News from Home is a collaboration between visual artist and sociologist Luke Conroy (Australia) and documentary filmmaker and visual artist Anne Fehres (The Netherlands). This is an ongoing documentary project that explores the meaningful yet often overlooked or omitted stories of a community. The stories are explored through in-depth research, community collaboration and observations that are then expressed through a range of media including photography, sound, digital art, writing, video, and installation.

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The conceptual basis of 'News From Home' is a consideration of a simple object - the postcard. The artists are interested in how these highly visual, kitsch objects can tell stories, shape expectations and influence actions in a place. Through their glossy, saturated images, the postcard offers a window to a place that is highly idyllic but also constructed and lacking personal-depth. Such a view holds many parallels with the ‘idyllic’ lives harvested online through social media. The result of such an approach to the world, one defined by 'postcard views', is that it overlooks and omits the meaningful and messy realities present.

 

This creates a situation where many places are viewed through what the sociologist John Urry calls a 'tourist gaze', where an outsider sees only what they are supposed to see and the 'real life' is hidden away. This is not only true when considering a place from afar, but also in the lived experiences one has in visiting that place. The aim of our project therefore, is to explore and document those areas outside of the tourist gaze, bringing them recognition and greater visibility.

 

'News From Home' is an ongoing project that has taken place in ten locations to date. See works from these locations below and follow our project on Instagram: @news_from_home

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