A-Z Every Street

Hello again!

I’m a big fan of trying to see more of where you live, of being more curious and observant in order to appreciate the places on your doorstep better.

Photographer Thomas James kindly agreed to write a short piece for this newsletter about his mission to do exactly this, in his hometown of Bath. Thank you, Thomas!

A-Z Every Street

Dear friends,

I’ve always been drawn to the idea that making images can be a form of active meditation—a way to allow yourself to be more present and self-aware. Looking through a lens, we slow down, observe more closely, and see the world around us. Patterns, textures, light, and shadow that might go unnoticed quite literally come into focus.

 

That was the idea behind my “A-Z Every Street” project which saw me set out to walk every street in my hometown of Bath over 2021. The concept was straightforward: one camera, one Collins A-to-Z street atlas and one red Sharpie to mark my progress.

For those unfamiliar, Bath is a city that lives off tourism. Georgian architecture, Roman-era baths, and a medieval abbey mean the town attracts over 5 million visitors annually. Growing up here, I thought I had a sense of Bath. But it wasn’t until I moved away and returned later in life that I began to see the gap between the postcard and the everyday living city.

I wanted the project to be an exercise in what the Situationists called psychogeography—a way to explore urban environments in a playful, non-utilitarian way, using chance operations to guide a journey. The goal is to break out of habitual ways of experiencing the city.

My photographic heroes come from the 1970s New Topographics movement—photographers like Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, and Stephen Shore, who turned their cameras on the mundane, man-altered landscapes of post-war America and found a strange, austere beauty there. But, on this side of the Atlantic, we have our own stable of new topographers, such as Jem Southam, Paul Graham, and Luigi Ghirri, whose patient, contemplative approach to the landscape has always resonated with me.

Ultimately, the A-Z Every Street project became a personal treasure hunt, a search for small, extraordinary scenes in the mundane—in the back alleys and cul-de-sacs, in the unassuming corners and forgotten spaces.

What I ended up with – I hope – counters the flattening effect of the tourist gaze, something a bit more gritty behind the glossy veneer that captures a few of my home’s idiosyncratic charm.

More than that, I wanted to demonstrate how to see your surroundings with fresh eyes and find beauty and meaning in the everyday.

Ultimately, photography’s real power is this form of active meditation, not about making pretty pictures. It’s about developing a way of seeing, being present, and engaging with the world. Until next time, Thomas

Follow Thomas on Instagram The A-Z Every Street project

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