'Famous for the Wrong Reasons': Sal Idriss, knife, gun + violent crime and his photos of bereaved families still mourning + suffering

I was invited to a private viewing of Sal Idriss' photo exhibition this week - the 'Famous For The Wrong Reasons' exhibition, an anti-gun and knife crime project he started a couple of years ago or so.

Here he was killed...

It has involved creating photographic portraits and an exhibition of 27 London families who have lost their loved ones to gun or knife crime. It is hoped that if the project is a success in London it will go on to tour the UK and potentially abroad.

Work stuff made it difficult to attend that first night so I visited later.It's on the Mezzanine / first floor of Rich Mix.
'Famous For The Wrong Reasons' is a tribute to Sal's brother Nass (Nassirudeen), who died in 2007 as the result of an unprovoked knife attack in Islington, a few days before his 17th birthday.

Sal said: "Direct experience of this, the most pernicious of crimes, drew my attention to the many families throughout London who are dealing with the devastating loss of a loved one through knife or gun attacks.

"Since 2007 I have worked in more than 20 boroughs, with more than 20 families. Their personal stories are the impetus for the project. Individual portraits, many taken on location, show families not as names, numbers or headlines that disappear, but as people who are coping with loss, pain and immense sadness, every day. These families, like my own, have become Famous for the Wrong Reasons.

 

Exhibition area: Tower Hamlets

"My photographic exhibition, developed with young people across London’s boroughs, shows their raw emotions and portrays them with honesty and compassion.

"The project aims to educate and deter those vulnerable to or already involved with gun or knife crime by using the emotional power of photography to illustrate the dangers and risks of carrying guns and knives and to demonstrate what can happen to families on a personal level."

By putting real faces to the 'anonymous' names in the newspapers, Sal hopes to expose the true impacts of such crimes.

Another loved one slain...

The second aim is to provide a way for people across the community to talk about the causes of teenagers carrying guns or knives in their neighbourhoods, and to better understand the root causes often related to gangs, bullying and/or drugs.

Lastly, the project aims to shift young people's attitudes and deglamourise gun and knife crime.

Nearby: Bethnal Green tube station

'Famous For The Wrong Reasons' is at Rich Mix from 7 October 2010 to 7 November 2010. The Private View was from 6 – 8pm on Thursday, 7 October. Sal Idriss website is at www.sal-idriss.com.

 

Have you visited this anti-gun and knife crime exhibition? Was your family photographed? Were you involved in any of these knife crimes? Do let me know any of your thoughts, if you'd like to share them.

Knife crime campaigners: keep on pushing, don't be discouraged...

We have to wonder if efforts to curb knife crime are having much effect after latest knife crime statistics show four in 10 youth killings are from blades.


Having said that, I detect signs of hope that we may win this campaigning... we are fortunate in this country (UK) to have the lowest knife death rates in Europe (see Guardian story - Knife is most common weapon used in killings of young people)


So take heart... be encouraged... keep up the pressure... "keep on pushing, don't be discouraged"... anti-knife crime campaigners continue to unite - we can beat such a terrible scourge affecting this nation and countries around the world. Dream on and the shanking yobs and knife criminals we'll beat...


STOP PRESS: Offensive weapons crimes such as those involving knives have fallen to their lowest level for ten years, according to latest police statistics (I think they are Scottish stats). Still a long way to go but read more here - Knife crime at lowest level for a decade.

Killing of my brother, by Tom Cave - aged 9

Toying with the idea of using violence today? Using a knife or a gun? Think on young Tom's message...


"I was three when they stabbed him.

"Mam told me he had gone on a train to the sky.

"The 'kids' told me there was lots of blood everywhere...

"My mam tells me to 'share' my thoughts and i do. Now i am nine and i understand exactly what happened to my brother and i can deal with it because i shared my thoughts and questions with mam.

"I find it better to cope with now as even though i loved him i can hardly remember him so its easy for me to cope.

"I will never have another brother because they stole my future when they murdered my brother. Don't be like me - sad, lonely and angry and confused as to who i am because you would not like it at all.

"I am lucky i have life and love and my mam who's got lots of memories to keep my brother alive in my head - my heart is his.

"Please dont kill because you can live a good life because you too are loved by many."

         ... from: Tom Cave (aged 9).

Tom's mum, Theresa Cave, has become part of an impactful knife and gun crime programme called Point 7 which has been building steady support in the UK.

Theresa set up a proactive memorial group - the Chris Cave Foundation (on Facebook) - to remember her son, beaten and killed in a stabbing, as well as campaign against knife and other violent crime.

She describes the Point 7 programme, which she and Tom have been involved with, as "wonderfully impactful" and "very much in demand".

She said: "The presentation consists of films, true experiences, weaponry and their uses in the streets - and professionals such as the paramedics, youth offending teams and police come together to present what I would say is the most impactive, hard-hitting, lasting memory of the consequences that are to be had choosing a life of violent crime.

"Point 7 show the most serious and brutal of wounds to actual victims and even animals. Knife and guns are on show and debates take place between the young people present.

"True life stories and heart wrenching results are always to be had with this presentation given freely by this wonderfully expert team of professional people dedicated to the cause and to the youths of today."

Read Press coverage about the Point 7 anti-knife crime / anti-violence programme (the Sunday Sun)

The presentation is available to adult organisations and agencies accross the country and training is on offer to anyone wanting it. Toolkits are available (soon) and the workshops are in six parts.

For anyone wishing to know more about this anti-knife crime, anti-gun, anti violence programme, please call 01642 498451 or 07981 991482 for more information.