his exercise asks us to find different social perspectives of the same place.
Dougie Wallace is a British street photographer who has lived in Blackpool and Shoreditch. His images of London show contrasting sections of society. His images are brash and bold; his subjects grotesque and larger than life. His project Harrodsburg focuses on the mega-rich of Kensington, a freak-show of bad facelifts and lurid sartorial tastes. His objective is to focus on ‘the one per cent’ in an effort to highlight the disparity in society. It is not a sympathetic portrait of the wealthy elite but personification of the monstrousness of the vast wealth of some in modern society while others are living in abject poverty.
In contrast the subjects of Wallace’s Shoreditch Wild Life seem less glossy, less shiny, even if they can be just as gaudy. Any softness in their faces is the result of a life well-lived rather than of artificial fillers and they seem somehow more authentically human. This is not a contrast of rich versus poor although wealth or lack of is an obvious factor, but more a contrast of class.
Johnny Miller is a documentary photographer based in South Africa. His work addresses issues of human inequality including social and cultural perspectives. His drone-photographed project Unequal Scenes depicts urban scenes from above, highlighting the stark contrast in living conditions for the rich and poor in countries such as Mexico, South Africa and the United States. Using a single image to depict the close proximity in which extreme poverty is placed to the privileged few is a shocking reminder of the unequal distribution of wealth in global society.
Mexico City Vukuzenzele
Nairobi Tanzania
References:
http://www.dougiewallace.com [Accessed 4 January 2020]
unequalscenes.com [Accessed 4 January 2020]
http://www.millefoto.com [Accessed 4 January 2020]
http://www.lensculture.com/millejoh [Accessed 4 January 2020]
Rhonda's Landscape blog 