Looking for something?

Tap outside or press close

InspirationPhotography

G20 Double Takes: Before and after photographs of protests on London's streets

G20 Double Takes is a series by documentary photographer Billy Macrae that revisits scenes of public protest during the last G20 meeting in London by adopting the popular strategy of the ‘double take’, often used for displaying romantic ideas of the past against cruder and less elegiac visions of the present.

Written By:
Hand holding a photograph of a crowded G20 protest street scene, overlaid on the same modern-day London street now empty of demonstrators

Macrae is one of six artists who will be exhibiting at the Open Eye Gallery this May – with the support of the Brian Mercer Charitable Trust – in a show that explores the ideas of social portraiture. It brings together photography that narrates individual stories and yet addresses issues of collective relevance and general public interest.

Each series on display will have a personal dimension – often more introvert, suffered and – and a public-facing one, socially and politically engaged and more militant. Such tension is differently resolved in the work of each selected artist or photographer, and you'll be able to see Macrae's work and others when the show launches 16 May 2015. Find out more at www.openeye.org.uk.

Via direct submission

A hand holds a photograph showing two people standing against a stone building, while the same location is visible blurred in the background behind it
Hand holding a small photograph showing a group of people on a building balcony, positioned in front of the same grand classical building facade visible in the background
Hand holding a photograph showing a protest banner reading "Abolish Money" held up in a London street with historic buildings in the background
Hand holding a miniature scene of a London street with crowds and vehicles, overlaid on the actual street behind it during the G20 protests
Hand holding a photograph showing a police officer in high-visibility gear at an ornate gate, with the same gate visible blurred in the background
Hand holding a printed double-take photograph showing a street scene with people and a red line overlay against an urban wall backdrop
A hand holds a photograph showing a crowd of police officers in high-visibility jackets at a London street scene during the 2009 G20 protests, with the same location visible behind it in the present day
Hand holding a photograph of G20 protesters facing police in riot gear, with people in turquoise uniforms walking on a street behind
Hand holding a photograph showing an anarchist symbol and protesters on a London street, with the actual street scene visible behind it
Share

Further Reading