Recently I've been introduced to the work of Red Saunders, he creates photographs of moments in history that were overlooked. Often only scenes that portrayed the controlling powers as great would be documented in paintings, anything that went against this was forgotten about. He focuses on the normal men and woman of the time rather than the great people of the monarchy that dominated history as we know it.
His photographs are very elaborate and feature a lot of characters, the style is known as tableaux vivants (living pictures). I decided to go and look at his work for myself in the Peoples History Museum and it was a very interesting experience. It was wonderful to see such large prints of his work, I could really get up close and appreciate the detail within the images. It was also nice to see his scribbles and initial ideas and how they formed into these elaborate photographs.
My favourite image is the depiction of the Swing Riots in 1830 where hooded farm workers are sneaking out of the bushes to revolt against landlord farmers. I really like this because there is very little chance this would have ever been captured as a painting, it's a great document of history and I think there's a lot of emotion within the image. The colours are great also. The characters seem quite intimidating at first glance but once you hear the back story you're inclined to side with them in a time where they were facing great oppression.
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