Hebe Robinson

Hebe Robinson  has created a very haunting series of works called echos where she has grafted historic photographs onto her own. placing people back into the landscapes from which they were moved in the late 1940's early 1950's. I found these images deeply moving, they reminded me of the clearences in Scotland and other such enforced, socially constructed migrations of people.

"Around 1950, families in small and remote fishing villages in Lofoten, Northern Norway, were offered a lump sum from the government to leave their homes and relocate at more central places. They also committed to never return and resettle. This was part of the government plan to centralise and modernise the nation after the second world war. Communities that had survived for centuries in a hostile environment on the boarder o between the steep mountains and rough sea, totally isolated during the winter months, collectively decided to leave. Neighbours and friends through the generations packed all their belongings and left their homes and each other. The villages were abandoned within months. Due to a shortage of building material, they dismantled their houses and brought their homes with them as well, leaving only the foundations.The traditional self sufficient way of life were lost and a part of the coastal culture with it. In this photographic project. I am bringing families and their lives back to the villages they once lived. Historic photographs from these places are returned to where they were taken, linking past and present together. The project is about the passing of time, history, destiny, maturity and changes in society. Pictures and their histories are from the descendants of those people in the pictures." Hebe Robinson