First Hundred Days

A conversation and portrait with one person each day for the first hundred days of Boris Johnson's Conservative government. Asking the question, "What are you hoping for?” I’ve wanted for a while now to find some way of engaging photographically with the upheaval we’ve faced in UK politics. The rise in populism, the polarisation of debate and the sheer shouty-ness of it all has become a new normal which should not be normal. So as the election was underway last year the thought germinated to match the first hundred days promise of Boris Johnson and work within that as a boundary. But rather than the photography become a document of negativity, and so not really add anything helpful, the idea grew to talk to people about hope; What are you actually hoping for? What are you struggling with? Are your cares really what we're being told they are? And are we all more similar than the clamour would have us believe? So since the election I've been talking to a different person each day, wherever I am, asking the same question, 'What are you hoping for?' Recording their responses and making a quick portrait on a compact camera. The project is called First Hundred Days and to see more of it as it develops you can find it here: www.adam-shaw.co.uk/first-hundred-days