h a l f b a k e r y"Bun is such a sad word, is it not?" -- Watt, "Waiting for Godot"
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Nice Spot For A Tramp
An art photography exhibition of homeless persons in national spots of traditional wealth and tourism. | |
I had this idea a few weeks ago when looking up at the
Millenium Wheel. I thought it would be funny if I posed
for a photo as a homeless guy who beds down each night
in one of the pods.
Then it struck me that that was a quite a sad image.
Then I got to thinking about how it would be done,
the
staff would no doubt stop a scruffy rag-riddened fellow
from boarding the wheel, and also where else could I
apply it. The huge contrast between the wealthy and the
poor became a factor, perhaps staging these faux tramps
in places like Harrods, inside the Tate Modern (perhaps
living inside one of the installations), outside Number 10
(with a little extra planning) and other such local
landmarks of wealth and tourism, all the while my
accomplice surreptitiosly snaps away.
The project could incorporate international landmarks of
wealth and power or national tourism, like the Eiffel
Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Fort Knox (though I have
absolutely no idea what it looks like), the Vatican and so
on.
The 'tramps' would have two layers of clothing, the outer
being a suit or some similar outfit of suitable
respectability so as to pass any security without raising
suspicion, the inner would be your stereotypical rags and
scarf etc. Props would be carried in perhaps a suitcase or
nice clean rucksack. Upon successful entrance to said
spot the transformation would take place and an image
of anti-capitalism would be born.
I think the effect would be quite a moving one.
What say you on't?!
you won't be taking any pictures here...
http://english.ohmy...&rel_no=1&back_url=
[xandram, Oct 19 2006]
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Annotation:
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I like it Bub - not sure what effect you want to have, but if you were careful not to overdo it, keep it subtle and underplayed, I think it could be really something. |
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Might this fit better in one of the Culture:Art categories? |
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I wasn't sure where to put it, I was looking for some kind of social awareness type category, but I shall duly move it to Culture: Art as you suggest. |
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Of course, very subtley done. My favourite I think would be Harrods, if you can get a picture of a very well to do person reaching over a cross legged tramp to reach his favourite £200 truffles for instance. More ideas would be welcome... |
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The effect is to remind the onlooker that with all the billions of pounds that go into our civilisation in the form of consumer extravagances, symbols of power, and lovely places from which to look at the view, our civilisation has still a long way to go, and alot of things to fix. |
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was it Harry Enfield who did a sketch of exactly the opposite - middle class yuppies spending their weekends getting drunk and being sick in the gutters of the inner cities alongside the down and outs. |
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Go to a motor show (one where you can actually sit in the cars), and once inside one of the prestige models (Bentley springs to mind), remove your disguise. Your snapper could sit on the front seat, with you in the back, where you would be proffering a copy of the Big Issue. |
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I think it's brilliant, utter genius. I love the idea of a team moving in to do a 'homeless hit' - the Millenium wheel would certainly lend itself extremely well to this, what with the bench in the middle an' all. |
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We talk about our nation being 'home' when we're abroad, don't we? What about a slogan like "this is my home", or just "this is mine"? I think the idea of combining patriotism and homelessness could be very powerful. Seriously, I think you could get some very powerful images, and just think what a homeless charity like Shelter could do with them. |
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I would love to see a picture of some poor sod bedding down in front of the Mona Lisa. |
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PS I wonder if you could get the Pope to allow you to swap the Swiss Guards outside st Peter's for tramps? A couple of hobos guarding that big bronze gate would look very nice. |
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I've seen homeless photo exhibits, but I really like the contrast here. One such place, the White House. Stand in front and look, then turn around and look... |
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It's nice [shz] but there has to be a degree of entry to it, anyone can sit out the front of the White House. Going on a tour of the white house however is a different story altogether, especially if they ever take you round the oval office. Hobo behind the desk anyone? |
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I see. Just referencing a location where I get this feeling you are trying to capture. |
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Absolutely, and it's a good one [shz]. |
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The patriotism/homelessness idea is a good one too, as it seems to me that homelessness is a problem for all manner of nations. |
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Hey, theleopard, i'll come to London and take the pictures if you want to be the homeless person, this is really cool! |
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Wow, I just bunned this and the count went from 7 to 9! Spooky simultaneous bunnage. |
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Great minds think alike? I wondered over taking pictures along the exact same lines before I went to New York not so long ago. |
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My plan was to get a homeless guy with a cup of coffee in wall street/where ever it is that you see hoards of people standing around screens screaming to buy and sell shares (so movies would have me believe). |
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The contrast between the two would be really nice, with the tramp wearing an old trench coat or similar - supping calmly on a coffee, surrounded by hundreds of stressed out business people in neat black suits. |
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Preferably it would be a slow shutter speed - the homeless guy standing perfectly still, while the business people wave and jump and do whatever it is they do. |
