Richard Chivers shares how he captured an abstract photograph of a half demolished block, amidst a Scottish housing estate.
Describe the image.
The photograph captures a half demolished two storey block of flats. It’s an elevational abstract shot that captures the exposed interior walls.
Where was this photograph taken.
Muirhouse, Edinburgh in Scotland.
Why was this photograph made?
The photograph was made as part of a project called Degeneration. The work was made to take a look at the state of housing and regeneration in the 21st century, and the implications and complex nuances this may have had on some of the poorest in society, reliant on social housing. After decades of neglect, consecutive governments have overseen the gradual demise and disappearance of social housing, due to the right to buy scheme and a lack of new housing stock built. When many of these estates were regenerated the new housing wasn’t affordable for the existing tenants, pushing them away from the community they had lived in for most of their lives.
What was happening outside the frame.
The work was made as part of a collaboration with the Human Endeavour collective, and I was with fellow photographer Alex Currie. We often visited estates in Scotland together as they didn't feel the safest places to be on your own. We were on an estate that was half demolished and half lived in still, and whilst I was setting up the shot on my 5x4 large format camera, Alex was looking out for some unruly kids that we had previously been warned about. After I took this photo Alex was trying to get a shot, and soon we were surrounded by kids trying to take equipment from us. We managed to bribe them with some sweets in the end.
Tell us a key fact about this photograph.
The photograph wasn’t used in the final edit for our Degeneration exhibition as we felt at the time it was too abstract. But it has over time become an important image for me.
Why is this photograph important to you.
I really like the rich detail in the photograph, the way you can see what wallpaper people had, as well as the colours of the walls which are often bright in comparison with the bland exterior of these houses. You can see the wallpaper damaged by the diggers that had been demolishing the building, and also where the stairs would have been and the electrical boxes under the stairs. Looking at the fabric of a building like this can show us its history and memories, revealing the human unconscious energy that exists within them. You don’t need to see any people in this photo to be able to feel their presence.