THE ROOTLESS
BRITTA LARSEN | AGE 52
Britta Larsen grew up with five siblings in a working-class home in Fredriksberg in Copenhagen. The family was happy despite living under difficult conditions, but there was never any peace to do homework and enjoy some quiet time alone. Britta therefore got a position in the house when she was 15 and afterwards, she worked at the Heidelberg vinegar factory and later as a casual labourer.
She had a son when she was 21. The father was not of much help and moved, but she managed. In 1999, she was out of work and went on social security and could not pay her bank loans or for her flat.
Britta has lived on the street for the last five years.
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The Rootless
‘The Rootless’ is a project about homeless people in Denmark, which is intended to further understanding of the situation of the homeless by focusing on their lives and living conditions through a photo exhibition and the nationwide publishing of a book.
‘The Rootless’ are a group of 30 people who has somehow been pushed out of society either by or without conscious choice and who need more help than that which is provided by the efforts of our society. A large part of the problem is the fact that we do not look the people we are supposed to help in the eye.
Most of us would rather not face the reality we are confronted by through these people. Most of us fail to grasp the relations that take place in the streets and that makes it challenging for us to understand the homeless rather than turning our backs on them. This project tries to diminish the distance between us and homeless people by giving them facial features and telling their stories.
‘The Rootless’ was exhibited in 2010 as an outdoor exhibition in 6 larger cities in Denmark and had its Inaugural exhibition at the art festival Lys over Lolland (Light Over Lolland) same year.
