Right now, so many Brits are either obsessing over making a Christmas feast, contributing to a Christmas feast or going to one in a couple of weeks. Some are worrying about the cost. But an overlooked group in the UK – homeless, elderly, lonely and vulnerable people (an estimated hundreds of thousands) – are worrying about getting anything to eat at all. Their “Christmas feast” won’t look anything like the average Brit’s. It won’t be lavish. Most likely, it won’t even be nutritious.
Wonderhood Studios has shot some of the make-shift meals homeless people eat last Christmas. Each still-life photo centres on a plate that replicates the make-shift meals that conversations with regulars at The Soup Kitchen London revealed. The Christmas meal of Kamga, aged 42, was ketchup pasta, cooked in a hostel kitchen using long-life food donations. Paul, 56, who spent Christmas Day lying in hospital with a punctured lung, due to street violence, and could only eat ice cream. Wassa, 56, had cold baked beans, opened by a supermarket assistant and eaten cold with a supermarket wooden fork. Matt’s Christmas dinner was a mince pie washed down with a can of lager.
The work, created by Tad Buxton and India Penny of Wonderhood Studios, aims to remind viewers that the Christmas dinners they see in advertising are not a reality for many in Britain.
The campaign was shot by food photographer, Lizzie Mayson and has launched in the run-up to the Soup Kitchen’s annual Christmas meal event, which takes place on December 16. At the event, meals are provided for over 300 vulnerable people in London, along with presents and entertainment.
The photo series is hosted online at homelesschristmasdinners.com, where visitors can donate a proper meal this Christmas for £5. Three hero shots are launching as press ads this week, featuring in the Guardian food supplement Feast, You magazine, and the Telegraph.
“We wanted to create emotive images that contrast with the extravagant food imagery usually associated with Christmas,” stated Tad Buxton and India Penny,. “At a time when ads and the media are showing idealised tables of food, with imagery of families sitting around to eat, it felt right to remind people that this isn’t the reality for the 271,000 people experiencing homelessness.”
Credits
Creative Agency: Wonderhood Studios
Creative Team: Tad Buxton & India Penny
Creative Directors: Jack Croft & Stacey Bird
Senior Producer: Hannah King
Senior Designer: Ayano Takase
Head of Art And Design: Simon Elvins
Senior Data Planner: Alex Koskull
Head of Planning: Nick Exford
Account Manager: Sophie Lewis
Photographer: Lizzie Mayson
Food Stylist: Flossy McAslan
Props Stylist: Charlotte Horwood
PR Agency: Mischief
PR Team: Kitt Smith, Amy Hutson, Annie Knight & Isabelle Moore
Media Agency: Bountiful Cow
