The last shoot I carried out at Love Coventry was the last to in my two part project which started off by documenting how homeless people in Manchester were living, and finished by documenting the different organisations in Coventry which support the homeless and people who are vulnerable. I think that my project has come a very long way from my starting point, and ended up going in a full cycle from capturing those who need support to those who provide the support.
My project was a continuation from the last Unit which was called Reflect and Research. In that last unit my main focus was to document the housing problem in Manchester and the direct knock on affect this has to the increase in homeless numbers. In that unit, I concluded by contrasting the growing homeless camp numbers with the large amounts of derelict/ open land which could be turned into social housing, but the only housing which was being developed was for people with higher incomes. This first unit directly influenced my Final Major Project, but I decided to change what angle I was looking at. The reason for this was because part of my feedback stated that my work was starting to become too removed from the actual problem at hand. Because my practice took on a still life format, some commented that even though I was representing the housing problem in my work, I wasn't photographing the people which were directly affected by it. So I decided that for the continuation of this project to this Unit, I would begin by looking back at the homeless camps but changing the way I photographed them.
The first part of this project made me realise how homeless people on the streets are always being moved on by the police and council, and aren't allowed to settle in one place which could allow them to begin to get their lives in place. Also without an address its very difficult to get any kind of support provided to them. The way I represented this constant movement was by producing before and after images, which showed the viewer different scenes of what it was like while the homeless were still there and then what it was like after they'd been made to move on. This was interesting because it showed me that actually the scene was a lot more depressing for the 'after' photographs, because it felt like all the energy and life had been taken out of the image. These before and after images were influenced by looking at a Guardian article about Syria before and after the war. Quickly after this I read 'How the Other Half Lives' by Jacob Riis, which is an early photo-book which documented the squalid living conditions which were found in New York City slums in the 1880's, which quickly became my biggest influence and running theme throughout my project. I decided that I would create my own modern version of Riis' book and document what it was like to live on the streets in modern Manchester. I also was influenced by the mechanical way in which he captured his photographs, which resulted in showing the viewer exactly what it was like to live in the places he was visiting in an objective way of capturing images which felt like they weren't being influenced by creative angles or in/exclusions of objects. I then used this as my main form of inspiration to my project, and set me out on a journey to produce images which had the same feeling as Riis' did.
After meeting up with the people from my last project I began using this inspiration to capturing wide angle tent interiors which put the viewer inside the life and 'home' of these individuals. I thought this affect was really good because many people had seen Manchester's homeless camps from the outside, but no one had photographed inside the tents before. This affect meant the viewer could experience what it was like to be inside some of these tents for themselves, and hopefully make them think about what it might be like to live in those conditions with the lack of possessions and everyday amenities such as clean running water and cooking facilities. Julian Germaine reviewed my portfolio and spoke to me in length about how he really like the tent interiors and understood what I was trying to achieve, but he didn't like the 'before and after' images as much because he thought they weren't as visually interesting. I disagreed with him, but took his constructive criticism on board and carried on with just the tent interior photographs because it was my stronger set of images. Throughout this project I have carried on capturing portraits, if the subjects are happy to have theirs taken which many aren't which is understandable. The reason I still took portraits throughout my project is that it gives reference to the different people I met along this photographic journey, and when I turn the project into a book, the portraits will be a running theme throughout.
I then researched into Ben Roberts who's images captured large scale wide angle tent interiors, as well as close up images of the different objects he found around the set of tents which were situated due to a protest outside St Paul's Cathedral. His images were a great source of inspiration to my project because it gave me the drive to find bigger tents which would hopefully create more of an impact to the viewer. When looking for these larger homeless tents at the London Road Piccadilly camp which I had photographed a few months previous for the last Unit, I saw McDonald Hotel guests looking and pointing at the camp. I decided to look on Trip Advisor to see if the guest reviews of the hotel mentioned anything about the camp, as this was a very informative way to get peoples honest opinions of what they thought when they looked at a homeless camp inside a city. Many didn't mind the camp at all, but some had very negative things to say about it with no empathy for the homeless people living there. I hoped that my end result which change the negative opinions of people about the camp and open their eyes to make them experience it themselves through my images.
Through lots of persistent attempts I managed to photograph a man called Pete's tent, which he lived in with his girlfriend. This was a huge development point in my project because it made me realise the amount of efforts that some homeless people were going to, to try and create a normal life for themselves. This tent depicted the modern day homeless in a very positive way, with the pair even having a recycling box. This tent and the images that I captured inside work very well to give the viewer an inside perspective of what it might be like to live inside the tent. This was through my wide angle large f/stop photographs, which meant that everything was in focus which allowed the viewer to view everything inside the tent in high detail. This shoot connected directly to the inspirations and development of Jacob Riis and Ben Roberts. I then furthered my knowledge on the modern day homeless by watching Professor Green's 'Hidden Homeless' which opened my eyes to the drug problem and spiral of decline that many homeless people find themselves in which is an incredibly hard cycle to break free from. Using this documentary as development, I managed to photograph the tent of a heroin addict who had actually been stabbed in there the night before I photographed his tent. This tent was shocking and important to show the viewer, which would help them realise the problems that some homeless people find themselves in. The bible on the table which was surrounded by needles, made me think about who do people turn to for support if they haven't got any friends or family that will help them, this thought influenced the next chapter in my project.
