For my final assignment, I have
chosen to create a set of images around the concept of gentrification, quite
prevalent in Britain’s more trendy cities such as London, Brighton and
Manchester. The links between gentrification, displacement and homelessness are
devastating for many residents.
Dan Hancox, having visited some of London’s victims of gentrification, speaks of
London residents who are forced out to the cheaper surrounding counties. Those
most at risk are tenants in need of social housing, who risk being moved as far
as Newcastle, under the threat of being declared intentionally homeless.
Inspired by some creative solutions to living more cheaply, I chose to create a mock-up living space, using volunteers to produce
a set of over exaggerated home life situations. Rebecca Solnit compares gentrification in San Francisco to climate
change:
“Contemporary gentrification is an
often violent process by which a complex and diverse urban environment becomes
more homogeneous and exclusionary. It does to neighbourhoods and cities what
climate change is doing to the earth: driving out fragile and deeply rooted
species, and pushing the poor past the brink.” (Solnit R. 2016)
As gentrification uproots people from
their home environment, climate change is capable of destroying the homes of
people, plants and animals alike. The poor suffer while rich, global
organisations trading in fossil fuels or property development prosper. I felt
it fitting to use a location that has recently suffered at the hands of climate
change as the setting for this project.
I used models, outfits and props to
create a homely scene in the caves created by flood defences on Spurn Point, a
thin peninsula separating the Humber Estuary from the North Sea. A sense of the
strong, northern working class runs through the scene, backed by the affluence
of the city they have been forced to leave.
Evaluation
Demonstration of technical and visual
skills
Spurn Point is a four mile long, thin
strip of land separating the North Sea and the Humber Estuary. Due to recent
flooding, part of this wild and varied nature reserve has collapsed, making
parts of it only accessible at low tide. Tidal defences in the form of large
chunks of concrete and stone, lean on each other to form tiny caves. I chose to
use this location to represent the general decline to local neighbourhoods.
In order to set up this shoot,
several things had to be considered. The most vital aspect was to study the
tidal calendar as the location I had chosen is totally inaccessible at high
tide, and pools of water remain for a few hours after. The weather was also important,
as, although we were all happy to work in most weathers, a heavy rainfall would
have made the caves too flooded to work in.
Having chosen two potential weekends,
I put out a request through social media, getting a good response from some
keen volunteers, quite excited about creating characters and providing props.
The tide tables gave a window between
9am and 3pm for our shoot. Avoiding midday sun, I chose to shoot in the morning,
as the light would be shining into the caves; by mid afternoon, the sun would
have moved behind the caves, creating too much shade for a successful shoot.
The chosen day, being warm and cloudy provided filtered lighting for the shoot.
The chosen day provided pale grey skies, providing filtered lighting for the
shoot.
With the help of the filtered
lighting, I have managed to create balanced lighting both for the people in the
cave and those outside. I had hoped that the cave would be dark enough to
create a glow from the electronic tablet, however I underestimated the power of
the sunlight, even in a darkened cave. Shooting with the sun behind the cave
may have rectified this, however it would have created unwanted shadows in the
foreground. The models are well spaced around the
image and the eye lines of the two higher models follow that of the landscape,
further separating their world from the city scene.
Quality of outcome
I have used a low perspective for
this shoot to connote a sense of power and worth in the face of adversity. The
blustery day and number of models, including a baby led to some difficulty
getting everything right within one shot. The five images below were merged in
order to create the best possible representation of each character.
Jenny (washing): outfit gives a sense
of a strong, working class woman, reflected in pose, powerful and strong,
determined facial expression, hinting at hope for the future.
Meg (bath): interacting with Jordan
(laptop), in other images where Meg had been looking outwards, it left Jordan
isolated and not a part of the group.
Jordan (laptop): Looking towards Meg
and laughing, bringing happiness to the scene despite their circumstances. I am
a little disappointed with Jordan’s positioning, however the difficulties we
experienced placing two characters in such a confined space was quite fitting
to the project.
