The protesters gather outside the Bank of England and attempt to march through the financial district in anger at government plans to shore up confidence in the British banking sector with a bank bail out to the tune of £50 Billion GBP.
This image was taken on a mild October afternoon close to the Bank of England in the City of London. At the time the nation was trying to understand the complexity of what was going on in the International financial markets at a time when the markets looked set to collapse. I arrived just as a group of 2-300 were moving away from Bank tube station where they had assembled. On the day I think City of London police were a little overwhelmed and weren’t really expecting the group to be that large or that intent on marching. What followed was a walking shoving match between police and protester, while a press-scrum hovered around them. I grabbed this image just as a gap opened up in the police ranks. This image is part of a decade long project to document protest in the UK, which started with the rise of the anti-capitalist movement and the violent clashes in the City of London in June 1999. I like this image because it’s a satisfying example of good old fashioned up close photography with the main elements all in the right place.
Terence Bunch has carried a camera with him from the age of 15 (he’s 41 now) and for many years considered it a hobby. In 1998 he decided to make photography his career and began photographing protests. Armed with a decent portfolio, he gained a staffing job on a weekly newspaper in Essex doing the local district patch. From there he moved onto a local daily, the Evening Echo, again as a staffer and stayed there for four years producing content across three editions including the groups four, free weekly titles.
In 2004 he left his job to start a freelance career, which he continues to this day. Most of his work is concerned with social issues, working for magazines and some newspaper and TV stills. Despite the doom and gloom in the industry his business is doing well and his work is used widely – everything from magazine illustration to political thesis and commentary to documentary films. He has been published in the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa and Central and North America.
Photographer since 1998, EPUK member since 2004.
See more work by Terence Bunch