People waiting at a crossroads seem to be lost in time and space. During the minutes waiting for the traffic, they have time to be absorbed by thoughts and preoccupations, and maybe they delve into philosophical thoughts. British Photographer Oli Kellett directed his camera to the individual city-dwellers along the streets in big cities like Los Angeles, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and London. He was looking for more than just the human figure in the town. “I wanted it to be about the universal human condition.”

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The Cross Road Blues series evolved organically, without a preconceived plan. Oli Kellett tried to photograph crossroads in London for a few months with little success. “In 2016, I went to America to make a body of work about the US elections between Trump and Clinton. I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking for. What I was looking for didn't exist. I had spent ten days in downtown LA just photographing the length and breadth of Hope Street, but I wasn't getting far. Because I had already been photographing crossroads in England, I instinctively began to set up my camera at crossroads. In one picture, a lady was waiting at a crossroads, and when I returned to England, this seemed to be the most interesting picture.”

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Crossovers

Initially, Oli Kellett was looking for the sphere of the people in the United States, which he found at the crossovers. They reflected the political situation of the election time. “America was at this idea of political crossroads during that time. It was a very polarised place. But over time, the project changed from being more about America to being more about the individual. It progressed into an idea about individuals caught in these moments of contemplation at crossroads, which is a much more universal idea. That's why the work spread from cities in America to different cities in other countries. I wanted it to be about the universal human condition.”

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After travelling to America, Kellet also visited countries like Mexico and Brazil and worked in his country, the UK. “Nearly four years after trying to take photographs in London, I spent extensive time abroad, which allowed me to look at London with fresh eyes. I knew a lot more about what I was after. At the beginning of every project, you don't know how to approach it, and it takes time to work out the process. After travelling worldwide, I finally returned to London and spent only four days taking these pictures.”

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I like to think people are wrestling with these big ideas about guidance and morality and these big questions of life, as opposed to what they're having for lunch.

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Kellet was looking for moments when people were not in the space themselves but in their minds, thinking about their lives. “I like to think people are wrestling with these big ideas about guidance and morality and these big questions of life, as opposed to what they're having for lunch.”

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Light and body language

In some pictures, you see only individuals; in others, you see groups. Kellett’s original idea was to photograph groups, but he found more connection with the photographs of individuals. “But in my group photographs, at least one person will usually look up to the sky. And that was an important gesture because that's the idea of looking for something, answers, and guidance. I'm trying to focus on the individual within a group.”

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The photographs have a Gregory Crewdson kind of magical light, which is not the result of a studio setting but getting up early. “I like to wake up early. I also like to walk. Because the project became quite a considered activity, purely about crossroads, I usually spent the first day in a city walking around and finding these spaces. I chose cities with good weather. Travelling to these cities in the summer when it was sunny was easier. And then it's just a case of waking up early and waiting for the right moment. I would take several pictures and check them, and when I found what I was looking for, I would usually return the next day.”

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Body language was an aspect which made Kellet decide to make shots. “I liked the relaxed posture; they seemed to be waiting for a bus all day. I don't want people to have their phones in their hands, which in 2016 wasn't so difficult. But then, over those four years, everybody got smartphones. That refers to the idea of being psychologically removed. The minute you have a phone in your hand, you're distracted, but without a phone, people look around and see the world. They look up at the sky or their fellow pedestrians.”     

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The minute you have a phone in your hand, you're distracted, but without a phone, people look around and see the world.     

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Dwarfing the individual 

Oli Kellett uses an unusual digital architectural camera—a Cambo with a Phase One back attached. The camera allows perspective corrections, resulting in straight vertical lines of the buildings. “I grew up shooting on large format film with an old Wista field camera. Once you get used to mounting a camera on a tripod and correcting the perspectives, you can't go back to using a different camera. I don't like spending time on the computer correcting perspectives in Photoshop.”

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The city serves as the stage background, not identifiable but still majestic, big, and beautiful.

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“I want the person to feel small. This project, Cross Road Blues, is about individuals. I’ve always wanted the city to feel like a nondescript city. People are navigating their way through these spaces. Being stuck at this crossroads is that moment of asking yourself questions about life decisions, choices, and directions. The book contains an essay written by the philosopher Nigel Warburton. He talks about the people being almost actors on a stage. The city serves as the stage background, not identifiable but still majestic, big, and beautiful.”

One photo, made in Chicago, shows the silhouette of a woman walking over some giant metal sheets reflecting the sun. “There were roadworks at the time; the metal sheets had been laid on the road so people could cross. As I was standing on a bridge, and the sun was in the right place, the sheets reflected the bright light into the camera, making a very dark photo.” The woman appears all alone, for that moment, the only person in the city. 

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There is a hint of spirituality behind the pedestrians crossing the streets, an open question to our inner psychological life. “I took a picture in Rio of a figure pointing up at the sky. In this picture, his finger points perfectly upwards at the sky. He and his partner were looking up at the sky. As soon as I took that picture, it was the end of the project because I understood he was pointing to something bigger than daily life. I don't quite know how to describe this; it's a bigger idea than the purely physical. It opened up more abstract ideas for me. Some pictures allude to bigger thoughts about spirituality. Over the four years of working on the project, I would appreciate life's fragility more.”

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The photo reminded Oli Kellet of paintings in which the finger points upward. “In The School of Athens fresco by Raphael, Plato points up at the heavens. John the Baptist, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, points to the sky. My photo in Rio tied everything together—my interest in classical painting and my growing interest in philosophical ideas. I felt I had answered some of the questions I initially set out to answer; I found answers I didn’t know I was searching for.”

About

Oli Kellett is an artist based in Hastings, UK. He graduated from the Central St. Martins Graphic Design course in 2005 and spent the following few years working as an Art Director at some of London’s leading advertising agencies. Since 2008, he has dedicated himself to exploring the urban setting. At the 2018 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Oli Kellett was awarded the Rose Award for Photography and the Arts Club Award. In 2021, he was shortlisted for the Photo London Emerging Photographer Award.

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Oli Kellett: Waiting For A Sign

Current Exhibition in HackelBury Fine Art Gallery, London

24 November 2023 - 2 March 2024

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