I was lucky enough to be invited on this wonderful trip as artist-in-residence.
Having met some Chelsea Pensioners collecting money for the charity in Canary Wharf station in January this year, I became captivated about the trip. I then pestered the charity, for several months, to let me come along. Eventually they gave in!
Before the trip, I sent the veterans a telegram asking them to bring along their photographs and stories. During the trip, I collected some of these photographs, recorded the veterans talking about their lives and, with the help of my friends and collaborators Matt and Pauline Bickerton, photographed all 160 veterans who came on the trip. I also filmed some of the events for a documentary and spent a lot of time talking to veterans in the back of a Black Cab.
Whenever I told anyone about this project, they all wanted to come! Unfortunately that wasn’t possible, so I created this blog where I uploaded images and updates, before, during and after the trip, so that more people could take part and hear about it. The blog is now followed by an eclectic collection of veterans, their children and grand-children, taxi drivers and their families, and people all over the world interested in the trip. I am now planning a series of responses to this unique experience.
JANET HODGSON
September 2012
