The Long Way Home

Bernard Fallon's Liverpool images

3 March to 15 July 2007

Bernard Fallon was born into a large Liverpool Irish family in Crosby, Liverpool in 1949. He pursued his interest in painting and photography at the Liverpool College of Art for four years.

The Long Way Home covers the period between 1966 and 1975, when Fallon was exploring Liverpool and commuting to the Art School. He was fascinated by the changing urban landscape and social environment that he witnessed on his route and he began documenting life around Liverpool. His approach was inspired by the photojournalism and candid style of photographic masters such as Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Many of the images were taken during 1969 and 1970, when Fallon was becoming increasingly drawn towards the Scotland Road community. Keen to document the great social changes that were taking place in the area at that time, the photographs formed the basis of his Art School final year assignment. It was during this project that he that he further developed his social realism style, with people central to the subject, photographed at a cooperative distance. Also important was a strong composition and a desire to capture the ‘essential’ moment – the tension between beauty and reality.

"I took these pictures as an amateur in the true sense of the word. Not only because I wasn’t paid to do them but also that I loved the sensation of events and scenes materializing in the viewfinder"
Bernard Fallon 2007

Gallery

Have a look at some of the photographs from the exhibition using the links below.

Listen to Bernard's guided tour of the exhibition

Download a podcast of Bernard Fallon' s guided tour of the exhibition, to hear the stories behind some of his pictures.

Publication

A book of Bernard's photographs is now available from the National Conservation Centre shop or by mail order from Publications at NML Trading Ltd for £9.99 plus £2 for postage within the UK, £4 to Europe, £7(airmail) or £3.50 (surface mail) to the rest of the world.

Further information

After leaving college Bernard Fallon spent a year at the Leicester Polytechnic School of Photography, then worked in London and later moved to Los Angeles as a photojournalist. He has travelled extensively and his work has been published around the world. He has two sons, and divides his time between photography, painting and teaching.

Visit Bernard Fallon's website.

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