Project Proposal

“And that’s the work of your generation. As long as more walls still stand... We’ll need more of you, young people, who imagine the world as it should be; who knock down walls; who knock down barriers; who imagine something different and have the courage to make it happen.” – Barrack Obama

My name is Gavan Casey. I’m a 21 year old student from Cork, currently studying in Dublin Business School. More importantly, I’m a man who cares about the world and its population’s wellbeing.

‘Barriers’, be they social, cultural/racial or physical, play a huge role in human life. Some are needed for security, or the physical safety of people, but some are not. A white person does not need to choose to sit next to another white person on a bus instead of a black person, but some people – most subconsciously – will, by choice. In most cases, it’s not because people are racist, it’s because society over time has separated and segregated people by race or religion, and their inclination is to ‘stick to what they know’. They sit next to ‘one of their own people’, when in reality we are all people, and there is one human race. Each of us are individually different but in most cases these differences shouldn’t be portayed by or acknowledged due to our physical or cultural traits. I believe that some barriers ARE required, naturally, for protection or containment. I also believe that others – of a more social or cultural nature – need to be breached and ultimately removed, for humans to one day exist harmoniously.

The subject of my project will be both the people who are affected by the things that separate us in the world, and those who require them. The black person, sitting alone on a Dublin bus. The bus driver, who for his safety requires a glass barrier to protect him from potentially dangerous customers. I also plan to heavily show these barriers themselves. With this project, I aim to show which barriers we should maintain, and which we – as human beings - should tear down.

I propose to document these barriers in human society by way of photography. Through use of imagery, I aim to make people aware of the different barriers in society. Which should they adhere to? Which should they ignore? I want to show them. “A picture paints a thousand words”, is not just an expression. Pictures evoke emotions and reactions that words simply cannot. Instead of talking about these issues, let’s address them. Let’s show people the different barriers that they should either stay on one side of, or overcome.

The activities required for me to meet such an objective is for me to firstly gain a heightened awareness of the barriers myself. To look for cultural indifference. To look for walls or fences that I’m not actually supposed to cross. My work will start immediately, in October 2013, and will finish along with my college year in late April/early May 2014.  I will be responsible for the photography myself, and will be using my iPhone. I will be taking photographs in both Dublin, - where I live for college – and Cork, to where I return quite often. They are the two biggest cities in Ireland and with the two largest populations, provide the most opportunities to capture life’s barriers in image.

With the help of my college and artist, Dragana Jurisic - the physical photobook itself will be displayed in an art gallery in Dublin, where I aim for my previously mentioned objective to be achieved. I will also post the photobook and project digitally, on my blog, where viewers are free to post their comments, critiques and reactions to my work. Those views and comments will be evaluated and collected, and I am optimistic that they will show me that I have achieved my goal. I can also include a notebook in the art gallery for viewers to physically share their thoughts.

The issue that I aim to explore and confront both interests me and affects me, as an Irishman who lives in Ireland. I care about how people in Ireland are treated, and I care about how people treat Ireland. Some barriers need to exist and some do not. I plan on showing which are which.