The series I'm looking at is the one entitled "Signs that say what you want them to say and not signs that say what somebody else wants you to say.". The project was her first collaboration with the general public and so since this will be mine, I find it even more relevant to look at. She started the series in 1992 and it involved standing in an area of South London and basically asking people walking past to co-operate with the project. She asked them to write down what was on their mind on a piece of card and hold it for a portrait.
The charm of the proejct is the variety of responses. Some people took it seriously, others used it to be fun and playful. Some were honest, some lied, but all that took part offer something, a part of themselves. The man who wrote down 'desperate' is in my opinion the bravest, but clearly Wearing had a way of interacting with the public that made them feel at ease.
Wearing had a deeper intention with the project though and she wrote that the collaboration 'interrupts the logic of photo-documentary and snapshot photography by the subjects' clear collusion and engineering of their own representation.' It brings a serious element into it, with the decline of the UK's economy and the project has social and historical stature in these times. Oddly, it is as relevant today as it was then with the UK's current situation.
The inspiration is the simplicity of it all. Perhaps by originally wanting to do it in a studio it's too clean cut and might put people off. If I were to do the portraits more casually in the environment I found people, perhaps they would be more willing to participate and I'd get much more honesty as it's on the spot and people may only regret it afterwards.
Below are some of the images from Wearing's project.
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