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Do we have a budding photographer in our midst [webfishrune]? Let me do some planning for it and maybe we can make it happen... |
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[fridge], that's pretty much exactly the premise. I think the slow shutter speed would look good. Indeed, great minds do think alike. Although... I'm suddenly worried that perhaps hopelessly neglected, base and uneducated mashed-potato minds think alike also? |
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You mean fools rarely differ? It's a matter of choice. |
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//Let me do some planning for it and maybe we can make it happen...// |
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Sounds good to me! I am an amatuer photographer but I have not had the chance to do much work with it of late. I have a darkroom for black-and-white film at home although I can still do colour, just need to send the films to the lab. I also have digital but it is not SLR :-( |
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So bunned. I'm seeing a homeless person in the sales office for one of these outrageous new condo developments, standing in front of the architectural model. Maybe that's too on the nose. I can try to sneak a homeless person in to my next catering gig if someone brings the camera. |
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[fridge duck] it's called the floor of the stock exchange, or just the floor. And it is that crazy. |
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wohoooo ! im the lucky bunner that made the 2nd croissant rise. now how's that |
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But I like the idea inside this idea: that's the fact that people dressed like bums wouldn't be allowed visiting world famous landmarks. That's not true; did you see what most worldtravelers look like? AAaanyway, the sub-sub-invention of a security breach using a normal people's clothing covering bums clothing worn by a normal individual is the thing that really cracked me up |
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btw, have you noticed an idea's attraction for buns during week days? |
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[edit] someone just added while I was writing this |
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Vail, Colorado would be a good challenge.
I've never seen any homeless people in any
of the upscale ski towns. Could be the
snowy winters, of course. |
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Nice, my first 2-bun idea! I propose that any 2-bun idea I come up with I shall implement forthwith! Watch out {the homeless}, you're about to become topical! |
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Your right [brau], no question. Kind of makes my earlier 2-bun glee look rather self-absorbed. Still, I'm happy. |
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I deleted my first annotation because it was likely too nasty. |
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But, Habitat For Humanity is an idea. LiveAid is an idea. Microcredits is an idea. |
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This, does not seem like anything new to me, and while the crowd here wants a rah,rah feel good moment about how socially aware they are, I'd be more impressed if they donated their estates to charity. Or went to help in a soup kitchen. |
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It's more of an artistic product that can then be used for a campaign by, say, Feed The Homeless; elevating their point with thought provoking emotional imagery. It's not, and never claimed to be, a means to combat poverty outrightly. |
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I don't own an estate to give away [theircompetitor]. |
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Or, indeed, know this "soup" of which you speak. |
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I don't get this. Everyone know that homelessness exists and everyone knows that some people are wealthy. Juxtaposing these things (a) won't make anyone think "Holy shit! - there's inequality in this cruel world of ours!", and (b) can be seen every day in London anyway - ever seen a homeless guy sleeping in the doorway of a swanky West End shop? |
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The contrast is between the homeless and //landmarks of wealth and power//, not wealthy individuals. It would be more like imagery of the starving in North Korea along side a magnificent rocket. |
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You'll have something left over when you're done [theleopard]. Leaving it to the family will only encourage capital investment. |
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[bigsleep] sounds like one of those pyramid scams to me. |
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My particular religious denimination hosts annual meetings for the higher-ups from nearly all coastal areas of the Pacific ocean at a local university. |
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Two years ago, for a "montage" one of the gentlemen put on some raggy clothes, got his hair all greasy, borrowed a shopping cart, and thrust his jaw out to one side. |
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Under a musty blanket in the shopping cart, he hid several packs of bottled water, and paper cups. He then hung out in the foyer and proceeded to hand out cups of water to the people as they walked in, and when the service began, he marched onto stage, and offered all of the bishops there some water as well. |
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Quite a few people pretended they hadn't seen him. Others waved him away. About a third graciously thanked him for the water after noticing all the rolling cameras, and one person tried to shoo him away. |
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Well I am homeless
so as part of my creative communication to you
I urge you to vote to minimize the size of government. Also create overseas bank accounts. |
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(I know that does not sound artistic, yet it is the contrast to a wealthy person mimicing homelessness to create thought or awareness of social improvability. The future you improve with these suggestions may be of direct benefit.) |
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I can't work out where on your person you are going to
hide a shopping cart... |
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I can't work out how I left the word "succesful" in
there for seven years. Duly fixed! |
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(Incidentally, this is a bit of a blast from the past:
my third ever HB idea) |
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