The next chapter in my project took a large but completely connected turn. The bible in the heroin addicts tent got me thinking a lot about who people turn to in their hour of need, is it faith? charities? government? and especially those people who don't have any friends or family to help them. Like my major inspiration which came from Jacob Riis' 'How the other half lives' which was still an influence to this chapter of my project, I found my next bit of inspiration while reading 'Down and Out in Paris and London' which was written by George Orwell. Orwell in this book wrote about his experiences living on the poverty line in Paris and in London, commenting upon how he managed to get through everyday life with very little money. When reading this he explained quite simply that a man with little food is not a man any longer, which made me think that I should look into the food support which is offered to people who have very little. After researching into what was provided for people who needed help with food, I found out about Food Banks. Food Banks then became my main theme for the second chapter in my project, and because it was easter when I started this chapter I looked at the food bank system in Coventry instead of Manchester. This change in location was fine for my project, because the housing problem and impact to homelessness is being felt throughout the country with everywhere feeling the same problems which meant my ideas and themes were transferable to this new location. I found out that the people who rely on Food Bank support in Coventry was on the raise, and with the new changes in Government benefit support and the national living wage not being able to stretch far these figures were only set to rise further.
I had to overcome many problems in this chapter due to the Trussell Trust organisation, not calling me back or helping when I told them about my project and what I wanted to do. I resolved these problems by contacting the different food banks individually and directly which meant I got access to do my project. Quickly I began documenting how the different food banks in the communities ran, and how they helped the people of Coventry. In the first food bank I visited in Willenhall, I found the exact same bible which was on the table in the heroin addicts tent. This instantly connected the two chapters of my project together in a visual and meaningful way. I began documenting the food banks using a portraiture and candid documentary format before researching into Luisa Whitton who was a large inspiration to my photographing techniques. Whitton practice made me think about photographing the eery waiting rooms that the food bank clients have to wait in, which don't reflect the amount of energy and life this support actually provides. When I visited Coventry Jesus Centre, I began looking further into what other services the food bank distribution points offer to help people who need it, including free meals for the homeless and free access to computers and WIFI. Dennis DeHart was my next form of photographic inspiration to develop my techniques further. His work influenced me to look further than just the food bank facilities in these buildings and produce landscapes photographs of the building itself instead of just documenting the food bank, while still capturing portraits of the helpers and volunteers that make the support possible. This influence to look further than what was just in front of my eyes made me research into the Church statistics, and I found a news article which said that the church attendance numbers were lower than ever. This influenced my project to make it about how important the churches were too charities, and what were would do without them. This new development of my practice was tested at St Oswalds Church food bank, and resulted in my images telling a wider story of how these local churches support their communities in an un-replaceable way. I was also improving my portraiture taking techniques at each shoot, making sure that I provided the viewer with context in the background of the images so the portraits would include more information about the subject and where/ what they were doing. Julius Shulman and his documentary 'Visual Acoustics', was my next form of project development. His architectural images are some of the most famous to be taken and blend striking landscapes, human and natural aspects with contemporary design. I used the techniques that his images showed in my own practice, to show the viewer the beauty in something they don't usually find interesting through creative angles and lighting which would make them look in more depth at my images. This development in my practice I took to the Central Food Bank in Coventry which is where all the food is collected and distributed to the different food banks around Coventry. This shoot showed how I had developed my practice and technique to capture landscape images in the style of Shulman, which shows how this old disused church has been given a new purpose which helps support many families around Coventry. I think these photographs show the viewer how the numbers of Church goers is decreasing, which might be detrimental to the food bank and other charity support system because they are mostly run through the local churches. The last development I implemented on my project focused on the documentary 'Objectified' which looked into the importance and role of everyday items in our daily lives. Which led me to look at 'Love Coventry' another church ran organisation which focuses on the local people donating their old household goods which are then sold on to make profit for the charity. The charity also takes on people for work experience, and focuses on what they are good at to show them that if they work hard in whatever they are passionate in, they will be able to make a living from it. This sort of mentality is incredibly helpful for the people of Coventry, and supports them through personal development to a point where they don't need charities like the Food Bank to help them live. My images focused on the single objects in busy surroundings through the use of highlights and compositions, which was influenced by 'Objectified'. I think this shoot and end to the project makes the viewer think about how much we depend on objects in our daily lives, which when connected to the first chapter of my project, makes one think about how little certain people have and how hard that must be to survive. My portraits force the viewer to look at the faces of people that are making an effort to help those who have very little, which makes them question are they doing enough themselves to help others.
As you can see, my project began looking at those who were making do with what they had. And had to turn to certain organisations and charities for support. And ended showing the viewer that there is a strong connection between religion and charities which help their local communities. But with churches closing down and their numbers decreasing, and the government cutting more benefits than ever, it means that these vital support charities who help those most vulnerable are fighting a constant battle to stay open and supported by the people.