alexcavendish

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these images show the presentation of my project on the wall in the uni studio.

unfortunately, because the space here was a bit smaller than the one i had used to test, the images are a little closer together than i would have liked. there is not as much space between the images and the presentation as a whole is not as wide as i would have liked it to have been.

as such, i had to rearrange the placement of a few images and make some sacrifices to presentation that i would much rather had not done if i had the space i needed. 

hopefully i wont have this issue at the shoredtich gallery. 

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Project Synopsis

Project Synopsis

Alex Cavendish - No Gods, No Masters

alexcavendish.tumblr.com  

My project No Gods, No Masters focuses on protests, marches and demonstrations in London and how they evolve from simple, calm protests to more aggressive and radical forms of protest. The title No Gods, No Masters is actually an old anarchist slogan, originating in the early 20th century. I chose this title because my project includes a number of anarchists and the slogan is synonymous with the ideology.

In my project, I wanted to show how forms of protest and individual protesters evolve from calm and quiet to increasingly violent forms of demonstration. When viewed from left to right, the project starts with gentle forms of protest, such as holding a simple picket sign, often with a custom-made and perhaps humorous slogan. As the project moves on, the images shift from these at first calm demonstrations to protesters with more aggressive picket signs, some with images of dead children or an aggressive slogan aimed at a political party. Further on from this, more volatile forms of demonstration become visible: the use of smoke bombs and even more aggressive slogans, this time more radical and perhaps offensive to a group of people. Finally, the images evolve into photographs of anarchists, antifascists and members of a black bloc: those who dress themselves in black, throw flares and are the most violent protester. This is where the presentation and project ends, with those protesters that clash with police and are the opposite of gentle.

I wanted to create a project like this because photojournalism has always been the industry I want to build my career in and I felt the best way to start my career was to make a project using the practice of a photojournalist. The idea of recording protests came from me always wanting to do a project about demonstrations in London, but never finding a good enough theme to do so.

There are 66 images in total used in my project, all showing forms of protest in one way or another. Many of the images (62) are sized 20cmX15cm while the other four were printed 30cmX20cm. I printed most of them on the smaller size so that the larger four may stand out against the others. I have made the other four larger because I felt that when printing, these were the photographs that best defined the form of protest they represented, showing the evolution from mild protest to anarchy. My project will be exhibited in a cloud presentation, similar to how artist Wolfgang Tillmans exhibits his work. I felt that, with so many images, this would be an ideal way to present my work. On the wall, the images are spread out with a few centimetres between each other. Some images are grouped together. The images that are grouped together are of either the same protest or different protests that are about the same issue. I have made these small groupings because I wanted some order in the presentation and felt that it was a good idea to group some of the images. These small sets give another element to my project, giving some order and allowing the viewer to focus on a handful of images at once rather than an individual image.

The exhibition is presented along with a piece of audio that is made up of chants from a number of protests I attended over the course of my project. The piece of audio is 1m and 42s long, and it will be played on a loop from a speaker over the course of the exhibition. I wanted to use a speaker and not headphones as I felt that the speaker helps build an atmosphere when viewing my project and would help viewers feel more immersed. The issue with headphones is that they only allow a single viewer to really appreciate the project and would confine the viewer to stand in one spot and listen through the headphones, while the speaker can be heard wherever the viewer stands and allows multiple people to view the project. I chose to use chants over say individual speakers or people I interviewed at a protest because the chants allow the viewer to become more immersed in the project, while a single person would not have the same effect, they would be too quiet and would not give an idea of the scale and amount of people that attend a protest.

The work will be attached to the wall using only blutac. As I have not mounted the work nor have I used frames to display the images, I felt that I did not need to use any major or expensive ways to attach the work to the wall. The blutac cannot be seen and does a good enough job of keeping the work on the wall without the use of an expensive form of mounting. The images themselves have been printed on gloss, a paper that I have always preferred because of its ability to make colours stand out better than other papers, as well as me believing that images tend to look better on gloss. Red and blue is seen often in the images from my project, and the use of gloss paper helps these colours stand out. The images are displayed only in landscape as I shot most of my project in landscape and as such I wanted to include only the landscape images. I did not add portrait images because I did not have many and also if I did include any I feel that they would have looked out of place along with so many landscape images.

