Relationship with the environment

The Last Stop – George Georgiou

Having observed ‘The last stop’ project over a year ago, the work left an impression upon my senses and thought it worth revisiting to observe the motivation and level of attachment Georgiou has with the environment.

There are elements of my personal practice which require an affiliation with both subjects and the environment. The understanding of social balances and imbalances creates an attachment that I continually aim to capture within my work. The Last Stop deliberately uses two decks of a double decker bus to change between levels of attachment on one hand and more of a deliberate surveillance style sense of detachment on the other, which is opposite to the artists personal experience.

On discovering that the work is deliberately working between two levels, there becomes a greater understanding of the CCTV feel that Georgiou is conscious of. The attachment arrives from the photographers own experiences as a child, travelling across a diverse city from bus to bus without having a desired destination in mind.

The images run like a journey that describes a complex and layered environment that has embraced the positive aspects of diversity and yet explores the widening of economic imbalance within society. The knowledge of Georgiou’s relationship with the environment and history with Double Decker buses provide a level of context that gives the images a contextual attachment. There is an attempt to suggest that the environment is not known, but the discovery and attachment with the society that inhabits is. The photography from the lower deck provides less surveillance and greater intimacy with the subjects. The combination of the two highlights the many ways a bus journey can experience the environment from within and yet enrapture an intended context.

It is interesting to view the photography of ‘The Last Stop’ with fresh eyes and the knowledge of Georgiou’s motives. The memory of experience enhances the concept of a journey of random experiences that can be visually described in the rhythms and dynamics of a spiraling metropolis. I like the way that social inequality has been used as a subtext to elevate a the socio political dilemma. This provides much thought to my own understanding and gives some perspective to the level of attachment that is possible when not personally experiencing the levels of hardship that are being represented