Chris Porsz Famous English "street" photographer and paramedic Date of Birth: 31.01.1953 Country: Great Britain

1. Early Life and Family Background
2. Career Paths
3. Street Photography and Rephotographing the Past
4. Published Works

Chris Porz: Photographer, Paramedic, and Chronicler of British Society

Early Life and Family Background

Chris Porz was born in the early hours of January 31, 1953, in Peterborough's Gables Maternity Home. Outside, the city was wracked by the worst flooding it had ever witnessed, with ships sinking and over 300 people perishing. Eight years prior, Chris's mother, Krystyna, had been on the brink of death in a Nazi concentration camp.

Krystyna's family had been a trio of beautiful sisters named Krystyna, Ada, and Regina, living a peaceful life in Warsaw before the war. Chris's maternal grandfather died in the sewers, while his grandmother Sara, his aunt Regina, and her five-year-old daughter, Lillian, were murdered in the Majdanek camp on the outskirts of Lublin. Ada was sent to Siberia by the Russians, where Chris's cousin, Vicki, was born. Porz's mother's fiancé, a resistance fighter, helped Krystyna escape the Warsaw Ghetto, but she was eventually captured and held in the notorious Pawiak prison and later Ravensbrück, the "guarded women's camp" near Berlin. Somehow, Krystyna survived the harsh winter of 1944-1945.

Chris's father had fled Poland for England to join the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade. He fought valiantly at Arnhem and married Krystyna in Germany. Penniless and homeless, Chris's parents arrived in Peterborough in 1947, determined to put the horrors of war behind them and build a new life. Initially residing on Gladstone Street, where their landlady stole their food rations, Chris's father worked as a highly skilled toolmaker at Perkins Engines. A passionate table tennis player, he was a great success but was unfortunately forced to give up when he developed Alzheimer's disease in his 48th year. Chris's mother worked for many years at the Embassy Theatre and now lives with rapidly fading memory.

Career Paths

After dropping out of university, Porz found temporary work as a porter in 1974, still holding the same position 13 years later. In that time, he encountered a range of experiences, both pleasant and unpleasant, that he credits as good training for his eventual "street photographer" career. In 1988, Porz joined the ambulance service, where he has remained as a paramedic for 22 years, finding the job both fulfilling and worthwhile.

Street Photography and Rephotographing the Past

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Porz's street photography in Peterborough captured the vibrancy of British youth, their rebellion, adventure, defiance, and romance. Almost half a century later, Porz has taken on the mission of finding the subjects of these photos and recreating those scenes in detail. For example, in the 1980s, Chris captured a serendipitous moment between Tony, a 22-year-old teacher, and Sally, a 21-year-old council worker, bidding farewell on a station platform, unaware that their image was being captured. Almost 30 years later, Tony stumbled upon the image in a newspaper.

A color photograph of the pair taking "goodbye again" was made on December 21, 2009. The couple are now both teachers, working in Lichfield and have two children.

Another of Chris's subjects was a Scottish man named Michael Ross, known as "Nobby." Homeless in the 1980s, Ross, a former teacher, was a drifter who slept at a bus stop. His home had been destroyed by fire. By the time Porz found Michael, he had received medical and practical support from local doctors, who had also provided him with accommodation.

In 1985, the photographer captured punks Tina Tarr, then 18, and "Dog." The pair left Peterborough in the 1990s, had twins, but Tina and Dog's relationship eventually foundered. Tina now teaches willow weaving, while Dog lives in Wales and does landscaping.

The collection of paired photographs, past and present, has grown into a full-length book entitled "Reunions," the photographer's second publication.

Published Works

Porz's first book, "New England," documented the social and cultural changes sweeping England in the 1970s and 1980s. Chris took to the streets to record the changing face of a "new town" in those turbulent years, eventually including some 170 images in his debut book.

In 2011, Chris felt the urge to make more images beyond Peterborough and embarked on an "inspiring tour of nine cities": London, Brighton, Norwich, Leicester, Nottingham, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, and York. "I had adopted the philosophy of the great New York photographer, Dave Beckerman," says Porz. "Street photography is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration." Chris logged countless hours, covered many miles, and took hundreds of images, only a handful of which he has chosen to appear on his website.

In 2015, Chris's work featured in an installation at London Luton Airport. That same year, he visited Vienna and Copenhagen. The photographer spent five months documenting everyday life at Peterborough City Hospital, the results of which can be viewed in an online gallery on Porz's website.

In spring 2016, Chris traveled to Lisbon, Oslo, and Riga. The rest of the year was spent "tracking down" his 1970s and 1980s subjects and remaking the images for his "Reunions" book.