http://78perspectives.com/my-perspectives/
The link above takes you to a page of interviews recorded by volunteers at the Perspectives exhibition on London's South Bank. They clearly aren't done by professionals - although hats off to the team who have been inviting viewers of Tom Stoddart's pictures to comment in this unusual way.
OK, I'm not impartial - I've been involved in this project from the outset, but something amazing (and I don't often used that word!) has been taking place in the cathedral-like atmosphere of the Perspectives area. It may be outdoor, just yards away from City Hall ('London House') and the giant screen on Potter's Field - but it is a space apart. People looking at the pictures fall silent and often stand in front of a single image for many minutes. Some shake their heads in disbelief. Some cry or are visibly moved. Some get angry.
The curious intimacy of this place has another effect. People talk to one another. Within the first week I met Mohamed, the man who was shot 10 times in a racially-motivated street shooting in Amsterdam in the '90s. My colleague Sha discovered that John Hamilton, the man looking at the picture of the famous Barlinnie jail rooftop protest was one of the people who took part in it . . . now a friend of one of the prison officers whom he was throwing slates at. Both men have been on personal journeys of pain and reconciliation. Both were deeply moved by particular pictures.
Time telescopes in this temple-like area; I've uploaded video interviews of people from all over the world. When it is over on 11 September I will start to count them . . . right now I can hardly keep up with the mail, the filming and daily photography requirement, the website and video updates.
This exhibition had no corporate support, agency staff or team of 'creatives' working on it. It happened because a few people believed in it ( they know who they are ) and with the participation of the International Committee for the Red Cross it became a reality that we could all be proud of.
Each day those of us who mingle with the crowds - Tom included - find people taken back in time to places and events that have personal resonance for them. It is emotional for us as well.
Yesterday I met an Iraqi doctor, educated in Russian and now resident in Britain. I have recalled the awful years of the Balkans conflict and Siege of Sarajevo with people who lived through it, seen visitors from the DRC, Burma, Somaliland, Sudan and Albania state at pictures that bring their pasts to life.
On day three a child asked her father why the girl in Tom's recent South Sudan picture was digging for water in the earth. "Can't she get it from the tap?" she asked. "Sweetheart, there are no taps where she lives . . " he began to explain.
More to follow.
The link above takes you to a page of interviews recorded by volunteers at the Perspectives exhibition on London's South Bank. They clearly aren't done by professionals - although hats off to the team who have been inviting viewers of Tom Stoddart's pictures to comment in this unusual way.
OK, I'm not impartial - I've been involved in this project from the outset, but something amazing (and I don't often used that word!) has been taking place in the cathedral-like atmosphere of the Perspectives area. It may be outdoor, just yards away from City Hall ('London House') and the giant screen on Potter's Field - but it is a space apart. People looking at the pictures fall silent and often stand in front of a single image for many minutes. Some shake their heads in disbelief. Some cry or are visibly moved. Some get angry.
The curious intimacy of this place has another effect. People talk to one another. Within the first week I met Mohamed, the man who was shot 10 times in a racially-motivated street shooting in Amsterdam in the '90s. My colleague Sha discovered that John Hamilton, the man looking at the picture of the famous Barlinnie jail rooftop protest was one of the people who took part in it . . . now a friend of one of the prison officers whom he was throwing slates at. Both men have been on personal journeys of pain and reconciliation. Both were deeply moved by particular pictures.
Time telescopes in this temple-like area; I've uploaded video interviews of people from all over the world. When it is over on 11 September I will start to count them . . . right now I can hardly keep up with the mail, the filming and daily photography requirement, the website and video updates.
This exhibition had no corporate support, agency staff or team of 'creatives' working on it. It happened because a few people believed in it ( they know who they are ) and with the participation of the International Committee for the Red Cross it became a reality that we could all be proud of.
Each day those of us who mingle with the crowds - Tom included - find people taken back in time to places and events that have personal resonance for them. It is emotional for us as well.
Yesterday I met an Iraqi doctor, educated in Russian and now resident in Britain. I have recalled the awful years of the Balkans conflict and Siege of Sarajevo with people who lived through it, seen visitors from the DRC, Burma, Somaliland, Sudan and Albania state at pictures that bring their pasts to life.
On day three a child asked her father why the girl in Tom's recent South Sudan picture was digging for water in the earth. "Can't she get it from the tap?" she asked. "Sweetheart, there are no taps where she lives . . " he began to explain.
More to follow.
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