Crowd Theory Footscray Station
In 2004, hundreds of people converged on Footscray Community Arts Centre and Skinner Reserve in Braybrook to participate in two large-scale photo shoots as part of Crowd Theory. Part 1 and 2 of this ongoing project, which is concerned with how we imagine and inhabit the idea of community, was such a success that Footscray Arts have recently undertaken Crowd Theory 3and4, two photographic projects designed to create a dialogue between the ‘City’ and the ‘West’.
On 2 December Footscray train station was the site for the first of these two photos, Crowd Theory Footscray Station. Artists Simon Terrill and Martyn Coutts were aiming to make an image that celebrates the diversity and vitality of the Footscray train station and marks it as one of Footscray’s iconic sites. The resulting photograph depicts users of the train station who are transiting through as part of their regular commute alongside pre-arranged set up groups of people who represent various aspects of the life of the train station. The intention was to seamlessly blend the daily commuter life of the station with an imagined version of what is possible.
With Crowd Theory the process is as important as the resulting photo, and the Footscray train station shoot explored the image of Footscray as a place that is ‘artsy, edgy, affordable, regional and multicultural’.
You can check out Crowd Theory 1 + 2 here.
You can check out Crowd Theory Footscray Station here.
You can check out Crowd Theory Southbank here.
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