Drawing on traditions of group portraiture at public street parties, Melanie Manchot’s new work explores individual and collective identity through photography and film.
For this commission, Manchot has worked with residents of Cyprus Street, east London, to hold a street party and make a new film. She documents this event with a single tracking shot, capturing residents as they gather in front of the camera. The film bridges still and moving image, to look at the process of forming and dissolving a group portrait. It asks questions about what it means to form a community: both through the collaboration between residents and artist for the party, and in the relationships captured on film among the participants.
