Art and Social Issues

I have just signed up for a short documentary photography course in Belfast before the end of the year. I am interested in enhancing my knowledge and skills in telling story through image.  This image was on our recent trip to Brussels, entering the EU Parliament building I was saddened to see another human being sleeping under the canopy of the striking architectural building. Going by the pile of books by their bed they are well-read, I suspect due to circumstance has found themselves living on the street. I’m sure the EU parliament was not designed to be a homeless shelter, but I did find it a compelling sight highlighting the failures of governments across the “developed” world. Scotland in March 2023 announced homeless figures had surpassed the pre-pandemic figures, reasons being sighted include the cost-of-living crisis and private landlords selling up, with a claim that cost of living legislation has limited the potential numbers in some way. Overall homeless figures in Scotland have risen 10% with over 16k of those being children. People have been claiming the impact of refugees on numbers; however, the data shows displaced Ukrainian people make up only 0.7% of homeless people in Scotland. Even with the increased demand Glasgow has seen a slight decrease in homeless numbers, this is being attributed to the homelessness prevention work being carried out. Homeless caseworkers took industrial action prior to the pandemic for a number of reasons, one of which being the Tory austerity cuts being faced by the city and the services delivering action to address homelessness in the city. I see from social media the raised profile of the impact of the homeless situation in Glasgow, calling for no more deaths on the streets. Statistics have shown 520 deaths in Scotland in the past three years, 165 of which in Glasgow.

I would not normally make images of people living on the street, this person is not identifiable and is in the shadows yet under the nose of the people with the power to make a difference. My images may initially be perceived as plain street photography but all images and photographers who take them have a political viewpoint and therefore view the world through a particular lens shaped by life experiences, education, and class to name a few.  I drafted this blog a number of weeks ago and at this point was simply going to end with the potential of everyone in society unsuspectingly being trodden on by the state due to the right-wing politics that dominate internationally. Since then, we have seen Suella Braverman come out and say that homelessness is a lifestyle choice and attempted to pass legislation against organisations providing emergency shelters such as tents, these are in many cases the difference between life and death for people. Thankfully today Braverman was sacked, it looks like Sunak is a braver man than I thought!

In a world which these issues exist and given the gravity of the problem faced by people experiencing homelessness, art has often raised the profile of social issues such as photojournalism, painting, and sculpture. One such sculpture created by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz is Homeless Jesus, located in Nelson Mandela Place, behind St George’s Tron Church. The church operates a social enterprise café The Wild Olive Tree to support some of the city’s most vulnerable people. I had a recent comment made when I mentioned right wing politics on the comments section of a newspaper photo club page, the comment made to me was “beautiful photos, no politics”.  The image being shown was that of the Homeless Jesus sculpture. The very essence of the sculpture is a political statement, it was never designed to be something you look at to be simply aesthetically pleasing, it is tucked away like our homeless once were, not now they are front and centre such as the EU parliament! The fact the person didn’t want to be faced with a factual political statement which was quoted from Breverman’s mouth is evidence for me that people are so politically switched off, it was not my political statement, it was a serving politician. Therefore, even when a political statement is made via art, in this case a sculpture that is then photographed and placed on social media with thousands of members it is not the vehicle it once was for raising the profile of social issues because there is no desire to have dialogue beyond an emoji. Where does it end, even in a professional role I have noticed in recent weeks emoji responses to professional emails, will we have the next general election with an emoji voting card to mirror the state of politics? Leave a thumbs up, or thumbs down if you liked this content, only joking please don’t!

There are photography greats such as Sir Don McCullin and others who have witnessed and published images of great human suffering, and when faced with statements that their images changed the world or stopped a war would disagree. They can be heard in numerous interviews saying their images made no difference and at a push may admit that they played a small part by holding a mirror up to those in power. Maybe that mirror being held up is what people don’t like, and that is the reason for the demise in photojournalism and journalists being sent on assignment, maybe in a world of increasing accountability and surveillance it’s just not required? We are bombarded by images and information but there is no critical analysis of it, no reputable press to help people make sense of complex issues and conflicts. When you really look at society and the reactions today, I would say it is driven by fear, fear of emotion, fear of honesty, fear of change, fear of loss, fear of difference, fear of the cost to the individual. If there is no education and safe discussion, fear will result in increased conflict global and domestic. If you do care, engage in dialogue that involves politics, lets create an engaged society again on the basis that it is actually ok to have alternative views, because when that was the case at least we had respect for each other not pure hate.