I shifted my focus after Major Project 1 to a broader and clearer project. Looking back, my previous idea was not as exciting as I hoped and when I was testing it out it felt as if I could do something better. I removed the idea of using text with my images and instead concentrated on recording more audio and finding more images to include in my project. By doing so, I believe I have created a much more interesting idea that shows both my ability as a photographer and a more engaging exhibition. I am rather pleased with how the project has turned out, believing that I have done a good job of capturing protests and presenting them in an effective way, and believe this idea is much better than the idea I had for MP1.

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when i was selecting a wall text for my presentation, i wanted to use a quote rather than an introduction to the project. i have never enjoyed making my own introductions or in fact reading other peoples, i just feel it takes something away from the presentation. 

i wanted to find a quote about anarchy or anarchists as i feel that the crux of my project was about anarchists.

i spent a while searching for quotes on anarchy by famous theorists or politicians. i came up with quotes that were either by anarchists or by communists/socialists about anarchy. despite my research, i never really found one that i had enjoyed. 

in the end, i had it narrowed down to two quotes, the first was:

‘a revolution is not a bed of roses’ - fidel castro

while the second was:

‘political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’ - mao tse tung (chairman mao).

i leaned more towards the castro quote as it sounded more appropriate for my project. while finalising the quote, i found a quote on an antifascist facebook page i follow, which read:

‘the violence of resistance is not equal to the violence of oppression’

after finding this, i knew that this was the best quote for me to have on my wall text. unfortunately, despite researching the quote, i cannot find an author, so i have left any authors name out and put anonymous. i think having anonymous is in fact better than having an author, as the anarchists and such that i photographed are all anonymous. you cant see their faces. 

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this image is how i plan to present my project. i have gone for this order because i feel it is the best way for my work to be viewed. it allows the viewer to either view the whole thing at once, or individual photos in their own time.

the images, presented from left to right, start off with mild forms of protest, then shift towards more aggressive forms or perhaps a more hostile protester, and finally end with images of anarchists, antifascists and members of a black bloc. 

like i had previously said, i have gone for the wolfgang tillmans cloud presentation. i like this form of presentation and feel like it is the best way my project could be exhibited. the project is made up of 66 images, all from protests. i had the images printed on snapfish, most of which (62) were printed 20cmX15cm while the other four were printed 30cmX20cm. i had some printed larger as i felt these were the ones that best defined the area of the presentation they were in, while the rest are there to add to the area, along with the larger four images. the images will be mounted onto the wall using blu tac. i dont see it as necessary to mount or frame the images and feel they should be presented as they are. the blu tac goes with this, nothing expensive or too technical in attaching the work to the wall. i believe the blu tac is all i need. 

i have chosen to print the images on gloss paper. this is a preference i always use as i believe the images look better when viewed in person on gloss, and make the colours in the images stand out. the presentation will be exhibited along with an audio file made up of several chants from a number of protests i attended throughout my project. the audio will be on a constant loop while playing.

the only problem i have had with the prints is that, while snapfish might have been more cost effective for me, i feel that the prints are not the highest quality. despite this, i feel that when the images are all viewed together on the wall one can ignore the quality and appreciate the piece. 

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the piece of audio i have here is the audio that will accompany my project when it is put upon the wall. it is made up from several chants from different protests i went to throughout creating my project.

i chose to use chants and not individual speakers as i felt that the chants made the viewer feel more immersed when seeing my project, and that individual speakers were not as effective as the chants. 

when my work is on the wall, i will have this piece of audio looped and played from a speaker. i want to use a speaker over say headphones because again i feel the speaker would be more immersive, and headphones would let only one person really view my piece while a speaker does not have this problem.

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here i have made a couple of different ideas on how i will present my project. i have still focused on the wolfgang tillmans cloud exhibition, because i feel it is the best way for me to present such a large amount of images (66 in total).

i prefer the more spaced out form, such as in the final image, rather than the more organised forms in the first few images. the spacing allows the viewer to rest their eyes as well as view the piece as a whole or individually, whichever they choose. 

i think i will focus on presenting my piece like the final image here. i still have a few more images coming so i have a couple more steps to go, but i am almost finished. 

