Chris decided to focus on a specific geographical area – the East End of London – and explore its representation in the BBC’s programme output. This study of the BBC’s East End could become a model for others to follow elsewhere.
He tapped into the output of Lime Grove, the famous current affairs studio, and uncovered some of the very first ‘open access’ projects set in the East End.
Chris tracked down both producers and participants in documentaries made in the late 1960s and early 1970s. By recreating interviews and locations he tapped into their emotional resonance, and at the same time offered key questions about representation and motivation.
Chris’s tip:
“The more specific you are, the more general the work will be.”
Chris talks about his placement with the BBC
An extract from BBC in the East End
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Review of BBC in the East End
http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/eastern_promise/
Michael Bracewell writing in Frieze, October 2007.
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Chris Dorley-Brown's website
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Chris Dorley-Brown on Flickr: spot the difference
“before & afters shot between 1983 and present. an ongoing project documenting london borough of hackney in london uk.”
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Article on the BBC Creative Archive placement
http://www.interact.mmu.ac.uk/placements/profile.php?artist=21
From the Interact website, Manchester Metropolitan University.
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Vicki Bennett: Trying Things Out
A short film using imagery from BBC documentaries made between 1951 and 1980.