‘FELMORE’
Felmore in Basildon, Essex was apparently designed with
the residents in mind. A walk around the estate tells you a different
story. The identikit housing only serves to ensure you get lost easily
and the pedestrian alleys and corridors became such havens for crime that
there are now steel gates erected at every crossroads in an odd attempt
to make it safer. The modern housing shapes are beautiful examples of
Local Authority simple and functional residential planning, and yet anecdotes
tell a more isolated and lonely story.
The old anchors of all British communities, the Pub and the corner shops,
were spruced up beyond blandness a long time ago. Residents don’t
use the local Travel Inn Bar, I don’t blame them. The coldness and
sterility of these surroundings was a shock to me, (I’m from Belfast
and the housing schemes there are a lot older, and yet the sense of community
is more apparent, albeit through adversity…) as a close friend grew
up there and he is warm and friendly and funny – if reluctant to
ever return there.
Talking to a few residents you get the sense that something is lacking,
but even they aren’t sure what it is. The extreme sanitisation doesn’t
sit well and you almost feel like you’re visiting an institution.
My hope through these images was to display the sense
of practical design gone too far. One also gets the feeling that you are
insignificant and identical in the eyes of the Council.
Pictures
of the Band Host who have recently been shortlisted by
Dazed and Confused in their 'Re-Creation' competition.
B/W portrait of their Drummer, James Higgott who is also involved with
another guitar band called 'Sarandon'
http://www.customradar.co.uk
'Our
Louise'
Sibling relationships are rife with paradox. The differences and similarities
between one sibling and another are the things that shape us. An exploration
of one sibling, by difference must surely invite exploration of the other.
This is an extended and ongoing work.
Artist
Statement:
My photographs are a product of both my instinct and my training, which
was developed in the University of Ulster in Belfast and also in Newport's
Documentary Photography Degree Course in Wales.
I take both commercial and personal images, but I am most particularly
interested in photographs beyond the pose. The moments when subjects are
least aware of their effect on a camera are my jewels.
My personal work is most concerned with the trivia that becomes ritual
and important in women's lives. The parts of people's lives that connect
and divide them, hence my interest in work and family.
I had a solo exhibition of my Black and White 'Christmas' family portrait
in Belfast's 'Belfast Exposed.
I was also part of a group Exhibition in Brixton's Photofusion in 2002,
where I exhibited extracts and a diary of my work on my sister called
'Our Louise'.
Exhibitions
Belfast, Photoworks
“My Family” October 2000
Brixton, Photofusion, Group Show of Portraits, June 2001
Emma
Campbell
Newport
UWCN : BA(Hons) Documentary Photography, 2:1
For
sales, commissions and to send comments to the artist.
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