Sofa to Shed - Ray Hobbs ARPS
Sofa to Shed Ray Hobbs ARPS The abstraction of my Sofa to Shed project is a photographic enquiry into the lives and journeys of four men from their homes into the community of a Men’s Shed. The subjects of my project, Sofa to Shed, all consented to be photographed and to articulate, on video, their journeys from isolation, loneliness, and depression, to a “shed”. Research for this project revealed the extent of the hidden condition that many men live with. I was ill prepared for my emotional roller coaster journey and for what I was about to discover. Subsequently it became incumbent upon me to represent empathetically those men who courageously and generously agreed to participate in my project. Decisively, the physical Men’s Shed has not been photographed; the colloquial term “shed” is used to describe a community of men who generally associate in a physical workspace or shed. Through research into the wider community, I frequently observed men in gatherings of two or more. It was this surveillance that implied the term shed could be applied to a park bench or peloton of male cyclists, or any location where men associated. For my project, a shed, or community space, does not necessarily need four walls, a roof, and a workbench. Whenever I plan a project, I conduct extensive research through library books and internet searches, my personal book collection or specifically purchased literature. I produce a proposal with visuals including a to-do list with timelines and frequently a storyboard. I visualise scenarios with my subjects and consider what lighting and camera equipment will be most appropriate. I also advance-plan a printing schedule, exhibition venues and a detailed, costed, marketing plan for press releases and personal invitations – both by email and invitation cards. For Sofa to Shed my research included the purchase of the print-to-order book The Men’s Shed Movement: The Company of Men by Professor Barry Golding. Interestingly, although everyone in the Welsh Sheds was aware of it, no-one had a copy. This 433-page book details the establishment of sheds in Australia in 2008. The book represents the only clear and precise compendium of sheds worldwide with detailed information on particular countries including the UK and Republic of Ireland. 100
