A Beginner’s Exploration of Documentary Photography – By Hugo Morgan

After a summer spent overexposing bulk bought colour negative film on trips to the beach and praying that the airport scanners weren’t going to fry my film on the way home, I decided that I wanted to step up my game this autumn. It wasn’t flat pastel tones and dreamy sunsets that inspired me to pick up my camera again, but the gritty, dramatic, black and white images taken by photojournalists throughout the mid 20th century and the documentary/street style of photography that followed in its wake.When I heard that last month’s Extinction Rebellion protests in Central London had extended beyond their authorised territory of Trafalgar Square and into the City of London, I knew that this was an opportunity that could not be missed. What follows is the story of my first foray into this hallowed style of photography.