Pictures of the week: Peeking At The Park, by WassinkLundgren

Gaps in temporary hoardings are, it seems, put there for one purpose: for passers-by to peek through. Observing people doing this has a surprisingly powerful effect – you immediately want to know what they’re looking at.→
Photograph: WassinkLundgren

It’s the same human condition that leads to small crowds assembling on street corners, necks craned.→
Photograph: WassinkLundgren

Concert promoters, in particular, have become increasingly militant about erecting brutalist fences around gigs in parks to deter non-paying members of the public. But there are ways round this. If staring through a gap is uncomfortable long-term, you can always climb a perfectly positioned tree and settle in for the afternoon.→
Photograph: WassinkLundgren

WassinkLundgren, aka young Dutch photographers Thijs groot Wassink and Ruben Lundgren, have made humorous, observational photography something of a trademark.→
Photograph: WassinkLundgren

They take mundane, everyday occurrences that often passed unnoticed, and turn them into something bigger. Repetition often helps. “It’s like saying a familiar word over and over,” Wassink says. “It suddenly becomes ridiculous.”→
Photograph: WassinkLundgren

The pair develop ideas together but, due to the fact that Wassink lives in London and Lundgren in Beijing, often carry out shoots individually.→
Photograph: WassinkLundgren

It was Wassink who, on this occasion, laid in wait, camera poised, in various London parks as live music boomed from hidden stages. “It didn’t seem to matter who was playing – if there was a space to peek through, people peeked.”→
Photograph: WassinkLundgren

In a similar vein, previous projects include snapping community-minded Chinese picking up empty plastic bottles from the street, and filming dogs tethered to lampposts outside shops as they await their owners’ return. Their gentle, playful photography is unpretentious, says Wassink, who cites Ricky Gervais and Steve Coogan as influences.→
Photograph: WassinkLundgren

It is also slightly absurd and peculiarly British, despite neither being British. Perhaps Wassink’s years in London are starting to rub off.
Photograph: WassinkLundgren