Claire Lowe

Graphic Design Portfolio

- HOME -

START When starting out on my project for my FMP I decided to carry on from last

semester and do spider diagrams relating to topics which I found interesting.

When thinking through these ideas I came across the Great British Property

Scandal being advertised on the Channel 4 website.

The Great British Property Scandal looks at the fact that throughout Britain

there are around 350,000 homes sitting empty while there are millions of

people, including families that are in need of a permanent home.

The campaign looks at bringing the housing issues in Britain to the attention of

the government and other authorities. There have been a few ways in which

the government have tried to help with the campaign but it doesn’t seem to

be enough.

There are ways to follow the progress made by this campaign. On the

Channel 4 website you can sign up to join the campaign to give more power

to ordinary people and communities. It is also possible to follow on Facebook

and Twitter.

NEWS I decided to try and find out what stories there had been

about this topic in order to gain a better understanding of

the facts and opinions surrounding empty homes. These

are examples of some of the articles which I found.

The main topics which I noticed reoccurred were

surrounding stamp duty. Stamp duty had been paused for

first time buyers up to the price of £250,000, however this

will be ending on March 25th 2012. Many articles talk

about the rush of property buying in order for first time

buyers to buy before the deadline in order to save money.

INFO It is hard to find out information about empty homes due the

information not being made public in order to prevent

squatting. However I have found a few websites to look at.

The first website which I came across was the Guardian

Housing Network. Here there are numerous articles and links

to information on empty homes and the bigger picture on

housing in general.

The next was Retro-Tek which is a group which looks to

acquire and renovate empty properties using sustainable

methods. Normally when properties are renovated it is done

with a small budget. Retro-Tek focus on the sustainability of

the houses in order to help the planet and to help potential

buyers with their living costs.

Empty Homes is a charity which brings attention to empty

properties and campaigns in order to make the government

take notice of the housing issues. There are many facts and

statistics which are useful too.

Lastly I have been looking at updates from the Channel 4

Great British Property Scandal webpage. This webpage is

dedicated to bringing the property scandal to people’s

attention. They have also been doing this through television

programmes such as Britain’s empty Homes. This campaign

also has pages on Twitter and Facebook making it easy to

look at recent updates and information.

INSPIRATION

One of my main inspirations for this project was an artist which I came across a few years

ago in Photofusion Gallery in Brixton. The artist named David Creedon had a showing of his

photographic series ‘Ghosts of the faithful departed’ which pictured abandoned houses

throughout Ireland.

I think that the vibrancy of the colours in the photographs contrast really nicely with the

almost dark and sad theme. There’s also a strong religious relation with these photographs

which I think gives them a more emotional attachment with the viewer.

I think the main thing that I want to take away from this series of photographs is the feeling

that they create with in the audience. I also like the way that the photographs tell a story

and can make the audience imagine their own narrative.

HOME This shows the first contact sheet of

photographs which were taken at an

uninhabited house. The house had been

empty for around 2-3 months but still

contained possessions and many

personal belongings.

Walking around the house was quite a

strange experience and almost felt like

an invasion of the owner’s privacy. The

elderly woman who lived here recently

lost her husband and wanted to move to

somewhere smaller.

I think that knowing the story behind the

home makes you have a much more

emotional connection to the

photographs. When flicking through the

photographs I feel a sense of sadness to

see a house which had been loved for so

many years suddenly become empty

and lifeless.

BEGINNING

MIDDLE

END

When thinking about homes, like

everything, there is a beginning, middle

and end. The journey that people take

with buying a home, growing into a home,

moving, selling etc. are often life

changing.

From first time buyers, to people searching

for a family home then from people

having to move due to health everyone

has different reasons and requirements in

relation to homes.

The differences would be that first time

buyers would be looking in terms of price

and practicality whereas families or older

generations would look for more of a

feeling of a home.

A home itself can also have a beginning,

middle and end. From being built, to

having different people come and go to

redecoration, maybe being left empty or

in some cases knocked down all houses

will have a life cycle.

In terms of the home which I

photographed, the home is at the end of

its current cycle with the current owner.

Hopefully soon it will be sold and its life

cycle will restart. This is a thought which I

would like to explore through my work.

So far I think that my project is progressing well. I feel like this is a good expansion to my previous project which looked at my

surroundings which then progressed on to the idea of the home. I started out by producing mind maps just in order to get my

thoughts together on the subject.

My next step was to look at news stories and articles which would give the theme of my project an external context and a

relevance to the time that we live in. the news stories also helped me to gain information and the current feelings towards my

theme of housing, although there are many aspects which I have not covered yet such as housing benefit and the step by step

process of bringing empty hones back into use: However these are topics which i will look at expanding into soon.

I have also looked to other artists and designers for inspiration on this project, not so much of the theme of my project but the

feelings they can create through their photography as I think that the key to a successful project is to gain a connection with the

viewer. A place which I felt quite emotionally attached to was the home which I visited. Although the woman who previously

lived there was moving to a residential home for health reasons, the house had a feeling of complete emptiness and

abandonment. You could imagine it as a busy family home, but to see it lifeless but still with the belongings of the elderly woman

was quite sad and emotional for me. Hopefully these feelings can resonate with the audience through my photographs and the

text beside them.

My next step now is to look at the ways in which to tell a story and keep a narrative through my photographs. One way in which I

have started to do this is by looking at the beginning, middle and end of people’s lives as well as the lifecycle of a home. I will

probably start to photograph other empty and occupied homes in order to make a comparison between the two and see what

other links I could then look into through the continuation of my project.