Having spent the second day of Charette Week with Leah, a visual artist and film-maker who focuses on community based participation as the focus of her work, I wanted to look more into documentary photography, a style of photography which provides a ‘straightforward and accurate representation of people, places, objects and events’ (Tate.org.uk, 2018)...
Social documentary photography reinvented the tradition of documentary photography. Camera used as a tool for social change – revealing injustice, inequality and side-lined/oppressed aspects of society. Subjective however and not all photographers in genre intend to better society through their work. Sometimes ethics comes into play – Lisette Model’s close-ups were taken without the subjects’ awareness or permission.
Contemporary artists have found less demand for the genre due to the rise of digital technology – the model/style has been suggested to be outdated and irrelevant. Some works however have found a new audience in galleries and museums, sparking debate around the power of photography and the motivations of the photographer.
British street photographer and poet Akinbode Akinbiyi has developed his work within the category of documentary photography for several years, and will be exhibiting in the most recent Chicago Architecture Biennial titled '...And Other Such Stories' later this year.
Akinbiyi is interested in ‘everydaylifeness’ rather than the everyday, and human beings and the way that they craft, navigate and relate to societies and spaces. Initially rooted in architecture and journalism, Akinbiyi’s work uncovers the spiritual undercurrent to everyday movements. Images allow everything becomes sacred and transcendental in even the most socially, politically, or historically banal moments.
Process: Akinbiyi walks at a determinedly slow pace with a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera capturing the rituals of everyday politics, spirituality, humanity and disruptions to everydaylifeness
Aesthetic: black and white inkjet prints displayed as installations, capturing urban landscapes
During my visits to Bensham, both to Coatsworth Road yesterday and the Comfrey Project gardens with Leah today, I had developed a catalogue of images which I wanted to explore through a similar lens to that of Akinbiyi. The outcomes, two 180cm x 140cm installations (half the size of those Akinbiyi exhibits) both offer insights into the sites with varying degrees of success when looking to offer a 'spiritual undercurrent',
Coatsworth Road
Comfrey Project
Having looked at the Comfrey project's site and heard stories of how it helps numerous refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers to not only grow their own produce, but learn to speak, read and write English; share and learn cooking skills; and access help and other skills, I wanted to be able to document those who are helped by the project to understand the project better.
British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector Martin Parr is known for his photographic projects which take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England and rural or overlooked communities.
‘The fundamental thing I'm exploring constantly is the difference between the mythology of the place and the reality of it…Remember I make serious photographs disguised as entertainment. That's part of my mantra.’ (Parr & Quentin, 2010)
Accusation of Parr has been cast upon his frequent source material of the working class which was criticised as exploitative and an ‘unfair and unsympathetic portrait of working class life’ (Gosling, 2016) however, Parr explicitly states the political intent of his work highlighting the contrast between Thatcher’s declaration of a thriving Great Britain and the reality of shabby and poor cities where the working class were continuing with domestic activities, go to the seaside etc which Parr wanted to highlight.
Aesthetic close-up through the use of a macro lens; and employing saturated colour through the type of film and/or use of a ring flash; small aperture and fast shutter speed; busy images
Black country stories this series by Parr is a snapshot into life in the Black Country – an area which is densely populated; post-industrial; a region in decline and populated with many different communities. Parr photographed life in workplaces, temples, churches, clubs, shops and leisure facilities to ensure the day-to-day experience wasn’t neglected. Exhibition consisted of 25 large prints of the best images, 668 images as 10x8inch prints to encourage and engage with more local people who would be featured and to form a photographic archive of documentation. Alongside photographs, oral histories were also archived from some of those photographed, with some people passing Parr on to others to be photographed with another story.
Moving forward...
Could this representation of the people of the Black Country and their stories be replicated for Coatsworth Road, Bensham and wider Gateshead??
With community projects such as the Comfrey Project and the community of Bensham being made of varying races and religions, the vibrancy of such images could tell immeasurable stories of those who live in the area and what their requirements from the site, which could push forward concepts and functions for a building on Coatsworth Road.
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