Many Small People, Many Small Places Collage

This piece is created using the Polaroid emulsion lift process. Each individual photograph is soaked in water until the photographic emulsion floats free. This is then transferred to the paper – each picture is part of the whole, each unremarkable in their own right, but stronger together. The work features key buildings from the co-operative movement – the building where the Rochdale Pioneers first began on Toad Lane as well as Robert Owen’s Mill building in New Lanark, Scotland. You will also find the modern Co-op buildings, the “Rochdale Pioneers” train, and elements from the Occupy movement alongside several other geographical details. Meanwhile, the skies are filled with starling murmurations - each bird strives to fly as close to its neighbours as possible, instantly copying any changes in speed or direction. This results in any tiny deviations by one bird being magnified and distorted by those surrounding it – a natural reflection of the co-operative. To create this piece, I gathered open source imagery and accepted contributions from photographers across the country willing to share their work. These were then re-photographed from the screen onto Polaroid film using a specialist medical camera in order to make the transfers making a collaborative “open source” work.