taking control

If this blog is starting to read like a broken record, then sorry. Much of what I'm doing at the moment centres on housing regeneration so I'm a bit stuck for other things to write about. I'm pleased to report though that my attempt to visit, photograph and interview as many people as I can who have experienced disruption of some kind as a result of government-funded regeneration - and in many cases have fought either to save their homes or for a fairer deal - is going quite well, with 12 done and counting.

Today I was in Leeds, tomorrow I'm in the North East. Hopefully I can keep up the momentum and fulfill my aim, which is really just to spend the remainder of this year recording the impact large-scale housing renewal is having on some people's lives. I'm not claiming to be objective or scientific, but hopefully some will appreciate its value as a document. I can confidently predict that those working for regeneration bodies will not. I'll share some of the pieces shortly.....my website will soon be revamped and my blog will be moving, so all in good time.

One thing I can't help wondering when I visit these urban wastelands - many of which have been largely tinned-up for five years plus now - is what the future holds. These Housing Market Renewal or HMR-inspired projects rely on large chunks of taxpayers' money, as well as PFI involvement from volume housebuilders. Neither central government nor the building industry are exactly cash-rich at this point in the recession. Not to mention the fact that houses just aren't selling at the rate they were when Pathfinder was conceived. With people unable to get mortgages it begs the question, who are we building for .



Two things seem to be happening, from what I can tell. In some areas houses are just standing derelict and presumably will continue to do so until market conditions improve. In other areas vacant homes are being demolished and land banks created for future development...by developers known or unknown. Meanwhile, thousands of people are stuck on housing waiting lists in towns and cities across the country. It just doesn't make sense.

With developers left, right and centre putting projects on ice until market conditions get better - and a likely change of government around the corner - it makes me wonder what is going to come over the next year. These are not areas with potential Tory voters, and given the huge spending cuts on the horizon, surely it's unlikely HMR will continue in its present form if (when?) David Cameron wins the next election. What will that mean for Anfield, Oldham, Salford and the like? I can't quite see how this is going to have a tidy ending....perhaps we are seeing, for all the good intentions of some of the regenerators, a return to the dereliction and social blight that marred many of these neighbourhoods during the 70s and 80s.

Those left behind in these areas aren't always happy to put up with the rot. The residents of the Granby Triangle, in Liverpool's Toxteth neighbourhood, are a case in point. They have joined forces to - as they put it - "take control of" their environment. The streets are a mess, with the frontages of some of the vacant houses having collapsed onto the pavement. But local people, sick of looking at horrible tinned up properties all the time, have painted the metal grilles that cover their windows and doors and planted colourful flowers and tubs full of vegetables in front of the voids. From the shit they have to face every day they have found an amazing community spirit. I wish them the best as it's no doubt going to be many more years before something actually happens.

Born free

As anyone who looks at this blog may know, I've spent some time over the past few months getting to know Sofia, an African lady whose asylum claim was turned down by the Home Office earlier this year. She is currently destitute and survives with the support of charities in Manchester.
I've put together a short piece about her life, which I've now had the go-ahead to show to people and which can be seen by clicking on the picture above.
I'm not quite sure what I'll end up doing with it...asylum is not a subject that the media likes to touch, unless it's to bash asylum seekers. But I would like to find a way to get it 'out there' and seen by people.
It's just one story, obviously, and not necessarily representative of other people's experiences. But I'd like to find a way to expand this into a larger project on asylum and destitution...

murphy's porridge

I'm having computer problems at the moment and am only able to access the internet from my phone. I'm having to take my computer in for a check-up later this week and typically, it has come at a time when I could really do without it. Murphy's Law, my mother would say. Annoying but worse things happen.

Over the coming weeks though I should - all being well - be launching a new, more up-to-date website and blog and putting together pieces on subjects as diverse as gypsies and travellers, fishing and porridge...

