JB Birmingham Street Atlas : Originally uploaded by bounder. See it in all it’s glory here

I’ve always thought that roads, like music, crystallize memories. I can’t listen to Oasis’ ‘stop crying your heart out’ without shedding a tear, purely because it was used in the closing credits after England got knocked out of a World Cup not because it’s lumpen rubbish.

The original idea was this (was before the invention of digital photography); I’d get up very early one Sunday morning and nick the actual signs. They are very difficult to remove, however, and I’m not Banksy or Tracey Emin (or even Bill Drummond) and I doubt the Highways Agency would see the art.

I’m not saying why I picked these particular roads, or where they are – you can guess if you like. I had to make a cut off somewhere, it was odd deciding what memories were important enough to make it. I purposely didn’t just do ‘every street I’ve lived in’, what was too simple. Nothing at all happened in at least one of the roads, it’s just the name.

It was actually quite an emotional experience in a couple of places (not to mention dangerous when standing in the middle of the Pershore Rd to get ‘just the right angle’).

See it as a flickr set.

There might be a follow up – I’ve already been thinking of ‘every pub I’ve ever been in’, or ‘every‘ church I’ve ever been in’.

As for the street atlas thing – I’d like other people to have a go.

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