Anthony Luvera is changing perceptions of those experiencing homelessness through assisted self-portraits

When Anthony Luvera was growing up in Western Australia, one of his uncles, who was working as a private investigator, gifted him an SLR film camera and a few lenses. Then, soon after, a teacher at school gave him an enlarger and developing trays, and he and his best friend began advertising darkroom photography workshops in the local newspaper. Some years later, he went to university to study English literature and became immersed in a photomedia module, taught by Australian photographers Max Pam and Kevin Ballantine, where he was introduced to the social documentary works of Diane Arbus and Jim Goldberg. “The class with Max and Kevin was a lightbulb moment for me,” the photographer tells us, encouraging him to not only change his degree but his perspective on the art form.

After leaving university, Anthony worked in fashion photography and portraiture, and found great joy in the collaborative work between the photographer, stylist, hair and makeup artists, models and art director. And in 1999, he moved from Perth to London, and the real shift in his work began. The photographer began working specifically with people experiencing homelessness, and was even invited by Crisis to photograph at a shelter event over the Christmas period. “I declined the invitation, saying I’d prefer to see what the people I met would photograph,” he tells us. After going back to the charity the following Christmas, he began volunteering, setting up weekly workshops where he taught participants how to photograph and facilitate their own image-making process.

Anthony began working on Construct in 2018 and finished the photographs in 2022. The book encompasses assisted self-portraits by people experiencing homelessness, and was commissioned by arts organisation Grain Projects and Birmingham homelessness charity Sifa Fireside. When approaching assisted self-portraits, Anthony often spends long periods of time building relationships with the staff and clients before meeting with participants and offering them single-use cameras to document their experiences and interests. “And then I invite participants to take me to locations that are significant to them,” he tells us. Throughout the series, they work together to position the camera and work out composition, and participants hold a remote that triggers the shutter in their timing, before asking them which photographs they’d like to select for the exhibition and publication. This creates a series of self-portraits that mirror their sense of style and individuality – a narrative that is often omitted in narratives about the homeless experience.

“What’s most exciting but also unnerving, is that the final outcome of what you’re making is totally out of your control,” Anthony tells us. As health, housing and other significant life issues tend to take priority for many of the participants, Anthony stresses the importance of being as clear as possible about what he is asking of them. “Being flexible and patient, and willing to put the equipment down at any point for any length of time, is key,” he adds.

Currently working with families experiencing homelessness in Oldham, Greater Manchester, Anthony’s practice continues to develop and expand the realm of socially engaged arts. And after such a long-term project that has seen ebbs and flows, such as navigating working remote collaborations during the pandemic and the end of a successful kickstarter, the photographer is simply glad that Construct can now be in our hands. Social documentary has oftentimes been accepted as a process solely for the photographer as they impose perspective on the vulnerable, or on the other hand, pinned as something with results too vulnerable to share. But, Anthony shows us the power of assisting the subjects on their journey, and the result is truly unforgettable.

Construct is published by Grain Projects, and available to purchase here. The proceeds for the book will be donated to Sifa Fireside.