Health Home Hope – a photographic exhibition on housing instability and health

All images featured in this story are from Health Home Hope – a photographic exhibition on housing instability and health, and are used with permission.

How does it feel to have no home? What does it look like from ‘outside the inside’? And how do people cope?

With considerable suffering is how – but with glimmers of hope and gleams of ingenuity too.

Engage with how housing instability impacts health and wellbeing, from the point of view of those actually living it in Brisbane, at Health Home Hope – a photographic exhibition on housing instability and health, on display at UQ St Lucia Open Day, Sunday 6, until 11 August 2023.

This powerful exhibition – the product of UQ-led research on housing instability in partnership with Brisbane-based not-for-profit community service provider Micah Projects – provides a unique perspective on the actions people take to care for themselves and others in the same situation – according to Dr Stefanie Plage, a research fellow from the Life Course Centre in the School of Social Science.

“The notion we hear is that health is not a priority with people experiencing homelessness, or that they don’t care enough about their health to actually do things,” Dr Plage said.

“What we wanted to do with this exhibition is show how people [do] care for themselves and how they look after other people, despite the challenges that they face.”

*The making of my first, only cast, because a man broke my hand.*

*The making of my first, only cast, because a man broke my hand.*

And show us they certainly do, with intimate portrayals such as an arm being plastered ‘because a man broke my hand’, a trolley containing ‘all my blankets and my duvet things and pillow’, and setting up for a day of magazine-selling being revealed.

Brick cage showing storage of sleeping gear.

See that trolley there? It had all my blankets and my duvet things and pillow and, yeah, that was really good.

Morning set-up

So, how did the project come about and what was its purpose?

“More than a year in the making, there were different stages,” Dr Plage said.

“At the first instance, we had an interview and lots of people were happy to talk about what their lives are like. Then, we invited people individually to take photographs of their living situations, and some were very enthusiastic about it and others were challenged by the notion of this large commitment.

“So, we were really very specific to allow people to have fun with it – it wasn’t supposed to be a chore or become stressful for them, given everything else that's going on. Those people who committed and who contributed photographs were there because they wanted to and because they had something to say and wanted other people to hear it.

“We gave them a digital camera with the instruction, ‘Tell the story of what health looks and feels like, and what it means to you’.

“We then collated the images, and after discussions with the creators, added captions that captured the essence of what the pictures were about for them.

“Ultimately, it was a way for people to engage in dialogue with those parts of society that make decisions about them on a daily basis.”

Morning set-up

It also offers a way to help the media and other organisations to better represent homelessness rather than the stereotypical person on a bench or sleeping rough.

And it gave participants an opportunity to share with others what it’s like to have concerns and worries about health and the future while finding themselves living in crisis accommodation or permanent supportive housing, struggling to sustain a tenancy in social housing after long-term street homelessness, or looking for their next place to stay after escaping domestic violence or losing a tenancy.

“The reaction from community stakeholders was interesting,” Dr Plage said.

“Some sought me out and told me that ‘I liked this particular photograph’, or that ‘I’ve been feeling really burnt out from work over the last weeks and months and I needed this reminder that these are people and they have lives, they have desires, and they feel and care’.

“That was what we were aiming for.”

Landscaping the homeless

And the glimmers of hope and gleams of ingenuity?

Looking at the photographs, they are raw, no filters, and may spark concern in those viewing them. But on the flipside, the key message is one of care, and the single biggest factor for people who experience housing instability is that it prevents them from looking after themselves.

Dr Plage spoke about 2 of her personal favourites.

“There’s a story around his picture of a table with food on it,” she said.

“And it's another one of my favourite pictures, because it shows this abundance of food, but at the same time, the occasion for when the picture was taken is after an occurrence of violence.

“So, this person was experiencing violence from an ex-partner, and she went to that other woman to warn her, whom she didn't know, and she was invited in. They were sitting there for hours and hours and hours and shared a meal. And they were just talking.

“It's a really unfortunate scenario, but what came of it was that they related to each other and provided instantaneous support and solidarity.”

*A celebration of a new friendship. I wanted to warn her of a violent ex-partner. We spent 16 hours talking.*

*A celebration of a new friendship. I wanted to warn her of a violent ex-partner. We spent 16 hours talking.*

And even though she has seen these images many times now, Dr Plage still gets quite emotional.

“I think the most powerful for me is probably the one of the broken mirror.”

“We made sure that this is the last one because this is an image of a participant in the housing unit that she was allocated.

“The mirror broke and, instead of throwing it out, she rearranged it into heart-shaped fragments.

“When we talked about it, for her it was such a powerful story about loss and how you can't restore the past, but you can do something. You can move forward and you can have hope for the future.

“So, I made sure that this is the last photo in the exhibition so people can leave, not with despair, but with a stimulus and impetus to do something.”

Broken mirror in shape of a heart on tiled wall

Broken heart and family: My heart’s been shattered. Things can be fixed with support and with love and with care. Anything can be fixed.

Check out the exhibition at the level 2 foyer of the Michie building, Building (9) at UQ Open Day St Lucia: Sunday 6 August 2023, from 9am. The exhibition will be on display until Friday 11 August.

Exhibition curators: Dr Stefanie Plage, Robert Perrier, Dr Andrea Bubenik, Kirsten Baker, Dr Ella Kuskoff, Professor Cameron Parsell and Dr Rose-Marie Stambe; contributors: Ash, Drunk Koala, Ed, Elke, Jessie Morwood, Jeremy, John, Karen, Kenny, Lenny, Robert and Zac; and supporters: Australian Research Council through the Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course, and Micah Projects.