From the series Construct, 2018–2022, by Anthony Luvera
Images have the power to highlight underrepresented groups and issues – something Australia-born, UK-based artist Anthony Luvera has used through his photographic career.
His method of ‘assisted self-portraiture’ allows his subjects to influence how the world sees them. In his latest photobook, Construct, Luvera has put people with experience of homelessness firmly in control.
Luvera first meets with his subjects at locations that mean something to them. Then, over several sessions, he teaches them to use camera and computer equipment so they can collaborate on the portrait before selecting the final image.
Construct, commissioned and published by GRAIN, includes 21 new self-assisted portraits created in Birmingham between 2018 and 2022. It marks 22 years since Luvera began working with people experiencing homelessness around the UK.
“Across Britain more than 250,000 households are now experiencing the worst forms of homelessness,” according to national homelessness charity Crisis.
Luvera’s work as an educator is intertwined with his practice. A member of the RPS Education Committee, he was its chair from 2020-2024. He is associate professor of photography at the Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities at Coventry University and has staged education and mentorship programmes for organisations including the National Portrait Gallery, Tate, Magnum, Royal Academy of Arts and the Barbican Art Gallery.
Here, Luvera discusses Construct – and his hope it will help challenge perceptions of homelessness.
Assisted self-portrait of Waldemar Plachetka from the series Construct, 2018–2022, by Anthony Luvera
What do you like exploring through your photography?
Working collaboratively with groups that are underrepresented in public discourse is at the heart of my photographic practice.
Through my photography projects I’ve worked with people with experience of mental ill health and homelessness, and addiction issues; the LGBTQ+ community; and children from lower socioeconomic households.
What is the project Construct?
Construct ran between 2018 and 2022 in collaboration with individuals who have experienced homelessness in Birmingham. It was commissioned by GRAIN Projects in partnership with SIFA Fireside – Birmingham’s main day centre for homeless and vulnerably housed adults.
Talk us through your role in Construct.
I embedded myself in SIFA Fireside and worked in the centre’s kitchen in 2018, which helped me to get to know staff and service users, and to discuss creating this project.
Throughout 2019, participants were encouraged to document their experiences of the project using disposable cameras and smartphones. I also held individual and group workshops with participants that focused on using photography to tell stories about their lives and interests. Here, we created assisted self-portraits – a process where I meet participants in locations important to them over multiple sessions to teach them how to use digital medium format camera equipment. This co-creation provided Construct’s images with a more representative insight to the realities of homelessness.
Documentation of the making of an assisted self-portrait of Mauvette Reynolds from the series Construct, 2018–2022, by Anthony Luvera
Between 2020 and 2021 I worked with participants remotely throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns by posting them cameras and communicating via Zoom, phone and email. The pandemic caused the project’s timeline to be extended, which enabled me to develop even stronger relationships with its participants.
Construct’s exhibition was held at Birmingham’s Snow Hill Square in October 2022, with 21 assisted self-portraits erected on scaffolding and sculptures. Participants’ photographs documenting our collaborative efforts throughout the project were also displayed throughout the train station.
Is the book the final part of Construct?
Yes. After the exhibition I spent more time facilitating workshops with participants creating images for the publication.
We worked with Birmingham-based designer Chris Neophytou to create drafts. These designs were presented to participants for feedback, which was used to help inform the final product. Just like its exhibition, the creation of Construct's book was an equally collaborative process.
Published by GRAIN Projects, this publication features 21 assisted self-portraits shot by participants, and contributions by Joseph Anderton (associate professor of modern and contemporary literature at Birmingham City University) and Halima Sacranie (director of housing research at the Centre for the New Midlands) reflecting on the right to housing in the UK today.
Assisted self-portrait of Paul Brassington from the series Construct, 2018–2022, by Anthony Luvera
Participants have said how thrilled they’ve been to show friends and family the part they played in making the book.
What impact has Construct had?
I’ve been working with people who have experience of homelessness and on issues of housing justice since 2002, which has taken me to locations throughout the UK including Brighton, Colchester, Coventry, Manchester and London.
Vitally, Construct allowed people with lived experience of homelessness to talk about how the systems, services and experiences they encounter affect their everyday lives.
Through a commitment to photography and collaboration, Construct is a means of addressing social inequality. By upending traditional approaches to documentary photography via collaborative practice, it’s helped create a more nuanced representation of the experience of homelessness.
What do you want people to take away from Construct?
Homelessness is a political choice. We saw this during the pandemic with the government’s Everyone In programme, which regulated that people sleeping rough and in accommodation where it was difficult to self-isolate – such as shelters and assessment centres – were safely accommodated to safeguard them from the risks of Covid-19.
This public health response demonstrated that given enough resourcing, creative thinking, and political will and investment, how society deals with homelessness can be reimagined. And so too can how we depict people experiencing homelessness.
I hope Construct paints a more accurate picture of the experience of homelessness, encourages people to challenge their preconceptions and gives housing justice issues the spotlight they deserve.
Assisted self-portrait of Diane Hamilton from the series Construct, 2018–2022, by Anthony Luvera
Construct by Anthony Luvera is published by GRAIN Projects at £25 plus P&P.
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