The photographer capturing life under a flight path

Harry Low

BBC News

10 June 2024

Image source, Bertie Taylor
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Bertie Taylor says this is his favourite snap from the project, which he captured on a sunny September afternoon.
Image source, Bertie Taylor
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The pictures were all taken near Heathrow Airport in 2018 and 2019.
Image source, Bertie Taylor
Image caption,
Speaking about the project, Taylor says he "really wanted to do a comprehensive series and I've always been attracted to things that stand out - not the mundane but slightly unusual".
Image source, Bertie Taylor
Image caption,
"I was interested in man versus machine and technology versus the planet and humanity," Taylor says.
Image source, Bertie Taylor
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Explaining why he started the collection, Taylor says he was "in London on one of these film sets near the flight path and I thought 'this is a really interesting area'".
Image source, Bertie Taylor
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"My key was a black coffee and I'd spend two hours running around capturing life," the photographer says.
Image source, Bertie Taylor
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Each shot was carefully considered and Taylor says he "needed the right conditions and that could change at short notice".
Image source, Bertie Taylor
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“It was really complicated because sometimes planes land on the southern runway and, if the wind direction changed, it would go to another runway.”
Image source, Bertie Taylor
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Taylor encountered occasional setbacks such as when he would travel "to west London especially, and if they would change runways, I couldn't do the series”.
Image source, Bertie Taylor
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"It's quite a good day out," the photographer concludes.

For most people travelling to Heathrow Airport, the journey is a means to an end. But Bertie Taylor's aim was a little different: to capture everyday life underneath the flight path.

The 37-year-old described the project as his "most relevant work" and is looking for a publisher for his collection of photographs, which has a working title Life Under the Flight Path.

Between September 2018 and 2019, the photographer, musician and short film maker travelled from his parents' home in Piccadilly Circus to Hatton Cross in west London.

"Most people are coming from Heathrow to central London for tourism and I was doing the opposite," Taylor, who lives in Newhaven, East Sussex, says.

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The photographer capturing life under a flight path

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