Occupation

As a group, we managed to look at some images from Joanne, Summer and Chloe's portfolios to tie in with our ideas regarding 'Occupation'. By looking at those images and how Joanne, Summer and Chloe as photographers interpreted the theme, we again went back to the Open Eye's collection to see if any of the images resonated with or complemented the photographers' concepts.
Here's what we've decided on:
Chloe
Chloe's interpretation of 'Occupation' centered around ideas about where people go to occupy their time rather than an activity people take part in or a job they do for a livelihood. She was particularly interested in the British seaside - a place of many people's childhood holidays, nostalgia, inadvertent wit, a place to escape for a little while, let yourself go and escape everyday normalities. One phrase Chloe used to describe her idea, that the British seaside is dying but still alive brought us to an image from the collection by Paul Fazackerly of 1996 titled 'Under the Pier'. The image is of the underside of a pier in winter with snow covering the ground. Eerily still, a little sinister but with the promise of being regenerated come spring and summer, this photograph will be displayed alongside two images by Chloe.
Summer
Summer's concept of 'Occupation' honed in on some photographs she had taken of people who preach on streets. In this way, the 'occupation' considered here is not necessarily paid work or a place to go to occupy yourself but more an occupation of the mind - these people are constantly preoccupied with their worship of God and as a result spreading the word of the Bible in order to 'save' and convert others. One particular image from the collection seemed to provide an interesting juxtaposition to Summer's often sad but equally fanatical images. John Stoddart's 1982 photograph 'Hope Street. The Pope in Liverpool' captures the excitement, innocence and anticipation of seeing the Pope, providing a hopeful counterpart to two of Summer's melancholy and mad-looking images.
Joanne
Jo's 'Occupation' also concentrated on place rather than people. However, unlike Chloe's photographs, Jo's images concentrate on the 'ghostly presence of the near past'. She concentrated on an old warehouse building that was once occupied by workers but has since given itself over to nesting pigeons, flora and fauna, which both occupy the space and hides and lightly cover the past. Jo's fascination with such buildings extends to the songs sung by workers to get them though the day, with lost sounds, feelings, happenings and experiences all drawing her towards 'sounds of the sea. Sea shanties and poems'. Part performance, part photograph, Jo's images will be displayed alongside Vanley Burke's photograph of 1986 'Exterior. The Blackie, Liverpool', a very dark photograph of the boarded up Blackie with a sign stating that the Blackie was still there despite appearances.