The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
Mar 2016 back issue
by Philip Wolmuth
I've been fascinated by Speakers' Corner ever since I first visited it in
the mid-1970s. The passion and intensity of the face-to-face arguments,
wild preaching and eccentric exchanges between the speakers and
hecklers who gather in London’s Hyde Park each weekend immediately
grabbed my attention.
These photographs from my recently published book were taken on
Sunday afternoons stretching back almost four decades. Many of those
that appear in Speakers' Corner: Debate, Democracy and Disturbing the
Peace are accompanied by excerpts of the speeches, heckles and
arguments they depict. Together the pictures and words chronicle a
remarkable London institution, whose origin lies in the nineteenth
century campaigns for the widening of the franchise and which, even in
the age of ubiquitous online social media platforms, is still widely
regarded as the home of free speech.
Holy Bob, Evangelical Christian, 1978.
Stuart Wheeler, born-again Christian, 1978.
Steve Ross, Socialist Party of Great Britain, 1978.
Jim Huggon, Hyde Park Anarchist Forum, 1981.
Simon, 'Doctor Bulgaria', 1993.
Argument, 1993.
Pan-Arabist, 1993.
Conspiracy theorist, 1993.
Christian preacher, 1993.
Abdurraheem Green, Muslim convert, 1993.
Lord Donald Soper, 1994.
American evangelist, 1993.
Catholic Evidence Guild, 1995.
Christian preacher, 1995.
Islam v Christianity argument, 1995.
Martin Besserman, entertainer, 1996.
Christianity v Islam argument, 2014.
Bible scholar, 2014.
Argument, 2014.
