Nummianus
Klenz, Steffi (2008) Nummianus. [Photography]
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My work has continuously explored issues of place and the built environment. Nummianus focuses on the Greater Manchester area and displays entire estates of empty, boarded-up terraced houses. The economic downturn and an exodus of residents have resulted in extreme devaluation: unable to sell their homes, some inhabitants are forced to remain in this area in a downward spiral of social exclusion.
The series raises issues of displacement and the collapse of a community. Background research included studying social and architectural history, liaising with local councils and following housing debates. Photographic research involved experimentation with over-exposure, exploration of special tones produced in hand-based colour-printing, and development experiments to achieve the required red tone. In total the project took two years: the photographing took nine months, since particular weather conditions and empty streets were key to the images.
The series consists of large hand-printed colour photographs that present the particular street through the juxtaposition of individual images: each house is individually photographed and framed. Nummianus is intended as a contemporary frieze, following a format used by the Romans and Greeks, displaying narrative as a sequence.
The photos highlight the houses' red-coloured façades, referencing Pompeii-red, the colour signalling wealth found on the walls of the excavated city. Nummianus refers to the name of a trader inscribed on a Pompeii house: it derives from the word 'nummus' which means money or coin. The series comments on the area's former wealth, diversity and livelihood through the reference to Pompeii, while suggesting both the fragility and resilience of life.
As a result of Nummianus I was awarded the 2008 German New Talent Award for the most promising young photographic artist.
Nummianus will be included in the forthcoming book Art and Home: Comfort, Alienation and the Everyday by Imogen Racz (IB Tauris, 2014).
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