Video Stills
In my previous work I have always worked from my own primary sources. Working from secondary sources somehow seemed less valid, as if it were a short cut, a way of cheating perhaps. However, I have come to revise my opinion. For this project the main drive has always been the issues and preconceptions made by the public and media on the homeless community, therefore, I began to look more at how the homeless were presented in the media and in turn began using video stills as source material through various found interviews and footage. The idea of taking my own images has become less essential. I found that if I was to use this method to gather material, I would be loading them with my own opinions rather than letting the issue speak for itself.
I have found video footage to be much more revealing and honest in comparison to a staged photograph taken by a photographer. The interviews I have been using have been shot in the persons own everyday environment where they are most comfortable and able to talk more freely about their lives and the issues that affect them. I am able to choose, edit and select from a huge and diverse range of subject matter. The interviews are providing invaluable information which is contributing to my understanding of the person I am depicting. The stories, the issues they talk about, their families, friends, this information perhaps would not be revealed without the aid of a video camera and the prospect of a wide broadcast. These people seem ready and compelled to tell their stories.
Of course this does not happen by luck, the film maker has obviously invested much time, effort and skill in eliciting these stories. This process is of course part of my interest, how the media react and interact with people in crisis can help shape public perception. So why make an artwork from this rather than just direct people to the video? Well, there is an advantage in choosing an appropriate moment, a still from a filmed interview or scene which can then be transformed into a painted artwork.
The time taken to paint a moment is much lengthier than the time taken to film it. There is also the thought, decision making and contemplation which in turn takes much time when creating a painted piece. Somehow this time, care and attention seems to become engrained in the work itself which will hopefully also have an effect on the viewer. The viewer is given a chance to ponder, linger and contemplate a look, an unguarded expression or a moment which could have gone unnoticed in even a very short filmed piece.