Yes, porridge.  

end of the road - Derker

I paid a visit to Derker the other day...an area of Oldham that is undergoing a controversial regeneration process funded by central government.
I last visited the community over two years ago, not long after a public inquiry that was triggered by objections to the council's plans to bulldoze almost 500 homes. Inevitably, the locals lost and the compulsory purchase order (CPO) was granted - clearing the way for demolition. [Actually, I can't actually think of any community that has won at public inquiry under this particular regeneration scheme, which will see the clearance of anything between 100,000 and 400,000 mainly Victorian terraces across the North of England. Hardly surprising considering the authorities have access to the finest solicitors and barristers, whereas homeowners are left to represent themselves, unless someone happens to qualify for Legal Aid].
ANYWAY...some Derker residents challenged the CPO in the high court on various grounds where they believed mistakes had been made. To cut a long story short, they reached the end of the road on Thursday when their case was rejected. They must now start looking for places to move to, but many - especially those who have paid off their mortgages and are now retired and on a fixed income - complain that low compensation payments will put them back in debt, or into social housing. This is a common complaint: why can't we get a house for a house.

Over the past few weeks I've visited eight different communities affected by this kind of regeneration/demolition scheme for a portrait project I aim to have finished by the end of the year. So far they've all been in Liverpool, Manchester/Salford and Oldham but I'm now going to start branching out.
Over the next weeks I'll be travelling to Yorkshire, the east coast and up to the North East to try and move this forward. The intention is to put human faces on some of these stories and to record their own words, as an alternative way of telling the impact of regeneration on people's lives.
There is a problem here though and it's one I'm well aware of. There are winners and losers in every regeneration process, and even within one community there are a variety of viewpoints and experiences. Inevitably, it's the people who aren't happy with the process who I am most aware of - they are the people whose campaigns I've covered or been told about over the past few years. The question of how to go about this in a balanced way and without focusing only on the negative is something that is bothering me...because there are indeed many people who are pleased with how it's worked out for them.
Going to regeneration company press offices for something that is at this moment a personal project - although I'm sure I'll manage to get spin-off stories published - is potentially a problem. I'm not at all sure how to get around this one.

freedom fries

From this






to this....



and finally this...



The good folks at this Salford chippy had a horrible few years when the streets on every side of them became more and more derelict and were finally condemned to demolition. Even once they started bulldozing around them, its owners hung on - first because they were unhappy with the paltry amount they were offered for their business and upstairs flat [one official actually told them it was assumed they would be retiring] and later because no alternative premises had been found for them and fitted out. Now, finally - 15 years after regeneration of their area was announced - they have been given a new shop and are once again getting customers. Winners or losers? I don't think even they are completely sure.

links

I've had a couple of things published today. An audio slideshow on haaf fishing in Cumbria, on the BBC website (click above or see my original - slightly longer version HERE). I've also got a written piece and image in Guardian Education - a profile of an enterprising head teacher who has won an award.

regen

It's been an afternoon of photographing housing regeneration - although some would dispute that phrase - in Liverpool for me today.
I have a tendency to come up with lots of ideas and then spread myself too thinly, with the inevitable effect of getting very little done - or being disappointed with the results. So I'm giving myself between now and Christmas to focus on regeneration, and to hopefully finish something.
Yeah right.

brooklyn, baby

I've just returned from a week's break in New York. It was my first time in the US and I've fallen in love with the city. Can't say I'm too excited about having to return to work...

states of play

I've been a bit lax on the blog lately - mainly because I've been pretty busy but have had relatively little to show for it.

* I've filed quite a few written pieces and/or pictures with various publications - Guardian, Big Issue in the North, Marie Claire and New Start - all of which are still in the pipeline.
* I've had a second audio slideshow bought by the BBC but it's awaiting its big moment in the publishing schedule.
* I've put together another multimedia piece - on this - which I'm pretty pleased with and hope could go somewhere promising in due course....watch this space.
* I've started a simple but hopefully effective little project related to my three-plus years of work on housing regeneration in the north of England, which I aim to have finished by Christmas. A selection of my written work on this subject can be viewed here.
* I'm plotting a further photography project - this time overseas - which, if it happens, I hope to complete gradually over the course of next year.
* And I've set up part of my first assignment for the MA photojournalism course I'm due to start in the New Year and am very excited about what I'm doing.

