Advertisement
Dublin: 0 °C Friday 22 November, 2024
Flickr

Women Who Eat On Tubes founder says Facebook page is 'an art project'

Tony Burke says it’s part of an observational study.

A MAN WHO set up a Facebook group to collate images of women eating on London Underground trains has responded to the backlash against the page.

Women Who Eat On Tubes features candid snaps of women eating food while on the train, all of which were taken without their permission.

After weeks of debate, Facebook temporarily took the page down this morning, much to the dismay of founder Tony Burke.

Speaking on BBC Radio Four, he claimed he had never intended to cause any harm.

“I set the page up for me as a observational study, just like any kind of reportage photography”, he said.

It was an observation… and random… It was an observation I made that more women than men eat on the Tube, and therefore it would be a richer vein to mine.

Burke went on to argue that he hadn’t been doing anything wrong.

I think we have a right to take photos of people without asking their permission, I think I was trying to capture a moment, and create something artistic.

Facebook reinstated Women Who Eat On Tubes this afternoon, but the group – which boasts over 21,000 members – is now private.

WWEOT / Facebook WWEOT / Facebook / Facebook

“WWEOT is observational not judgemental. It doesn’t intimidate nor bully”, the page’s official blurb reads.

Women are embraced and cherished. We celebrate and encourage women eating food on tubes. We do not marginalise them. We always look for the story in the picture.

Women in London are furious about what’s been going on online and are planning a Circle Line Lunch Party next week in protest

More: This wonderful account is tweeting a teenage diary from 1981 Northern Ireland>

More: A businessman is being walked around London on a lead>

Close
Comments
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.