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Bus Stop: Unique street photography that uses graffitied bus shelters as its lens

Street photography always adds a fresh perspective on city life, but for Birmingham photographer Stephen Calcutt he's breaking the mould and finding a fresh way to shoot people on his own doorstep.

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Via Creative Boom submission | All images courtesy of Stephen Calcutt

Via Creative Boom submission | All images courtesy of Stephen Calcutt

Attaching his camera to the scratched and graffitied plastic windows of Birmingham's many bus stops and shelters, he captures a completely different range of images – revealing a side to the West Midlands that has never been seen before.

The series, entitled Bus Stop, is going to be on show at the London Art Biennale 20017, which runs from 29th March to 2nd April. Speaking of his work, he remarks: "Graffiti can be great art, however for me – the etched, scrawled and scratched graffiti into the plexiglass windows of the bus stop feels like a violation, like a poke in the eye, or deteriorating vision through age or disease.

"I've yet to see any of these etchings that look great in their own right. I also feel a window's full potential as a clear barrier between yourself and the elements is compromised when the view beyond is obscured, distorted and blurred by the scratches."

How does he achieve a unique shot? Stephen explains: "I fix my camera onto the etched lines and generally put the view beyond out of focus. I then enhance the image by merging everything. Some are more abstract than others, and at first glance, they can look like paintings. I love the way they are almost anti-photo.

"They resonate with my past engagement with punk culture. There is a lot of energy in these pictures. They invoke frustration, beauty, love, pain and anger. For me, I have to let go somehow when viewing them. I need to let them be what they are to fully enjoy them."

Blurred figures and warm light visible through scratched and etched plexiglass of a bus shelter window, creating an abstract, obscured view
Blurred figures visible through a heavily scratched and graffitied bus shelter window, with white lines crisscrossing the view and distorting the street scene beyond
Blurred figure in red and dark clothing visible through heavily scratched and etched bus shelter plexiglass, with bright green background out of focus
Layered abstract composition with scratched plexiglass lines creating yellow and blue tones over a blurred landscape view beyond
Abstracted street scene viewed through a scratched and graffitied bus shelter window, with white etched lines overlaying blurred colours of red, yellow and blue beyond
Blurred cityscape visible through a bus shelter's scratched and etched plexiglass window, with white linear scratches creating abstract patterns across the view
Person partially visible through a scratched and etched bus shelter window with blurred green traffic lights behind, demonstrating the distorted view created by graffitied plexiglass
Blurred figures and red shapes visible through a scratched and etched plexiglass bus shelter window, creating an abstract, layered composition
Blurred view of a blue bus and traffic lights seen through a heavily scratched and etched bus shelter window
Blurred and distorted street scene viewed through a scratched bus shelter window, with layered abstract marks and graffiti creating an obscured composition
Blurred figures visible through a bus shelter window heavily scratched and etched with graffiti lines that create an abstract, layered effect
Blurred figures visible behind a heavily scratched and graffitied bus shelter window, creating an abstract, distorted view of people waiting at the stop
Scratched plexiglass window of a Birmingham bus shelter with etched lines obscuring the blurred street scene and parked car beyond
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