Sunday 16 March 2014

Unit RPHC4002 Waste - Further Research

For the next part of my research I have looked at two more photographers. Gillian Waring, a British photographer and Anthony Luvera, an Australian, based in London. They both photograph people but in different ways.


When Waring began putting together exhibitions, she decided to base them around the idea of photographing anonymous strangers in the street who she had asked to hold up a piece of paper with a message on it.   By allowing the stranger to write their thoughts on a piece of paper and be photographed, the disparities between public and private life is explored. Her portraits reveal an inconsistency, almost an absurdity, between what the person writes compared to the image they portray to strangers. 

For example, one photo shows a policeman who would automatically be seen as brave and fearless in his role, but has actually written ‘HELP’ on his paper. 




Another shows a man in a business suit looking confident and assured. Again, the image portrayed to a stranger would be a person who is confident and in charge of his life. However, the message ‘I’M DESPERATE’ tells what is really going on in his mind.



This may be an interesting approach to my photographs of the homeless.

Anthony Luvera’s approach is to photograph homeless people, but turning the camera on themselves to create an assisted self portrait.  

He believes that the space between the homelessness and the camera is where he locates his silent subjects. He sees homelessness as a changeable existence, fluid between one place and another without a voice or the possibility of being articulate. By turning the camera on themselves, Luvera offers a voice to homeless people. By moving the natural power balance found in portrait photography, Luvera shows that collaboration can create a more empathetic approach to photographing people. He has managed to build an archive through the eyes of people who have difficulty fitting in. 



His work has the power to educate people to the plight of the homeless. 

I feel this may be another approach that could work when I take my photographs. It should add a different dimension to the shot. 

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