So it's not as if I've been slacking. Well...just on the blog front then.
I'm now about to sign off for another week and a bit as I'm heading Stateside, for a holiday. I'm also officially hiding from my 30th birthday, which comes to pass later this week.
see you on the other side......

say 'paneer'

(Kolkata, March 2009)

I don't have much to blog about this week. So I'll just post some photos.

next level

I love this series of little multimedia features so very much. If you are interested in this kind of thing and haven't yet checked out the New York Times' One in 8 million series then I urge you to do so. I WISH I had the time and funding to do something like this where I live.

top slacker

I haven't had much time to post this week as it's been quite a busy one.
I returned to the homeless gypsy family I mentioned last week and although it was a more fruitful visit than my previous one I still had a frustrating experience because I was there on someone else's time, she had things to be getting on with and I just couldn't stay as long as I would have chosen to. I know that while I have some decent audio, and therefore potential written interview that the images just don't do their situation justice.
Tonight I'm going to sit in the audience while they broadcast this...such a geek. If I get to ask a question I'll be sure to post a link

EDIT: my question wasn't picked. booo hiss

Appleby fashion

I've spent the past couple of evenings pratting around with my leftover images from Appleby Horse Fair, to see if I could pair them with some audio and video I gathered there as I practice exercise. It's not happening because the audio's so poor. How I wish I'd done my training with duckrabbit a month earlier than I did. Anyway, I certainly intend to return to the horse fair next June if I can, so will do a better job then.
Going back through my images - hundreds of them - reminded me of how fascinated I was with some of the traveller girls and their style. In my mind I couldn't - and still can't - help but juxtapose the images of the horses being washed and prepared for sale, and the girls who doll themselves up and flaunt what they have in the quest to find a husband.
It's a certain kind of style, but I think the fact it was dull, rainy and at times quite cool, certainly made their skimpy outfits and bare, fake-tanned limbs stick out all the more for me.
If I return next year I will make it my mission to take more portraits of these young girls and their amazing attire, and hopefully turn it into a half-decent piece.

housed but not homed

Something I learned through meeting and talking to people at Appleby Horse Fair but didn't fully appreciate before was the fact having a caravan does not stop a gypsy or traveller from being homeless. If a family has no legal stopping place they fall into this category.
Yesterday I met a family who are an extreme example of this. For seven years they have been living along the country lanes in Yorkshire, in appalling conditions - with no electricity, water or toilet facilities. There are complicating factors but in 21st century Britain no one - no matter what - should be let down by the authorities in such a drastic way.
For various reasons, yesterday wasn't a raging audio or visual success. I'll be returning next week and hope to get a fuller feel for their plight.

happy anniversary

It's three years today since I made the decision to go freelance - after finding myself out of a job when my short-lived last newspaper folded.
I don't think I would have considered freelancing so early in my career - two and a half years after qualifying - if I hadn't been forced into it like this. If I'm honest I'm pleasantly surprised that I've lasted this long.
Why is this date - September 19th - etched so deeply in my mind? Because the day we all found ourselves out of a job happened to be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. As it is again today. Ooo arr.

Haaf slideshow

I've had quite a busy week but finally got round to putting together an audio slideshow on my couple of days haaf fishing on the Solway Firth (more pictures HERE). It's amazing how much goes into three minutes of one of these. I'm quite pleased with it...I can feel a progression from my earlier attempts. Now I am going to have to try and place it somewhere...

