‘Wish List: London?’, Pat Kaufman

‘Wish List: London?’ explored the wishes and desires of a group of young adults at the Downside Fisher Youth Club, in the London Borough of Southwark.

‘Wish List: London?’ focused on developing basic photographic skills whilst also building up a sense of group cohesion with everyone working towards a common goal. The project helped establish the participants’ identity and revealed the variety of photographic skills available to the group.

Early on in the project a theatre director and musician came along and led the group in exercises designed to teach them how to catch movement and focus on still life. The participants also looked at framing and capturing the ‘story’ in an image and, as the project progressed, the participants went on to create their own story lines of their own wishes and identities. What emerged was something beyond individual wishes or desires.

The group devised their own addendum to the original title. They agreed that their work collectively offers a portrait of the unexpected and unusual aspects of London. Hence, for them ‘Wish List: London’ became ‘Wish List: London?’ Throughout the workshops, the participants were exposed to additional sources of inspiration including both contemporary and historical photography and artwork and a visit to Tate Modern.

‘Wish List: London?’ was commissioned by HS Projects and funded by the Insight Community Arts Programme (2002 – 2015).

The project ran from October 2011 to March 2012.