Tag: Sarah Pickering

Sarah Pickering

Sarah Pickering is “interested in fakes, tests, hierarchy, sci-fi, explosions, photography and gunfire” (Pickering 2018). Her photographic practice explores the training and training facilities for emergency services personnel.

Sarah Pickering – Denton Underground Station, 2003
Sarah Pickering – Front Garden, School Road, 2005

Viewing Pickering’s series, Public Order, on her website in the sequence presented by her, the opening images (Denton Underground Station 2003, Lola Court 2004 and Front Garden, School Road 2005) depict a very sterile environment not unlike the Irish phenomenon of ghost estates, which feature unfinished and unsold houses remaining as a resulting in the collapse of the housing market. However, the façade and cameras in some of these early images hint at the necessity for the town to be monitored. The next images in the series begin to reveal the true purpose of the buildings. The images, Farrance Street 2004 and Off Vickers, Eastcourt Street 2004 clearly show debris, brick and other missiles strewn around the street and there are burn marks on all the walls. Any sense of mystery or unease lifts as the viewer see more and more of the controlled environment for the training of police public order drills. The title of the series also gives some clue, but is not definitive, and many viewer maybe unfamiliar with the term, public order.

Sarah Pckering – Farrance Street, 2004

In an interview with Susan Bright in 2010, Pickering described how disappointed the police were that she had little interest in photographing the training riots and public order drills that police had carried out during her visit to the training facilities. There is more power in the late/aftermath photographic approach to the series, rather that showing the “blatant violence” (Pickering). Sarah Pickering believes that her approach has rendered the series “more evocative, than trying to get some action shots”(Pickering).

Sarah Pickering – Magdalen Green, 2004

I feel that Pickering’s series seems to present questions about the society we live in, where such places are necessary.

Reference

Aperture Foundation (2010) ‘Sarah Pickering and Susan Bright: Explosion series 2/5’ , available: https://vimeo.com/11906165 [accessed 19 Jul 2018 ].

Aperture Foundation (2010) ‘Sarah Pickering on Public Order & Explosions series: Excerpt’ , available: http://vimeo.com/11931505 [accessed 19 Jul 2018].

Pickering, S. (2018) ‘Sarah Pickering’ [online], available: http://www.sarahpickering.co.uk/index.html [accessed 19 Jul 2018].