Full steam ahead

Sep 11 2007 Photography

Terry Grimley previews a photography exhibition which could be a blueprint for the future of Curzon Street Station.

Railways and photography grew up together: both had their roots in the 1830s, played major roles in shaping the Victorian era and, despite huge technological change, are still with us today.

So it seems quite appropriate that Curzon Street Station, Birmingham's internationally important railway monument, is the venue for Station a quartet of exhibitions linking railways and photography which opens tomorrow.

Points and Signals is a wide-ranging dip into the vast photographic archive of Birmingham Central Library, RFK's Funeral Train is a classic piece of photojournalism from the 1960s, Stephen Morgan's photographs of the Severn Valley Railway have been specially commissioned, and Hesper Turner's Window Seat is a series of photomontages of rail journeys between Birmingham and Oxford, originally shown in her degree show in visual communications at the University of Central England.

Peter James, head of photography at Birmingham Libraries, has planned the package to show what could be achieved with the building if it could be secured permanently as a gallery specialising in documentary photography - one of a number of proposals now competing for the future of the Grade I-listed building.

"It could provide a base for showing exhibitions from abroad, for showing off the library's archive so that it could become a proper cultural asset for the city, for work commissioned from, or produced by, photographers from the region, and for developing work by students from UCE," he says.

"The library collection is one of the city's great assets, but at the moment there is still no focus for showing material from it. The Parkinson report on the city centre specifically talked about the need to make more of the city's cultural assets."

When the idea of a group of exhibitions on a railway theme first came up, James was reminded of Paul Fusko's photographs of Bobby Kennedy's funeral train in 1968.

Commissioned by Life magazine to travel on the train from New York to Washington and photograph the distinguished passengers sharing Kennedy's final journey, Fusco quickly grasped that the real story was the crowds of ordinary Americans who lined the route to pay their last respects. The exhibition consists of pictures, taken from the train, of them standing, individually or in crowds in the countryside, in suburban back gardens or on city streets. One family stands to attention, arranged in line from tallest to smallest, a man on crutches waves one of them, a woman holds up a banner reading "So-long Bobby".

"I first saw it in book form, and thought it was one of the most exciting and moving pieces of photojournalism I had ever seen," says Peter. "It became an ambition to bring this exhibition to Birmingham. So we got in touch with Magnum [the leading photographic agency, of which Fusco is a member] and Paul came over in March to see the building, and representatives of Magnum came up.

"Paul fell in love with the space and thought it would be wonderful with the windows open and the sound of trains going past.

"The photographs seem to mark a huge loss of hope for the future. Something that interests me is to ask what current politician, if he died, would provoke such an outpouring. I think this is what photography does best. It shows you a moment and lets you stop and reflect on its meaning. I would defy anyone who knew a bit about the history and had any soul at all not to be moved by it."

By contrast the photographs from the city's archive might seem a little pedantic (though not lacking in drama in a couple of images of Victorian or Edwardian train smashes), but they are none the less fascinating for that.

There's Benjamin Stone's photograph of Curzon Street itself in the 1890s and four contrasting images of New Street, charting its decline from Victorian cathedral of steam to the station most people would like to see flattened.

Other photographs record 19th century railways as far afield as Italy, Canada and India. There are photographs of Birmingham's lost Metropolitan railway works and its products, and workers packing toy train sets at Birmingham toy manufacturer Chad Valley.

There is also a photograph which directly links the themes of railways and photography, as a group from the Birmingham Photographic Society set out on a field trip by train at the end of the 19th century.

Stephen Morgan has taken an independent line in his photographs of the Severn Valley Railway, declining the temptation to switch into news photographer mode when the summer's floods swept away an unprecedented length of track.

His images include quirky details along the line and a series of monumental portraits. Though not a train enthusiast himself, he says he feels glad they exist.

"Once you approach them they're just lovely people - really nice and helpful," he says. "This is my favourite picture because these two are so young," he adds, indicating a picture of two teenagers standing proudly in front of a carriage.

"One of them comes from Birkenhead to couple up the trains. They just love it."

Morgan's photographs have been hand-printed with extreme care by a specialist in Germany. It's vital, he insists, that if Birmingham is going to put on a show it should be done to the highest standard.

"Having Paul Fusco's work in Birmingham is a such a coup," he says. "For Pete to get that and put this together is amazing. It's always London, London, London, but we've got great archives here and a lot of talent." 

* Station is at Curzon Street Station from tomorrow until September 26 (daily 11am-6pm, admission free).