London's East End glimpsed from the top of a bus

There's no better view of London than from the top of a double-decker bus, which is why James Pearson-Howes's photographs from one provide such a brilliant snapshot of East End lifeIn spite of what a certain notorious former prime minister is reputed to have said about anyone over 30 who still travels by bus being a failure in life, I suggest that there is no better way to see London than from the top of a double-decker. James Pearson-Howes spent years walking up and down the Kingsland Road taking photographs at street level in Dalston, but once he got on a bus a whole new perspective opened to him and he felt liberated to take to take a different kind of picture."From the bus, I could see people going about their daily life without me interfering," as he put it with eloquent simplicity.James' photographs that you see here were produced as part of a collaborative project with Will Robson-Scott, entitled Top Deck, in which both the photographers took pictures from the tops of buses as they travelled around the East End and then compared notes. "We carried our cameras whenever we went on a bus. Only on a few occasions, such as the dawn shots, did we get up early specially to go on a bus in order to take pictures," James explained.Many self-respecting readers, even over 30, who travel on buses in the East End will recognise familiar scenes from the 67, 55, 242, 243, 149, 8 and 106 routes. Far below God's eye view, yet raised significantly above those upon the pavement, the top of a bus provides an ideal platform for photography, both revealing the life of the street at close hand while offering a framed aspect too. This subtle shift of perspective serves to reveal our fellow humans more acutely than when we share their eye level, and the sense of personal exposure in these pictures is touching, as people on the street are revealed inhabiting private feelings within a public space.Babes in arms and coffins in hearses, spring blossom and winter snowfall, daybreak and sunset, religion, commerce and politics ? all of human life can be witnessed from the top of a bus. A sense of levity is encouraged by the momentum of the vehicle itself, always passing onto the next location, and offering up life as a continuous fleeting series of tableaux vivants for the photographer to capture. A wedding couple in the snow, a job-seeker on midwinter's day and a man poised to consume a cake, each of these diverse spectacles of existence presented themselves to James' roving lens as he came by on the bus. Although the ingenious Top Deck project is now concluded, "I still carry a camera every time I go on a bus," James admitted to me ? "just in case!"? James Pearson-Howes and Will Robson-Scott have produced a limited edition of 500 copies of a handsome large format 36-page coloured broadsheet of their pictures, entitled Top Deck. Copies are available here. Look at James Pearson-Howes' photographs of On the Kingsland RoadThis is an article from our Guardian Travel Network. To find out more about it, click hereThis blog first appeared on Spitalfields Life, where more of the Top Deck series can be seenLondonUnited KingdomEuropeCity breaksTravel photographyguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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