Footscray Community Arts Centre

Hi Fred, thanks for your comment and close reading of the image. There is more going on, although I don't necessarily see it quite the same way as you. I still struggle with a settling on any particular reading of the image, even 6 months later. However, perhaps the simplest way to address your reading is to say that I name the people in the image 'participants' rather than 'subjects'. The way the photograph is made is that there is a team of people who work on making the situation that we see in the print, lights, catering, a soundscape and so on. The 'participants' are drawn from the area, people who have an association with the place. They are invited into the situation we have set up and given the freedom to choose what they do, how they choose to represent themselves within that setup. That part of the image, how people choose to group together, or not, is entirely out of my control. That is why the work has the prefix 'Crowd Theory' in the title. Although of course never a pure situation, as the presence of a camera always alters behavior, the rationale is informed by happenstance, of what may happen, what may be possible given this collection of people who are connected by place, but perhaps have never met each other and come from very different occupations. The Port is contested ground. The Port of Melbourne Corporation has plans for expansion being resisted by environmentalists, for example. Both those groups are in the image. There are people who have worked there for many years in blue collar jobs and then there are public relations people for Port of Melbourne Corporation. How they all chose to navigate the situation on the night I cannot really say as I was separated by the camera, but I think what you are responding to is the dynamics of that complexity. An aspect that resonates for me is the difference between talking about a community associated with the port, or perhaps more accurately, communities associated with the port. I hope that answers your query. Simon