“Hands on Knees” showcases a collective participation with a photographer that questions the daily relationship that we have with others living in an urban environment. It has, at its heart the communal effort of strangers who become, for a moment, part of a group in an otherwise alienating society.



The series attempts to redress the balance of a society where the ‘computerisation of social function gradually reduces the relational space in peoples lives’ (Bourriaud, 1998. P17). As Robert Putnam expresses, life in modern times has for the most part been transformed from a communal existence into one dominated by individual activity. The very act of ‘performing’ for a group portrait whereby individuals are brought together in a real, collective and interactive situation, is rare (Putnam, 2000).



The assembly aspect of the photograph is key in bringing the participants together and creating a group dynamic. The making of the photograph creates a performance where the participants have been cast from their everyday canvases to have their photograph taken together.