This is a really interesting soundslides that flags up the limitations of the medium. Its been produced by Alex Massey, a British based photographer, who spent 3 months hanging out with squatters living in million dollar houses in London.¬† Journalistically the idea is fascinating and Alex produces some interesting images. The piece is a million miles away from Trainspotting squalor and challenges stereotypes of squatters … they are presented here as an industrious and ingenious bunch. Where the soundslide lets itself down is its length … at eight minutes for me it just doesn’t sustain; particularly as some images are repeated (no shame Alex my old editor at the BBC used to say the same about some of my radio programmes!). At¬† four minutes Alex would have a peach but as we all know so much of the art is in the editing.
How long are we prepared to watch on the web?¬† Its a bit of a daft question as the variables upon which an answer can be based are almost infinite.¬† Your average Joe though is unlikely to go beyond three minutes unless its something of specific interest to them. That said your average Joe is unlikely to go beyond fifteen seconds unless you hook them in and if either the audio or photos are crap well just forget it.¬† On the whole its the audio that lets these things down.¬† A lot of audio slideshows slide into artistic pretense … all very Beckett, but Beckett was a one off and in his case imitation is seldom flattering. For me an artistic aesthetic rarely makes up for a lack of narrative.¬†¬† Its the story that counts.¬† It’s the way that you tell em …
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