Marc Davenant ’s book Outsiders gives a voice and face to the homeless in Britain. Peter Dench finds out more
‘As we approached the property I had a really bad feeling, it looked bad from the outside, everything had steel shutters on except this one flat, it was an isolated little flat. We stepped in and the smell of the property was just overwhelming of damp and mould. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it and everywhere inside had mould on it. The carpet had mould on it, the towels and all the surfaces. Sireena was incredibly houseproud and cleaned the place every day and the mould grew back overnight. When we were walking through the property, you could hear water squelching beneath the floor. I didn’t know where to put my camera bag, mould grew on it after the shoot. She wasn’t in a good place mentally but I wanted her story told,’ explains photographer Marc Davenant.
Sireena’s story, alongside many others, is told in his book, Outsiders. They are often harrowing but necessary, giving a voice and a face to those living on the street or who lack a stable, habitable home. Outsiders is the culmination of a six-year project highlighting the serious and growing problem in supposedly affluent Britain. It started with a conversation and photos of Stephen in Soho and developed into a collaboration with homeless charity Shelter. It took Marc thousands of hours, emails and photos to prove he wasn’t some kind of predatory photographer on a poverty safari.
Responsible
‘When I met people in their homes I always had someone with Shelter with me, as there are lots of safeguarding issues. Many people can be vulnerable or have mental health problems and the trust I think sat with the case manager for Shelter. They’d done all the prep and they’d booked dates and times with the individual so I didn’t have their details. It was all done through Shelter which was the responsible way of doing it. I had a shot-list, I had an assistant who did the lighting for me. We’d meet the Shelter person outside, they would knock on the door,’ says Marc.
Marc would open up with a conversation, turn on a digital recorder, explain the project to them again and get them to tell him their story. ‘I think it gave them a chance to relax and get used to me being there. What they said in their story shaped how the images would be taken – particular things they referred to and experiences they had, I would try to incorporate that into the photography. There would be a gentle move into doing photography and try to get the person involved as much as possible.’
Taking the advice of New York Times photo editor Nancy Weinstock, Marc decided on shooting in black & white. ‘Colour is complicated because it draws your eye to various points in the image which isn’t necessarily where your focal point wants to be. Nancy gave me some gentle advice about the v
