Still City, which goes on show from 06-29 August at the ROOM gallery, puts London centre stage. Drawing together projects by four artist living and working in London, it features Polly Braden’s shots of the River Lea, Ollie Harrop’s project on the Bow Arts Live/Work scheme, Billy Macrae’s black-and-white street shots and Colin O’Brien’s long-standing work in Hackney. The exhibition was curated by Harrop and Macrae, and BJP caught up with them to find out more about it.

BJP: How did the exhibition come about?

Harrop and Macrae: The show was conceived by Ollie Harrop and Billy Macrae, who met following their time either working, or interning, at the Magnum London office. Through these connections they helped to form a small photographic group known as Contact Collective. Two members of the group, Emily Graham and Anna Stevens, have also gone on to form an initiative of their own, known as Contact editions. Around 18 months ago we put on a joint show at ROOM, which was a success, garnering good press. Off the back of this, the gallery offered us another show, to jointly curate.

BJP: How did you choose the four photographers involved?

Harrop and Macrae: The first process was to sit down and write a list of possible candidates, all of whom we judged to be doing meaningful long-term projects in London. From the word go, we had decided to set our sights as high as we dared. The next process was to decide how many projects could be fitted into the (fairly small) gallery, whilst giving each project enough space. It was our aim to highlight London’s documentary ‘scene’, which it seems doesn’t get the press it perhaps could.

Colin stood out immediately for two reasons: he seems to be the most consistently high quality London-based documentary photographer (he has been shooting London brilliantly, for 50 years) and also his work seemed to give an interesting context to more recent projects due to the time span of his practice. As far as Polly is concerned, both of us just really admire her work. It is thoughtful, considered, shows a long-term commitment to the city, and is also beautifully produced.

BJP: How do you think the four projects fit together? What are their similarities and differences?

Harrop and Macrae: The projects don’t exactly ‘fit together’, but what they do have in common is that they were shot by photographers from London, who are dedicated to shooting on their own doorstep. For all four, the city itself is an interesting, inspiring subject – and as a result, hopefully the photographs all manage to express something genuine, interesting, and thought-provoking.

BJP: Do you all hope to work together more in future?

Harrop and Macrae: At the moment this is not something we have discussed. All four projects are ongoing, and seemingly continue to evolve. As a result, we’re not sure when or how each one will eventually come to fruition. We can speak of this show as a marker on each person’s personal journey, but not the end.

BJP: Are there other aspects of London would you like to show?

Harrop and Macrae: Although the name of the show is Still City, it doesn’t attempt to deal with every single aspect of London, as the space doesn’t permit that. There are definitely other aspects of life in the city, some of which are being explored already by other photographers we have come across, that we would love curate into a larger show in the future.

BJP: Is there something special about London, which makes it particularly photogenic?

Harrop and Macrae: This is an interesting question. Having spoken to numerous photographers about this, the consensus seems to be that London is hard to photograph in an interesting way – particularly if you come from the UK, and have travelled abroad. A combination of ‘flat light’, confusing photography laws and familiar subject matter make it difficult to make an original statement – but of course, that doesn’t stop it being a worthy subject. All four of us find it a very exciting place to shoot, and we are by no means alone.

BJP: What are some of the pros and cons of photographing in London? Do you ever have problems with the police?

Harrop and Macrae: On the plus side, London is a seething mass of events, street life, and exhibitions. It never stands still, and of course the infrastructure is there to allow a diverse photographic culture. The biggest drawback is the light. For eight months a year we have ‘flat’ light, which puts off a great number of photographers. Also, the laws relating to photography are confusing. Add to this the dearth of photographers out there, and you have a situation that can be slightly intimidating. We haven’t encountered problems with the police regularly, although it is present in one’s mind when on the street.

BJP: It seems that street photography is having a bit of a moment, with a new book coming out this Autumn (Street Photography Now, by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren) and an exhibition of archive shots planned at the Museum of London. Why do you think that is?

Harrop and Macrae: Yes, it does seem like street photography is having a ‘moment’ – and it’s not just in the UK. There are notable street photographers from all over the world making their presence felt – from Australia to Bangladesh.

Perhaps this is down to the total proliferation of top quality camera gear, into practically every country on the planet, and the ease with which images can be shared online. This means that an image taken by an amateur on their way to work, for example, is likely to be of higher quality, and more easily usable by the media, than ever before. It is also worth considering that until fairly recently, Western urban culture was not considered worthy of praise and/or criticism visually. Contemporary photographers such as Martin Parr or Ryan McGinley have increased our willingness to critique our own lives, in an intelligent, sophisticated manner.