Photograph
The Smiths, Morrissey
2002

Smiths / Morrissey lyrics written in the tile grouting of a ladies toilet in the Prestwich branch of Tesco.

Years ago a friend of mine tipped me off that in the end cubicle of the Tesco Prestwich ladies loo someone had painstakingly written Smiths lyrics in tiny writing over much of the grouting on the end wall. I went to investigate, taking my camera with me and ended up spending a long time sitting inside the cubicle waiting for the person in the next door middle one to leave. I figured the sound of a camera shutter firing would be disconcerting to overhear in a toilet but the person in the loo next to me took an inordinate amount of time to do whatever they were doing (they were entirely silent so perhaps they were reading or waiting for me to leave, I don’t know) and I nearly left but instead sat tight looking at the words and waiting for the chance to take some pictures.

The lyrics were extensive and I struggled to photograph them adequately but I took a few frames with the intention of going back another time to get more shots. It was back in the early 2000s when I was still shooting on 35mm film so I couldn’t take as many shots as I do now that I’m digital. A few months later I returned and was really sad to see that the grouting had been very deliberately cleaned and the lyrics entirely removed. I always presumed they were the work of a Tesco employee who wanted to leave their mark in a place they perhaps didn’t enjoy working in but maybe the graffiti was by a customer. Either way, I thought it was a wonderful thing to find in such an unexpected location.

Photograph: Emma Farrer

1/2