Confessions of an Accidental Techie

Mike Harvey’s Taxi Photo Booth

You meet all sorts of people driving a taxi. It’s the nature of the job. If you don’t meet lots of people, it’s a pretty good sign that you’re doing something wrong and should probably reconsider the choices you’ve made.

Mike Harvey is a man from South Wales who started driving a taxi to fund his trips around the world. A few months ferrying lots of people in and out of Swansea; a couple of months in Brazil. Half a year meeting lots more people on the night shift; three months touring Egypt, or Nepal, or Kathmandu.

In 2010, Mike started to document some of his taxi journeys, building a rapport with passengers, taking their photo at the final destination and waiving the fee as a thank you. He stopped taxi driving a year or so ago, but has  ​compiled his favorite p​ortraits from the project, all of which are named after the price of the journey, and unique, intimate insights into the social makeup of South Wales. He is currently exhibiting them at the Monkey Cafe & Bar in Swansea.

I met with Mike yesterday for a chat.

(£4.00)

VICE: Hi, Mike. Why did you start taking photos of your passengers? ​ Mike Harvey: I just found the job so fascinating. I never knew who was going to get into my taxi next—I’d learn so much from the passengers because there were so many predicaments I was put in. So I got a DSLR and started taking photos. I wanted the pictures to represent the journeys we’d shared, because the taxi was occupied by so many people throughout that period.

Were most people happy to have their photo taken? ​ Well, I documented roughly 130 journeys altogether, and I’d say only nine people said no. I’d always do it at the end of the journey, so we’d have built a rapport by then. I see it as one of the best educational experiences of my life, really, because whether it was giving someone CPR by the side of the road, a pregnant woman running away from my taxi, not paying, barefooted…

(£2.87) ”This guy used to be a bit of a regular customer, but he’s passed away since I took this photo, so there’s some poignancy there for me.”

What happened there? ​ I was driving out of Swansea at about 3AM, and this girl who was full-term pregnant—you know, ready to go—was sat at the side of the road, barefoot, flagging me down. So she got in and… it’s a bit of an impromptu counselling service sometimes, driving a taxi. I said that maybe getting hammered when you’re pregnant isn’t such a good idea, but, you know, we had a nice chat. Then, when I dropped her off, she legged it. I’d usually chase after someone, but she was fully pregnant, you know? She was the one that got away, but I let her get away.

People would also offer me drugs—ketamine. I mean, I don’t do drugs anyway, but who does ketamine when they’re driving?