Ben Roberts is a photographer based in the south of England. This is personal work from his series Occupied Spaces. Roberts writes:
On the 15th October 2011, protestors representing the global Occupy movement set up a semi-permanent camp outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in central London. The aim of the protests is to encourage discourse and raise awareness of social and economic inequalities. On the 25th of October, several UK newspapers and media outlets ran stories claiming that ‘thermal imaging’ proved that only 10% of the 250 tents in St. Paul’s Square were being inhabited overnight; I was immediately sceptical of these claims.
This series of photographs catalogues some of the communal and private spaces that have been installed in the St. Pauls and Finsbury Square camps. The traces of activity and inhabitance serve as a document of the intense utilisation of a limited space by a large number of both permanent and temporary residents.
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Interesting shots but where’s the toilet rolls?
hey Leedslassie, funnily enough I did want to photograph the portaloos, but on inspection they hadn’t been customised enough. not even any decent toilet literature!
Context? Disorderly tents. That’s it. Where is the story in these photos? I could have pitched four of my tents in my backyard and presented the same. London? Greece? or Waterbury, CT. USA.??
Good show. Helps counter the ignorant rubbish spouted by so many. Thank you.
So how exactly does this dispell the statement that only 10% of the 250 tents were used at night?