Amber (reading): Amber was also the
second prop for the washing line, the end tied to the back of her jeans. While
hidden away by her bedding, the line of the washing and her body create flow
through the image. I chose this version of Amber because although she was
reading, the slight smirk and sideways glance connect her to the rest of the
scene. I am disappointed that the title of the book, ‘501 Must Visit Natural
Wonders’ is not visible in the scene; the book in this scenario could quite
easily be retitled, ‘Property Guide for the Gentrified’.
Kelly & Esme: Although we had
used Esme’s highchair in the individual shots, she had grown tired and hungry
by this point and was ready for a feed. Kelly sitting to breastfeed has given
more balance to the image physically and also fits with the natural setting.
Because of Esme’s head position, it is not immediately clear that she is
feeding but the interaction between mother and daughter enhances the feeling of
closeness and family.
The northern working class theme is
reflected by the use of a tin bath and TV guide featuring Coronation Street
characters. In some of the individual images I used an electric lamp as well as
the Internet tablet prompting the viewer to question how these items are
powered; the tablet, although transient will need to be charged. This question
in turn highlights the distance from civilisation as victims of gentrification
are moved away from support networks built through friends, family and services.
The tin bath and Internet tablet cross a generational divide, showing the
traditional and the modern side by side.
The setting, being a fifteen-minute
walk across sand from the nearest car parking spot limited the amount of props
we could carry. I feel that the image may have been improved with a few toys
scattered around Kelly and Esme or a hairdryer on the white rock but the image
could have become very cluttered with too many more props.
The characters, on the surface appear
happy with their lot but the difficulties can easily be seen; the rock hard
bed, tiny tin bath and lack of electricity symbolise some of the discomfort
experienced by the real victims of gentrification.
The completed scene was then backed
with a typical London scene, taken on a trip to the capital earlier in the
year. I chose this particular scene as it included the iconic Shard while the
bridge allowed me to include people at a higher level, making the setup feel
like a possible reality. The city is de-saturated to give a feeling of a
memory, a life left behind, although I am somewhat worried that the vibrant
cave scene compared to the grey backdrop gives the impression that
gentrification is a positive movement.
Demonstration of creativity
After a few failed attempts at
creating a narrative for this assignment, the idea came to me while editing
family photographs shot on Spurn Point.
The concept immediately felt right as
ideas came flooding through about how to create my intended narrative on such
an important and current issue. Knowing the setting fairly well, I hoped that
we could fit all of the characters into one scene but was not entirely sure how
well it would until everyone was in place. The individual images were taken
initially as a backup plan and also to relax models into the shoot before
creating the final, combined image. I feel that the humour and vibrancy
expressed in the image separate it from other work on the subject.
I feel that this assignment is a
culmination of many of the technical and artistic skills I have developed over
the last two years. Inspiration for the scene set up came from Domenico Dolce’s
‘ITALIA IS LOVE!’ Campaign for Dolce & Gabbana, first seen during Dawn
Woolley’s presentation at the Photography Matters symposium. The example shown
brings together several small groups of people to create one combined scene;
the young and beautiful taking selfies, playing guitar and eating real Italian
home cooked spaghetti, thanks to the loving mother, the central figure of
family life, shown at the centre of the scene. The image does not appear to be
advertising a brand but a lifestyle, for the young, beautiful, caring and
creative. I have aimed to emulate the idea of combining several different but
connected activities in my setup.
Costumes and props were used to
create a homely scene in and around the caves and a group of volunteers played
the parts of my chosen characters. The idea of bringing the indoors out is a
reversal of Marja Pirilä’s Camera Obscura and Gregory Crewdson’s images in
which the outdoors is brought in.
The
matriarchal character far left has a look of the strong northern women featured
in early episodes of Coronation Street, also seen in wartime art, such as the
“We Can Do It!" propaganda poster produced by Howard J.
Miller in 1943.
John Berger discusses traditional ‘genre’ painting by masters such
as Hals, showing the poor smiling, showing teeth, something never shown in
paintings of the rich. In 17th century Europe, broad smiles were
connected to the poor, the drunk and those in entertainment. The natural, happy
faces of my models represent the lower class. Jenny’s outfit brings the most
obvious representation of the working class, however her expression and upward
gaze hint at a better way of life.
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