Sunday 16 November 2014

Shelter Exhibition


Last week my photography class took a trip to the Science Museum to see the Nick Hedges documentary photography exhibition - Make life worth living.
The exhibition was commissioned by Shelter the homeless charity. Photos were taken at some of the poorest areas across the UK including Glasgow, London and Birmingham in the late 1960's and early 1970's



The exhibition itself is set in the Virgin media studio in the Science museum, it seems like a small collection as the size in comparison to the museum itself is tiny but there are actually a hundred photos all together.

The photographs were taken to highlight the poverty, homelessness and poor housing conditions throughout Britain during that era and some are shockingly chilling. While some of the images are hard-hitting there are also some that show happiness and one in particular of a group of children playing outside a run down block of flats just reminded me of my own childhood.




Some of the images also have a story with them while others leave you to work out the story for yourself.

I found the exhibition very touching and wondered how much has actually changed in the last 50 years. My next photography assignment is documentary photography focused on poverty and homelessness so this exhibition has given me a lot to think about.



Shelter are still helping people in housing crisis today and hopefully the exhibition will highlight the struggles that people are having to face everyday.
If you would like to visit the Nick Hedges exhibition it will be on until 18th January 2015 and is open everyday. Entry to the museum and the exhibition is free.

Wednesday 12 November 2014

50 Books 2014 - October

Another month and another few books read! I really hope I manage to complete this challenge because otherwise I will have to do it again next year  (I won't give up until I've done it) and as much as I love to read (I would happily read all day if I could) it is hard to fit it in with everything else.
Sitting in traffic on the bus in the mornings is no good for my time keeping but I must say it is great for my reading time and has helped me to get through 5 books this month, and I am half way through another 2 :)

So this is what I have enjoyed in October...


 Josh receives a text telling him that he has 48 hours to pay £250,000 or die! surely it must be a joke but when people around him start dying it has to be taken seriously. Will his attractive new bodyguard protect him and will he ever find out who it is that is actually blackmailing him?

I wasn't expecting much from this book when I first downloaded it but was actually pleasantly surprised. The plot was good and the descriptions were really well written, considering it is free on the Kindle I would recommend.



This is the story of Martha Connolly and her poverty stricken family, they are living in a run down tenement in Liverpool during the 30s and 40s and it tells of their struggle with hunger and disease during the great depression but also of the the uplifting spirit between the local community.

I found this book to be really long and it took me a few months to read it, going back to it after a few other books each time. I actually started to enjoy it towards the end and think that if I had read it all at once I may have liked it more. Great description of what life was like during that time and I really warmed to some of the characters.


Katie Parker is going to live with a religious family whether she likes it or not, her dad has gone AWOL and her mum is in prison so how is she going to settle with this new life and will she find a way to escape, back to her old ways?

This book was completely different to what I was expecting when I first looked at it, the character Katie is very relatable, although you do find yourself getting mad at her sometimes. With the book coming from a teenagers point of view I think it would be suited to a teen audience but saying that I found it very amusing and would definitely read other books from this author.


Natalie is a twenty something with a great job and living in London, the only thing that is missing in her life is the man of her dreams but will she have to go very far to find him?

This was a nice easy read, great if you like rom-coms although a bit predictable and easy to forget.


Brian is a geeky adolescent of the 80's and is ready to embark on his journey to university, with risk of losing his old drop-out mates and the struggle to find new ones, will an appearance on University challenge aid his life and help him to get the girl of his dreams?

With 'One Day' being one of my favourite books ever I was trying not to expect too much from this book of the same author. The book is so 80's it feels like you are actually in that era with the characters and can really picture the scene. I like how a question appears at the beginning of each chapter and thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I am posting this book review a bit late as I have just had no time to write on my blog with all the coursework I've had to do but thankfully I have still had time to read some more books!

This post is linked up with the 50 books 2014 challenge and at the end of October I have read a total of 36 books! 14 books to read in 2 months? hmmm I wonder if I'm going to make it?


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