Election artist ‘honoured’ to record ‘key moments’

A photographer selected to be the official Election Artist for 2024 has said she feels “honoured” to have been asked to record “those key moments in time”.

Joanne Coates, who lives on the border of North Yorkshire and County Durham, has been commissioned to follow politicians on the campaign trail in the run-up to 4 July and produce a piece of art for the Parliamentary Art Collection.

Describing herself as both a “working class visual artist” and “farm worker” she said she hoped to capture “the hidden moments that people don’t see”.

She was selected after an interview process earlier this year and only found out she had got the job the week after the election was called.

Speaking at the time she said: “The arts are a vital part of telling the stories behind key moments and the lives of local people, so I’m thrilled to be appointed as the Election Artist 2024.

“I aim to cover the election over 30 days, travelling across the UK, attending speeches, marches, key fringe campaign events and rural canvassing along the election trail to produce artwork that will focus on portraiture, key details of place and hints of election paraphernalia.”

As part of the commission she said she must remain “politically unbiased” and “geographically balanced”.

Ms Coates said: “I’m looking for those hidden moments that people don’t see.

“I’ve made a pink ballot box that I take everywhere I go and, when I’m not taking pictures, I ask people questions like ‘what does democracy mean to them’ and ‘why is voting important’.”

One of the most interesting aspects of the project, she said, was seeing how different constituencies are across the UK.

“I was in Orkney and Shetland where the candidates have to canvass in the outer islands – where there are no polling booths.

“Votes are collected by boat – and postal votes are really important there, obviously”, she said.

Seeing candidates as “just normal folk” has been eye-opening too, she said, while adding her “trick” to capturing the election was her “quiet and gentle” style.

“I’m not intrusive and I think that lends itself to people acting naturally,” she said.