Week 16

https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/c4ca5a0a-156e-4b25-8ff1-55764eaa6f3e

Timestamps: 13:35, 13:41

One of the key points I have picked up this week, I should aim to direct my target in Stoke-on-Trent. I have an assumption that Stoke, seems to hold a particularly high level of animosity towards immigration. This is in part to both MP's for Stoke making points of 'illegal' migration in parliament when debating the Bill of Human rights. The city has also elected the British National Party (BNP) (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jun/02/bnp-far-right-local-elections) in the past, backing up this assumption further.

New_geographies_racism_Stoke

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Further investigation backs up this idea that racism and xenophobia exist in Stoke. This report suggests through poverty and low job prospects, combined with poor reasoning for the lower standard of living that it is easy to blame outsiders for the issues of the city.

Although, not related to the project. I have left a documentary of Monkey Dust below:

Overall, I think a return trip to some of these spots to collect some more/better photography for editing will be a useful part of this story and although some images will require a lot more work to build the narrative, others will likely be quick to produce.

I feel, if the exhibition route is continued, that part of my target audience would be people in Stoke, in an attempt to sway any negative perceptions of immigration.

I feel that I could potentially gain a little interest in a zombie exhibition here as they filmed The Girl with All the Gifts here.

I decided one evening to drive to Stoke and look for places of interest that would help inspire the project.

Like a lot of parts of this project, it was great to find these areas, that are so run down that they can be edited to give that dystopian feel to this project. I also felt sadness, as this was a reflection of a place that has been left to decay. When researching media, and suggesting that migration has resulted in a lack of jobs or funding for an area, you can see why (although not an excuse) how some people would resent migrants in any capacity.

With potentially using edited photos to tell my story, I did a quick experiment with one of the photos. I was inspired by the hole in the stairs and thought of the idea of it become the entrance of the zombie trafficking. with some simple tricks, although not perfect was happy with the outcome and would be happy to develop further. Some simple editing of what was in the photo helped with the narrative. Changing "Dust Savez Livez" to "Saves Livez" I think helped the story telling. I do though, feel that Dust could be a potential name for the infection. As Monkey Dust is a real world plague of the city. This could offer some poetry to the story.

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