Begun in 1901, the Mummer’s Parade is an annual parade where local clubs compete in different music and costume categories in the Pennsport neighbourhood of Philadelphia, U.S.A.. Criticism arose over Mummers wearing a ‘blackface’ while performing, during the civil rights movement. Despite a ban in 1964, the practice has continue as recently as 2017.
Dave Heath (1931-2016) grew up in an orphanage and a series of foster homes in Philadelphia and discovered photography as a teenager. After serving as a machine gunner in the early 1950s during the Korean war, he eventually settled in New York City in 1955 and by the early 1960s had exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, amongst other places. In 1970 he moved to Toronto, Canada tp tale pm a teaching post, and continued to photograph and exhibit. A retrospective of his work toured the U.S.A. in 2015.
This work was displayed on the Eranda Studio Foor in conjunction with the exhibition Dave Heath: Dialogues with Solitudes, originated at Le Bal, Paris, and shown in the Wolfson Gallery at The Photographers’ Gallery. It featured as part of the Touchstone programme (2012-2020).
Each display consisted of a single photographic work on the Eranda studio floor where visitors were invited to respond to the question 'What do you see?' using the cards and pencils provided. A bench was placed in front of the work, encouraging people to spend a little longer than they might usually. The programme was part of a wider series of projects and activities related to visual literacy.
A selection of audience responses to the question 'What do you see?'
