Launch: 25 September / 6pm–8pm / Open Eye Gallery / RSVP Firehawks is a project by Stephen King. It is the first of its kind and the culmination of years of research, beginning with a collaboration with Open Eye Gallery in 2021, where Stephen explored his own experience of firesetting.
The root of the exhibition’s title links to the phenomenon of the Firehawk, an Australian bird who creates bushfires by dropping already burning sticks in an attempt to direct prey fleeing an original blaze. They actively transform their landscapes to ensure their nourishment in times of drought and trauma. The project explores the correlation of the act of the Firehawk bird with people who set fires.
Rarely spoken about, the term ‘firesetting behaviour’ is not widely known or understood. In England, tens of thousands of deliberate fires are recorded each year. Often regarded as arson or acts of vandalism, many are started by children. Firehawks seeks to raise awareness of firesetting through a visual demonstration of why individuals are drawn to this element as a silent language of survival, often due to a traumatic experience or environment that is challenging to speak about. It will also shine a light on the people and services who help to understand and overcome the complexities that can be indicated by firesetting behaviour.
Featuring 20 images, displayed in a narrative of three phases; destruction, communication and renewal; Firehawks is the culmination of years of work for Stephen, who himself has lived experience of firesetting as a child. After collaborating with London Fire Brigade Firesetting Intervention Scheme, Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service as well as numerous conversations and workshops with individuals with lived experience, he has developed an exhibition of work borne out of his innate ability to listen and respond to people’s experiences and sensitively transpose their accounts into visual, metaphorical depictions.
Stephen King said: “This exhibition is the result of several years of work, but ultimately a lifetime of trying to understand and heal from my own experiences of firesetting as a young person. I’ve worked with so many people associated with firesetting – young people who have set fires, adults who used to and those who work to understand, intervene and care for them. Their ability to talk, share and allow me to portray their experiences through my photography, has been incredibly humbling.
“The visual language of photography can break barriers and destigmatise what is an incredibly sensitive subject, and the culmination of this project will hopefully bring a positive platform to those who are working through their trauma, who have overcome it, and show audiences that the work of frontline services is much more beyond ‘putting out fires’.”
Beginning as an Arts Council-funded research project in 2021, Stephen and the exhibition’s producer Angharad Williams, have worked closely with Open Eye Gallery’s social practice team and leading specialist in the field of child firesetting behaviour, Joanna Foster, to develop a larger scale project, looking at firesetting, its triggers, impacts and personal stories.
Joanna Foster, who is author of the book ‘Children and Teenagers Who Set Fires: Why they do it and how to help’ said: “The significant maltreatment in the formative years of many children and teenagers who set fires is well evidenced. Such relational and attachment trauma can lead to complex survival responses and often crippling coping mechanisms, which can include acting out in the form of setting fires. These fires can help regulate intense and overwhelming emotions, draw attention to an otherwise invisible child, or give voice to words and feelings that are too difficult to speak.”
The photographic series shown in the exhibition does not seek to diagnose or define. Instead, it invites the viewer to sit within the tension of the fire, connecting with the issue of firesetting through images of anonymised people and situations, portrayed with a filmic and dreamlike quality. A black dog walks among scorched trees, carrying stories in its teeth; dolls burn on a mattress floating on reflective water; a fire service training dummy supports a young boy on the edge of a precipice; new life starts to grow in a community orchard – a site which holds firesetting memories for the photographer himself.
Stephen continues: “The images don’t depict fairy tales, though they borrow their familiar shapes. I wanted to be sure that fire was ever present in the exhibition, encapsulating the flickering, crackle, and smoulder of the element at the core of the stories. In circumstances of firesetting, flames become a language, a companion, a compulsion, a release. The work gathers fragments; stories from children, adults talking of their younger selves, voices from those who work in fire and rescue services, memories that smoulder long after the event. It is not a study, but a visual reckoning — born from experience, shaped by dialogue, held in a shared, collective space. I hope it makes those who have been through trauma feel less alone and less stigmatised.”
Elizabeth Wewiora, head of social practice at Open Eye Gallery said: “It is so exciting to see the Firehawks project become a reality this year within our galleries, as we’ve been discussing the project with Stephen for more than five years. Like most good, socially engaged projects however, this shouldn’t seem a surprise, as working collaboratively with communities to shape and visualise stories which are important to them takes time. And Firehawks is a very particular story, which needs to be explored with care and sensitivity; something we hold real value in at Open Eye Gallery.
“Stephen’s approach considers the anonymity of all involved whilst still opening up a visual conversation for our audiences as it explores why people can be drawn to fire during traumatic experiences in their lives, and moreover how wider society and our frontline services respond and deal with this. Stephen’s photographic work leans into the metaphorical and surreal which is also a welcome alternative approach to socially engaged photographic imagery, which can tend to sit more within a documentary style. We can’t wait to see the work come together in the gallery this September.”
As part of the partnership with Open Eye Gallery, Stephen has also been working with students and graduates from Open Eye Gallery’s joint MA in socially engaged photography at the University of Salford. 2023 Graduate Rachel Beeson was assisting Stephen on the photo shoots across the fire service sites, whilst fellow graduates from last year’s cohort Anna Wijnhoven, Eleni Karypidou and Isabel Walker are exhibiting their own work in the upstairs Gallery 3 space (Next Up).
The project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Image: Stephen King
