Have the Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars ever struck you as victims? No, we didn’t think so.
But seeing them in Brendan Fitzpatrick’s Anonymous Aliens project about the dehumanisation of transient workers might make you think again.
By taking cultural icons that we associate, en masse, with impenetrable force and giving them a mop to clean the bathroom floor, the artist has created pretty effective images.
Rendered powerless and anonymous, the Stormtroopers reflect what Fitzpatrick sees as the plight of the transient workers in Singapore, where he lives.
“Indentured workers from impoverished nations are the engine of our global consumer economy. Without a voice in the societies they help to build and maintain they are disempowered and ruthlessly exploited.
“To broach a difficult and uncomfortable subject in an inviting and entertaining way that invites further consideration without being strident,” he told HuffPost UK Culture.
Fitzpatrick has been a photographer for the past 20 years. He hopes to raise money through sales to support charities working with transient workers in Singapore and to fund further projects to document the situation on a global scale.
For more information visit his site and to see more from the series, check out the gallery below.