‘Beyond Vision I’, PhotoVoice
Working in collaboration with the international charity PhotoVoice, HS Projects launched ‘Beyond Vision I’ in 2008, a three year project with street children from Ecuador.
In partnership with the local, non-profit organisation Juconi and photographers, Lara Kay and Lynn Weddle, ‘Beyond Vision I’ continued the photographers’ earlier work with street children that had begun in 2005.
Photographic courses for street children were run in partnership with the Chantal Fontaine School of Photography in Guayaquil, Ecuador. On completion of the beginners’ course, an advanced programme was run for some of the most enthusiastic and talented young photographers. They learned photographic skills, transferable IT skills, such as website design, and also had the opportunity for tutorials and portfolio reviews with professional photographers. Four-month internships within the photographic industry in Ecuador, alongside encouragement to enter photographic competitions and exhibitions, helped raise the participants’ profile and professionalism while broadening their employment opportunities.
‘Giving children who literally have nothing, access to the luxury of cameras and images of themselves and their lives is a significant contribution in itself. From Juconi’s perspective the lasting impact of ‘Beyond Vision’ has been bringing to the children a realisation that what they choose to photograph is a communication from them.’
JUCONI (Junto Con los Niños or Together with the Children) was founded in 1995 as an Ecuadorian not-for-profit organisation that provides specialised educational and therapeutic services to street-working children and their families.
The Chantal Fontaine School of Photography is a prestigious establishment based in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is run by Chantal Fontaine, a professional photographer, and provides key commercial photographic services, running a digital studio, an agency and production services, as well as an acclaimed educational programme.
PhotoVoice is an award-winning international charity and the only development organisation of its kind in Europe. Its projects empower some of the most disadvantaged groups in the world with photographic skills so that they can transform their lives.
‘Beyond Vision I’ was commissioned by HS Projects and funded by the Insight Community Arts Programme (2002 – 2015).
‘Objects Flown I – IV’, Sarah Taylor
Sarah Taylor’s works are impactful and visually monumental in that their physical presence is assimilated immediately, the detail and internal relationships acting on and confirming the first understanding.
‘Objects Flown I – IV’ were installed on the route to the lounges at Heathrow Terminal 2 departures and were made from plastered impressions of actual lost and unreclaimed property at the airport. These gold-leaf embossed works became icons of remembrance to the abandoned items and lives of their former owners.
We commissioned ‘Objects Flown I – IV’ as part of the BAA Art Programme in 1996. The works were installed at Terminal 2 Pier 2 Corridor until 2016.
Eggebert & Gould, Milton Keynes Proposal
HS Projects was appointed by Gazeley Properties in 2006 to devise a public art strategy as part of the commissioning process for a ground breaking eco-friendly development for the Nova Business Park, Milton Keynes. We worked in close collaboration with the developers, Milton Keynes Council and English Partnerships in developing the public art strategy, artist brief and artist selection process for the main commission.
Following an extensive selection process and a shortlist of internationally acclaimed artists, Anne Eggebert & Polly Gould were commissioned in November 2007 for their concept that referenced the architecture of the monumental business distribution park with the experience of driving around Milton Keynes, a town screened by trees and embankments.
The artists developed their design for two sites, a square of densely planted silver birch trees within the development itself and a cinematic gateway sculpture surrounding a square of silver birch trees. The sculpture was designed to be animated by RGB colour LED spots to cast shadows of the trees against the translucent polycarbonate panels of the encasing structure. The lighting system was designed to be controlled by various weather sensors to react and reflect the local weather conditions. All materials were to be sourced from either recycled or recyclable components.
In 2009 Eggebert & Gould’s scheme was presented to the stakeholders who gave their approval and instructed the scheme to be prepared for planning. To date the scheme remains unrealised with only half the scheme completed with the planting of the square of silver birch trees within the development.