EVERYWHERE
NOWHERE
Big Issues on a Small Scale
The Homelessness Crisis in London
About the photo project
"Not being like everyone else, not being normal and being sick are in fact very different but have been reduced to the same thing"
Michel Foucault
"Power is everywhere,
not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere"
Michel Foucault
The 'Big Issues on a Small Scale' project aims to depict the often overlooked issues within society. This specific series is one depicting the crisis of homelessness in London through the use of miniature (00 Gauge model railway) figures. The ambition of this work is to convey the consequences of biopower and the passively accepted truths that can be argued legitimise and reproduce such inequalities that have less fortunate beings sleeping rough on the streets even in Western societies.
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This series consists of seven photographs captured using macro photography techniques to produce detailed images of miniature scenes consisting of figures of approximately 21mm (0.82 inches) to reinforce how despite homelessness being an issue globally, it is often deemed a small concern for many more fortunate beings who are not so succumbed by the unfairness of the housing crisis.
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French philosopher, Michel Foucault was the main theoretical inspiration behind the production of this work as I used his understanding of biopolitics and the construction of regimes of truth, derived from relations in power to construct my miniature dioramas and leading narrative of my work.
"We will not be able to free ourselves from it [power structures] except at a considerable cost"
Michel Foucault
"There are forms of oppression and domination which become invisible - the new normal"
Michel Foucault
Frequently Asked Questions
What equipment do you use?
For this project I used a Canon 80D EOS camera with a Sigma 105mm F2.8 Macro lens which allowed me to capture detailed shots very close up to the subjects.
What inspired this project?
The macro photography style was directly inspired by photographer David Giliver's 'little people' series featuring miniature figures in ammusing scenes. This style of miniature photography was the artistic inspiration for my project except I applied a less lighthearted focus for my images inspired by the French philosopher Michel Foucault's ideas of biopower and the exclusion of less fortunate members of society such as the homeless population.
Why is the project on such a small scale?
My decision to depict this project and it's ideologies through small scale photography is for multiple reasons. The first reason being that I wanted to use the macro photography style as a conceptual tool to convey my photograph's meanings. Foucualt explores the notion of freedom and biopower within Western societies and how power produces knowledge which then becomes accepted truth, creating inequalities of power that are not disputed and are instead passively accepted. These power relations lead people to blame 'the system' as opposed to individuals and the general acceptance that how things are is 'just the way things are' meaning problems are overlooked at the expense of less fortunate beings such as the homeless population. By keeping my project small, it conceptually reinforced how overlooked issues of homelessness and inequality are, especially in wealthier civilisations. The miniature scale of these scenes are representative of the disregarding of such populations by 'the system' and wider society.
Why did you focus your project on homelessness?
As someone who grew up in a low-income household and who unfortunately at times had to be reliant on food banks, I have always been aware of how close we are to homelessness. I found my family and I having to move house regularly due to rising rent costs in London. As a result, even as a child I was always aware of the monetary struggles and systematic hurdles which made it almost impossible to obtain financial and housing security. I remember as a child (no younger than six years old) asking my mother when walking past someone sleeping rough on the street "mum, why can't we take in a homeless person and let them share our flat and food so they can get off the street". So homelessness is and always has been a social issue I have strong feelings about.
What do you want your art to say?
My ambition for this project is for it to elicit an emotional and reflective response from my audience, encouraging them to consider their fortune even if they feel it to be very small. I want my work to inspire others to donate to foodbanks, encourage systematic change and do anything no matter how small to help fight the inequality of power and accepted inequalities within society.