final major project: initial primary research

U S I N G  A R T  A S  A C T I V I S M : C H E E R  U P  L U V

To start off my investigation, research and idea generation for my FMP I wanted to experience first-hand what creatives are doing to provoke thought and change with their work, focusing on the feminist debates I researched for my statement of intent. Cheer Up Luv is a photojournalism project I’ve followed for a while, by Brighton graduate Eliza Hatch. Hatch interviews women all over the country on their experiences of sexual harassment and pairs their story with 35mm-shot portrait, to create a collection of profiles of victims of public harassment. The collected stories are posted on @cheerupluv on Instagram as well as on the project’s website, cheerupluv.com.

I love the goal of this project to raise awareness and create a community of support and solidarity for victims. Cheer Up Luv is a great example of using art as activism. I am particularly interested in the use of photography, film and journalism to spread messages and provoke change through a creative output.

I feel people are more likely to pay attention and engage with a form of activism if it is inclusive and easily accessible, and presented in a visually pleasing/intriguing way. Using the internet and social media to spread the word and gain support and awareness is an increasingly successful and effective way that projects can gain popularity.

As part of Hollaback London’s”16 Days of Creative Action” (@hollabackldn) I was invited to take part in a portrait workshop run by Eliza Hatch to share stories of sexual harassment, which were then shown on billboards and screens around London. This opportunity to get first-hand experience of being part of an activist creative project was a great way to gain insight into what makes something like this successful.

“When I was fourteen, I was walking home with a friend, and a man came right up to us and flashed us. Being so young and alone, we were shocked and terrified. There was a police investigating but it was dropped. Three years later, I was walking home from college when I recognised the same man walking towards me. He stopped and asked for the time, then started masturbating in front of me.” – Holly. ••• 📸@cheerupluv

A post shared by Hollaback London (@hollabackldn) on Dec 6, 2017 at 3:14am PST

The friendly and inclusive focus of Eliza’s work as well as the photography and curation skills behind the final visual outputs make this a strong example for my initial research, and has provided inspiration for my anti-fashion/feminist magazine I will be creating, and the methods and processes I can use to make it a powerful, innovative but also fun and creative piece of work.