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these ten images are ones i will consider using for my project. despite the crowd being made up of racists, i think i got some pretty good images, particularly the one of the anti-sharia law protester confronting a muslim. i will definitely use that image.

i felt a sense of uneasiness as well as anger throughout the march. uneasy because the right wing tends to be hostile towards the press, and anger because i did not see how such a large group of racists could march through london virtually unopposed. the counter protesters were not allowed near the group, and even if there were there was only 200 against the 4/5000 protesters. 

i left the protest angry. it is not fair or acceptable that thousands of anti muslim demonstrators can spread their hate. 

this will probably be the last protest i cover for my project. i now have to move to my presentation and finalising the project.

below is a single audio clip from the march

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hffcb9c6eshvinf/rw1.m4a?dl=0

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the above contact sheets are from a protest on the 6th of may that was titled the ‘day of freedom’ march by its organisers. the organisers of this march were the democratic football lads alliance (dfla) a right-wing anti islam group that has broken away from the football lads alliance. these groups have been somewhat prominent in the news recently. famous racist tommy robinson was also involved, as he had organised the march soon after his suspension from twitter. many of the people here were fans of his.

the protest was supposedly about free speech in the uk. i suspect it was an excuse for a bunch of racists to come out and spread hate about islam. the protest was originally organised by robinson after his twitter account was suspended, and was originally going to be from hyde park to picadilly circus. after the police said that this couldnt happen (so bill told me), robinson changed it to hyde park to whitehall.

i arrived at hyde park about 20 minutes before the march started. there was already about 3/400 people here. mostly old white men. there was also a pretty heavy police presence, all dressed in riot gear. i had heard from several other photojournalists that the right wing is often not friendly to the press, so i was a little nervous going into the protest, but i was fine in the end. 

before the march started i got a few up close shots of some of the protesters, and when it did start i stayed at the front, where i stayed for most of it until the end. the march itself was uneventful, probably because of the police. the numbers got up to about 4/5000 at its peak, carrying a number of banners and such. 

i had heard that there were some counter protesters, and when the march arrived at whitehall i tried to get around to see them, but the police had the whole area blocked off and kept them well away from the march, so the police would not let me through.

despite this i tried to get a few with my zoom lens but did not really manage. after this, i stayed in the space between the two groups. here, i had more access to the main march. i stayed around to record the crowd while the speakers were on, people like tommy robinson and milo yiannopolous. massive racists that the crowd of nazis enjoyed hearing.

after the speeches the crowd started to die down, which is when i left.

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the above ten images are from the windrush protest and ones that i would consider moving forward with. i dont believe the images themselves are that strong, although i could perhaps use one of the placards to help build my presentation.

the images i feel are not as strong as some of my earlier images, and as such i dont think i will move forward with too many from this protest.

here i recorded a couple of chants from the protest

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wh8uyn3tsu66rza/AAArGmqhe8fW6NlterY1kIALa?dl=0

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the above contact sheets are from a protest about the recent windrush scandal. the protest took place on may 5th, during and after the protest in the previous post.

after i had covered the pro lifers and pro choice crowds for about an hour, i went to cover the windrush protest. i headed back towards whitehall to meet the group, but they had already begun marching through the street, so i met the front of the march and photographed much of that.

i was happy to cover this protest. any protest that bashes the tories i am happy to cover. the group marched from whitehall to the home office which was a couple of streets away. i stayed at the front as previously mentioned and when they arrived at the home office i tried to get a few shots of the crowd. 

the march and protest did not last very long, probably an hour or so. i realise i had missed most of it when i was covering the abortion protests.the were a few speakers at the home office and after they had finished the crowd started to die down, where i left soon after.

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the above ten images are those that i would consider moving forward with for my project. 

i like the idea of using an image from each side and put them next to each other in my presentation so that they great a contrast. if i do this, i think i would pick the the image of the pro-life man with the blue sign and one of the images that have the ‘pro-choice’ sign in it. 

i think this idea will add something extra to my images. while i wasnt really able to capture the contrast or stand offs between the two groups, i still think my images are pretty good and can be used.

i did not record any audio as it was mostly unintelligible shouting between the two groups.