LRA hit the DRC

More multimedia-related wittering from me over at the duckrabbit blog...

parched

I've written a short post on subtitles v voice-overs - and the talented Sanjit Das - over on the duckrabbit blog

glasgow, innit

I've been in Glasgow with my family this weekend, for my sister's birthday. Loved it...reminded me of Manchester, only more attractive and less rainy.

apples and fairs

A few of my images from Appleby Horse Fair have been used to illustrate a story I've written for this month's New Start magazine, looking at activism within in the travelling community. The piece looks at the work of Jane and Joe Hurn, pictured above, who I got to know over my week there. They are doing some sterling work to try and ensure members of their community in Cheshire and across the country know their rights and are treated fairly by the authorities.
More images from Appleby - the UK's biggest horse fair - can be seen HERE

haaf cut

I've just about dried off after spending a second day photographing the Haaf fishermen of the Solway Firth yesterday. This is the first edit of the images I've collected over two sessions.
I'm hoping to turn this, some audio I've gathered and some other material into a compelling visual piece...just as soon as I get around to it.

Can I get an 'Amen'

I went to church today for the first time - bar weddings and Christenings - since I left home 11 years ago. And today's service, at an African pentecostal church in Manchester, was somewhat different to the grey and sombre Roman Catholic masses of my childhood.
For a start it lasted for four hours, although thankfully, we got there an hour late. But aside from that it was a noisy, joyful affair full of music and dancing in the aisle. Unfortunately my haul of pictures was disappointing as I was told pretty quickly that my camera wasn't allowed. That is a shame, as faith and religion seem to be the key thing that helps asylum seekers like Sofia get through the difficult times. No matter what their background, the ones I've met have all been very religious.
Yesterday we met a Nigerian Muslim lady whose house has been raided by immigration last week and who everyone expects to be deported any day now. She is beside herself with worry but is still keeping her Ramadan fast. That's the norm rather than the exception.
To have that kind of faith must be a wonderful thing.

More on my destitution project:
http://ciaraleeming.blogspot.com/2009/08/love-on-margins.html
http://ciaraleeming.blogspot.com/2009/08/supermarket-sweep.html
http://ciaraleeming.blogspot.com/2009/08/definitely-not-sponger.html
http://ciaraleeming.blogspot.com/2009/06/no-recourse.html

stuck in limbo - slideshow

Elizabeth Pascoe took on the authorities - and lost - when her home was earmarked for demolition under Liverpool's Edge Lane development scheme.
Bill Booth has lived on a half-derelict street in Manchester for a decade and still has no idea if it will survive a regeneration scheme.
Theirs are among up to 400,000 terraced properties across the English North and Midlands which could be bulldozed using public money, under the controversial Housing Market Renewal or Pathfinder scheme.
The government says the communities being targeted are suffering from housing market failure and need intervention. Skeptics say poor communities are being kicked off valuable land which is being handed over to developers.
Launched in 2003, the Pathfinder has met with fierce resistance and legal challenges, general delays and now economic meltdown have led to parts it being scaled back. With a change of government looming, its very survival is now in doubt. For people like Pascoe it is too late - the battle is lost and they must find a new home, often ending up significantly out of pocket in the process.
Where it leaves communities like Booth's is less certain. With more than half the homes in Clayton West boarded up and rotting, no developer on board and now an economy in recession, it is difficult to see a solution.

The sound on this piece is embarrassingly awful but was gathered before I did my audio training course with duckrabbit. I think it gets the story across though.

Love on the margins...

....continuing my project on a destitute asylum seeker living in Manchester. More here, here and here.

supermarket sweep

Weekly supermarket shopping, destitute asylum seeker style. Sofia, like thousands of others across the UK who have been refused asylum but are either from countries deemed too unsafe to return to, or are awaiting removal by the authorities, relies on support from independent charities. Her shopping budget is £10 a week.
These are out-takes from a personal photographic project I am undertaking to document her life, hopefully learning a lot along the way about the reality for people in her situation.
More here and here.