I’ve been refused access to a space that could have been one of the linchpins of this project. Whilst galled, I understand the reason for the refusal, although I believe a compromise could have been reached.
It brings to light one thing that I had not considered. The thing that separates the work I’ve been doing, from the work it is based upon, is the permission being granted to make it, or conversely the furtiveness with which it’s made
I’ve been negotiating for access to a couple of closely guarded places, and in being refused, I’ve realised that all of the work I’ve done since beginning this project has either been in collaboration with, or at the very least permitted by the subject.
When making ‘Portrait of a Sexworker’ I has passed the subject area on a number of occasions. Sometimes they were there, and sometimes both they, and the chair were absent.
On the day when the chair was both there and unattended, I took pictures quickly, in the hope of being finished and gone before their return.
I wanted no interaction with them, and ideally to not be witnessed by anyone else. This made me think of another photo I took a number of years ago, and one that fits within the collection of ‘Portraits in Absentia’.
This is of bedding in a doorway, again evidence of a human existence that none would wish on another, and yet one that we pass all the time. This was also taken hurriedly, furtively, and with a glance over my shoulder, lest they return.
I think I need to make more work that has not been permitted and to expand the scope of the project into shared, liminal, and open spaces.