attention of BBC Midlands Today who broadcast live from outside the cinema, and interviewed Daniel and Mandy Price, owner of Wizard T-shirt Printing, based in the indoor market. See a video clip here.
A DVD of the film was given to all of the people who took part in the project as a record of their contribution and time.
To find out more about the project and to watch an exclusive interview with Daniel Meadows click here.
Artist Biography
Born in Gloucestershire, England, documentarian Daniel Meadows has spent a lifetime working collaboratively to record British society, using photographs, audio recordings and short movies.
As a student at Manchester Polytechnic he ran a free portrait studio, the Shop on Greame Street (1972), in the city's Moss Side district. Later, as a photographer-in-residence in Lancashire and through his association with the radical artists' collective Welfare State International, he developed skills that culminated in his BAFTA Cymru award-winning digital storytelling project for the BBC, Capture Wales (2001-2006).
Meadows's solo London exhibitions include the ICA (1975), Camerawork (1978), and the Photographers' Gallery (1987). His major retrospective toured from the National Media Museum, Bradford (2011-15). His work has also been shown at Tate Britain (2007) and in Europe. The Daniel Meadows Archive is held by the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford.