Now the second leaders’ debate is behind us we are entering the second half of the election campaign.
Photographer Simon Roberts has been selected as the official ‘Election Artist’. He has been commissioned by the House of Commons to “produce a series of artworks that respond to the 2010 General Election.”
Roberts also wants the public to become involved by contributing photographs of political activity by uploading them to the Election Project website. Uploaded photos will then be displayed in the Public Gallery.
© Kerry Peterson
© Terry Diamond
Betting outside Houses of Parliament. April 6th 2010
© Darren K
Just seen that Shaun Bailey, Conservative Party candidate for the new seat of Hammersmith at the next General Election, is first candidate to launch his own App for iPhone.
Roberts says: “During the 17 days of official campaigning I will be traversing the country in a motorhome photographing local landscapes and scenes that are connected to this year’s General Election. My main focus will be the relationship between politicians and the voting public: you and me.
“This is why I want the public to get involved in this commission. I want you to be part of the project and to tell your stories by sending your photographs of political activity in your area.”
It will be interesting to see how this project plays out and what sort of pictures both Simon Roberts and the general public produce. With the advance of social networking and the proliferation of digital image taking devices, in theory there is a greater than ever incentive and potential for the public to capture images of the election process.
However, it could be argued that the digital revolution will lead to more campaigning activity taking place online, decreasing the amount of traditional physical campaigning, resulting in fewer photo opportunities.
