Residents of London’s iconic Balfron Tower in Poplar, East London came out of their flats and on to their balconies and doorsteps, to take part in a giant photographic shoot organised by artist Simon Terrill and sponsored by Bows Arts Trust and housing association Popular HARCA.
An 8×10 large-format stills camera on top of an adjacent tower block roof, a truck load of film lights, music, and a team of marshals and volunteers set up outside the 1960s tower for The Balfron Project, the latest in the Australian-born artist’s works on ‘Crowd Theory’.
“The project does not seek to fictionalise nor expose the lives of those who call the tower home. What The Balfron Project will do for the first time since the building’s inception, is to generate an arena for reciprocal viewing.” Says Simon Terrill. “The camera will focus its lens on the tower and the residents of Balfron will have the opportunity to return the gaze in the manner of their choosing.”
Over the past six years, Simon Terrill has been creating mural sized photographs of groups of people from around the world as part of his highly acclaimed Crowd Theory project. These large-scale photographs of orchestrated crowd scenes are taken in public places and explore ideas of the meaning of community and the nature of crowds.
Following the shoot, a mural sized photographic image of the event will be exhibited at the Nunnery, Bow Road in January 2011.
Image: Simon Terrill photo shoot at Balfron Tower 18TH November 2010
