Russell, who worked as a photographer at Reuters for 32 years, has recently been working on a project which has seen him looking to reunite with a series of people he photographed on his doorstep while living in Peterborough in 1985.
The idea of the project was to take pictures of everybody that knocked on his door in Adderley, Bretton as a means of recording social history and after discovering the photos in an old box, decided it was time to do something with them once again.
He said: “I lived in Peterborough between 1984 and 86 and during that time I was working part time and unemployed part-time and the nature of sourcing work in those days meant sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring. So instead of that, I decided I was going to speak to and photograph everyone that called at my door.
“I was amazed by this idea that as a photographer you always had to go somewhere to get a shot but this way it would be nice for the pictures to come to me.
“I was actually speaking to the Museum of Youth Culture about a series of photos I had taken around the city centre youth clubs in Peterborough and when I went into the attic to find them, found these photos as well that must have been up there for 30 years.
“With the census taking place at the minute, it got me thinking I’ll get them out and see if any of these people are still living in Peterborough.”
At the end of March, he completed the first of these reunions and aimed to create them as accurately as possible.
He added: “It was great to get out and speak to the people I photographed. I did my best to try and recreate the photos exactly so I took a stepladder with me to get the angles right.
“It was lovely because Jane, who was collecting for The Red Cross still has the beret she was wearing that day so she is holding in the picture and the others, I tried to give them something to hold or get to stand in the same way but it was funny because they ended up just doing that naturally.
“I think that is really important that we document today and record the ordinary, which is what many people don’t think of. It may seem boring and not worth it but in 30 years time, the world will have changed so much.”
Russell has created a video to accompany his photos, which can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqwXVK4lC9I. He also created a Facebook page to share his photos and to try and track down others that are featured in this project.
If you see yourself or someone you recognise, get in touch with Russell at [email protected] or Peterborough People Pictures 1985 on Facebook.
He said: “I lived in Peterborough between 1984 and 86 and during that time I was working part time and unemployed part-time and the nature of sourcing work in those days meant sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring. So instead of that, I decided I was going to speak to and photograph everyone that called at my door.