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the above four contact sheets are from two protests on the same matter. one group was anti abortion, the other was pro abortion. this protest took place on the 5th of may.

i was originally headed to whitehall to photograph a protest at 1pm about the windrush scandal. i left westminster station and as i walked to whitehall i noticed several photographers coming towards me, followed by a large group of protesters. the march as i soon realised was a protest against abortion. i did not realise that this march was happening. i took my camera out and recorded the group. as the group marched towards parliament square, i noticed a second group to my left, which was a counter demo against the first group and was for abortion. 

i had been to an anti abortion demo before at the start of my project, and left it somewhat angry after speaking to the protesters. i did not speak to any of the protesters today so that i would not repeat my emotions. still, many members of the anti abortion group did annoy me, specifically the men: those that cannot have abortions or pregnancies. 

moving on from this, i noticed that many of the pro-lifers here were in fact men, which further proved my point. i believe that those that cannot experience abortion or pregnancy should not have such an extreme view on it and tell those who do experience it what to do. many of the pro-choice group was in fact women, and their clever and funny signs made for some good photos.

i shot both groups for a while before going to cover the windrush protest. i left happy because of the counter demo and their shouts towards the anti abortion group.

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the above images are exhibitions of wolfgang tillmans work using his signature cloud exhibition format.

as im nearing the deadline day, i am thinking more about presentations for the exhibition. i have decided to go for the wolfgang tillmans cloud style of exhibiting because of the amount of images i have (aroud 60) and also because i often go for standard white cube presentations i feel i should try something else for once. i also think tillmans form of exhibiting is cool.

around 60 images, four of which are a4 while the others are a5 (not exact measurements as they're from snapfish but these figures are close enough). the images will follow the progression of a protester from child to anarchist. it is now a question of layout - do i want neat and tidy lined layouts, or a more messy one? when it comes to this i have to focus on the question of space - i have not seen how big the gallery space is but andre assures me it would be big enough for any presentation like this.

i like the thought using the corner of a wall to my advantage. perhaps having all pre-anarchist images on one wall and the anarchist ones on the adjacent wall. i am shifting towards the idea of a more messy yet tightly put together piece. in my head it looks the best. i will make a mock up on photoshop and when my prints arrive i will make a test presentation in uni. 

i have also yet to think about the placement of the speaker. i dont really want it to be noticeable, so perhaps on the wall high up or in a corner somewhere. its not at the front of my mind at the moment so i’ll cross that bridge when i get there.

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the above images are from the following may day protest that i would consider using in my project.

i did not think much of this protest, it was very disorganised, took too long and i dont think i go many good images from it.

i did not get any audio as the group did not make any chants. 

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the above contact sheets are from a protest that followed immediately after the mayday speakers in trafalgar square. it was a march and protest arranged by the international workers of great britain (iwgb) and protested in several different locations about the unfair and low wages that some workers had received. 

the march was made up of less than 100 people and was very disorganised. they first headed to the ministry of justice to protest the low pay that cleaners there received. they let off some smoke which was fun to record, but were pretty loud and static most of the time. the next stop was kings college, again to protest cleaners wages. after kcl, it was a cinema in picadilly circus, protesting the high wage of its CEO. then it went to tgi fridays in leicster square, protesting waiters wages. finally, it headed to mcdonalds in leicster square, protesting unfair wages there. 

the march was pretty boring and was annoying that even most of the group did not know where it was going so it became difficult to follow. it was also a lot of walking. i didnt have as much fun doing this one as i did for mayday, just very unorganised and dull. 

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mayday pt 2

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the above images, as well as those on the next post, are my favourites from the mayday march and those i would consider moving forward with. the kurdish group was particularly interesting to follow on mayday, they seemed so much more active and emotional on the day, setting off flares and standing in powerful poses upon trafalgar square. 

many of the individual protesters were quite interesting to capture as well. the one of the girl covering her face, surrounded by red flags, is a particular favourite of mine. 

below is some audio from the day

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/67zgqvir45soy0c/AADC1waTlqFqfC7VbQ4TQ_6qa?dl=0