LONDON COURIERS
"In London there are around 500 bikemessengers (couriers). The courier, an ephemeral figure if the urban jungle is always on the move, knows almost all the nooks and crannies of the town and glides through the traffic with ease.
The courier must be independent and in great physical shape as he spends his whole day in the streets having to face all sorts of different situations and weather conditions.
The notion of time is essential as they are continuously dealing with delivery deadlines that must be met, whilst considering which route to take and evaluating the dangers around.
It is the most efficient means of delivery but the cyclist is very vulnerable in traffic.
It is a profession in which danger and adrenalin are part of everyday life.
Most of the time couriers are paid per errand, they travel between 80 and 100km a day, and there is no typical day as their workload varies.
It is an insecure job that entails a “you’ve got to know how to get by” kind of lifestyle.
The courier is not an employee he is an independent individual, and much like a wanderer he always carries the necessities everywhere with him.
The only link between the courier and the company he works for is a talkie-walkie and a cell phone.
It is a community made up of people with very different personalities and backgrounds brought together by their love for freedom and by the different life experiences that lead them to this profession. I became fascinated with these people that all of a sudden pop into the traffic and then disappear again just as suddenly. It is frustrating to see them; their faces, their different styles; moving through the town without ever being able to really grasp them or see them properly. I therefore wanted to make halt in their race and look at them.
These beings are part of the urban landscape, and are inseparable from it so it seemed natural to photograph them in the street. Furthermore the more diversity there is in a town the more architecture and surfaces there are that represent it.
This is why I photographed each person against a background that I found completed what I could perceive of each person on a human level or simply of their dress code. I tried to connect the person to a background by taking them out of the surroundings that I had met them in.
I didn’t try to favour one kind of lighting. In the street the weather changes all throughout the day, especially in London.
I therefore adapted myself to the changing weather just like the courier works to suit this element that has and effect on their working conditions as well as on their state of mind."
