Advertisement
BUY A WINTER SUPPORT KIT & CHANGE A VENDOR’S LIFE
BUY NOW
Art

Gallery: Exhibition showcases photography of rough sleepers and sofa surfers

Organisers handed out 100 disposable cameras to rough sleepers and sofa surfers. The images were developed a week later with remarkable results

An exhibition of photographs snapped by homeless people across London is raising money for rough sleepers.

Last month organisers of the MyLondon Photo Project handed out 100 disposable Fujifilm cameras to rough sleepers, sofa surfers and others affected by homelessness at St Paul’s Cathedral.

The images were developed a week later with remarkable results.

Participant Richard Fletcher captured a shot of a flower blooming in a London gutter. He said: “I was in Charterhouse Square when I noticed this flower. Straightaway the symbolism hit me about on the one hand being homeless, but if you keep trying hard enough, you will eventually blossom.”

Every one of the pictures is for sale. The cash raised is going back to the photographers or to fund more art projects for people affect by homelessness.

Each photographer was asked to pick their favourite images and now more than 200 photos are on display.

Organisers have chosen a shortlist of 20 images which can be voted on by the public for the chance to get into the 2020 MyLondon calendar.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Cafe Art oversees the project. Paul Ryan from the social enterprise, which hangs the work of artists affected by homelessness in independent cafes across London, said: “The project has been very successful in helping give participants a sense of self worth.”

He added that the scheme has inspired similar projects around the world.

The project is now in it’s seventh year. Photographers taking part have earned more than £150,000 from the sale of their photos and the annual calendar.

The Royal Photographic Society has supported the project since 2013. Executive director Dr Michael Pritchard said: “Café Art has found an innovative way to use photography to support and empower the homeless to change their own lives for the better”.

The exhibition is open now until Sunday at Spitalfields Arts Market, Brushfield Street, from 10am to 5pm. The market is also offering space for artist affected by homelessness.

@joshkingwrites

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas and beyond

Buy a Big Issue Winter Support Kit for £34.99, you’ll receive four copies of the magazine and vendors could receive immediate tools for survival plus access to vital training and employment pathways to escape poverty for good.

Recommended for you

Read All
CathARTic: The incredible and inspiring way vulnerable people are finding themselves through art
Art

CathARTic: The incredible and inspiring way vulnerable people are finding themselves through art

The Big Issue's Christmas art wrapping paper is back – these are the stories behind the designs
Christmas

The Big Issue's Christmas art wrapping paper is back – these are the stories behind the designs

Behind the scenes of Rankin's historic portrait of King Charles for Big Issue
King Charles III

Behind the scenes of Rankin's historic portrait of King Charles for Big Issue

Artist Sarah Lucas on tits, making something out of nothing and 'living in quite terrible times'
Art

Artist Sarah Lucas on tits, making something out of nothing and 'living in quite terrible times'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Here's when people will get the cost of living payment in 2024
3.

Here's when people will get the cost of living payment in 2024

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue