MA PHOTOGRAPHY GRADUATE SHOW 2019
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Mandisa BAPTISTE
Andrew BARROW
Philip SINGLETON
Charlotte EADES-WILLIS
Jo SUTHERST
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Sarah NEWTON
Gemma WILLIS
Deep Water is the first ever Falmouth Flexible MA Photography graduate show. From 21 June to 2 July 2019, 26 photographers who have graduated from the online masters degree will have their work on display at theprintspace gallery in London. The show aims to ‘Celebrate the diversity of these personal projects and the power of photography to conquer our fear of Deep Water and discover new narratives in Deep Water.’ Here, we profile a selection of the participating graduates…
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Mandisa BAPTISTE Andrew BARROW Charlotte EADES-WILLIS Sarah NEWTON Philip SINGLETON Jo SUTHERST Gemma WILLIS
Tell us about yourself and your background in photography.
collage’s visual engagement and critically-informed context.
I was born and raised in Georgetown, Guyana. I grew up during Guyana’s transition from a former British colony to becoming a developing, young Republic founded on Marxist ideology. Those years were tough times. I often found solace in “reading” the many family albums my mother kept in her room. They were sacred, museum artefacts, neatly displayed and labelled, stamped and dated. I was taught very early how to handle images. My mother had a private studio where I spent much of my early adolescence experimenting in her darkroom. At the time, I didn’t think I was learning or collecting information. It was just fun – it made me happy to discover a part of life reflected onto a piece of paper.
My Final Major Project highlights the female struggle for identity, civil rights, equality, and freedom of mind and body. It’s an autoethnographic project. Selecting this personalised methodological approach suited the collage method as a tool to amalgamate art, history and activism. The project references ancient societies, comparing and contrasting the past with the present.
Photography was always part of my heritage – there was always a camera a metre away. I set up my first private studio in Macedonia in 2007. By then, I had completely abandoned analogue cameras – digital became my mainstay. Interestingly, a few years later, I enrolled in a professional photography programme only to discover that I was at a very advanced stage. Sometimes, we underestimate our knowledge when we’re self-taught.
How has Falmouth Flexible’s MA Photography helped you develop your photography practice?
It is a juxtaposition of analysed events, lived experiences and artefacts that are layered on solid blocks of painted canvas where colour is another layer of context. Visually, its minimalism highlights marginalised narratives. I believe that social issues will always drive my work.
Unfortunately and fortunately, that confidence was shattered after my initial feedback. In retrospect, I had placed priority on technique at the expense of solid contextualisation. Learning to balance this was not easy. My instinct to simply capture was stanchly automated, brought on by years of doing it my way without intervention or critical feedback from any audience. It was hard to shed that skin. Today, I believe I am at a significant advantage, having the depth of critical thinking and context to complement my depth of technical experience and performance. The programme has exposed me to a diverse range of contemporary practitioners who have informed and strengthened my practice through sound methodology and methods. What are your professional goals for the future?
As a self-taught photographer, my learning was primarily focussed on the scientific aspect of photography – how to work in challenging weather conditions, how light is reflected, refracted or absorbed when it encounters an object, how clothing and makeup can affect skin tones under different light sources, and so on.
I envision owning an environmentally-friendly art gallery. I see myself curating images and art. Since graduating, I have completed several curating courses. It’s definitely something in my future.
However, this technical and practical experience didn’t develop overnight; they spanned decades of experimenting. So there was a certain level of confidence and comfort I had entering the MA Photography programme at Falmouth Flexible.
Website: www.mandisabaptiste.com
Where can we see more of your work?
How would you describe your photography practice?
Today, my photography practice is focussed on social issues. I experiment with different processes. Recently, I developed a new technique in the field of collage, employing the traditional cut and paste into a more refined and minimalistic form while retaining the
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Instagram: @mandisa_baptiste
Mandisa BAPTISTE
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Mandisa BAPTISTE Andrew BARROW Charlotte EADES-WILLIS Sarah NEWTON Philip SINGLETON Jo SUTHERST Gemma WILLIS
Tell us about yourself and your background in photography.
My background is in the wine trade. For many years, I wrote about wine for my own website and for others, covering tasting notes, food and wine-matching, vineyard visits and wine-related travel. Imagery became increasingly important, and hence my interest in photography developed. How would you describe your photography practice?
There are 2 angles to my current practice – the commercial, studio-based work with the cocktail.collection, and the more conceptional, project-based work, which includes the Wine Doors of Florence collection (my Final Major Project) and several forthcoming bodies of work.
artists and photographers from the 1920s to 40s, and my fascination with abstract photography. With a camera to my eye, I feel I ‘see’ differently than before, and, perhaps obviously, appreciate light – natural and artificial – in all its glory. The wide gamut of styles and practices of my course peers was also stimulating and totally fascinating. What are your professional goals for the future?
I’m actively exploring options for an exhibition of Wine Doors of Florence. There are several new projects I’m currently developing or planning. Two will look at a hidden aspect of an urban environment, another is a more conceptual visualisation of an idea. A third collaborative project is also planned for the New Year. But I’d ideally like to explore options for a curatorial role in a gallery or museum setting. Where can we see more of your work?
How has Falmouth Flexible’s MA Photography helped you develop your photography practice?
Exploring historical and contemporary photographers, their styles and practices, was a great revelation for me. I hadn’t expected such research would be so enjoyable and enlightening. It certainly led to my enhanced appreciation of art in general, my love of the different schools of
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Website: andrewbarrow.co.uk Instagram: @wine_scribbler @cocktail.collection
Andrew BARROW
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Mandisa BAPTISTE Andrew BARROW Charlotte EADES-WILLIS Sarah NEWTON Philip SINGLETON Jo SUTHERST Gemma WILLIS
Tell us about yourself and your background in photography.
Before enrolling in the Falmouth MA programme, I had completed 2 undergraduate study programmes in photography and lens-based photo media with Lincoln University. I then had a break from education before returning to study with this Falmouth programme. I have been taking photographs since I was about 6 years old, and specialised with an ND in photography after leaving school. Photography is my main passion.
across a wide range of genres, as it helps to continually see your preferred genres in a new light, and increase experimentation. How has Falmouth Flexible’s MA Photography helped you develop your photography practice?
It has helped me to focus on my photographic and research skills, and broadened the base of my work. It has opened my eyes to looking inward for photographic inspiration.
How would you describe your photography practice?
What are your professional goals for the future?
My favourite subjects to photograph are ones from the natural world. Recently, for my Final Major Project, I was photographing the commercial environment, to show how it can be distressing for a person with Autism. I like to keep my photographic practice varied, as I believe it is challenging, and good for my ongoing photographic development. I tend to stay away from portraiture, but there isn’t a subject I won’t tackle. I believe in practicing
I would one day love to get my fellowship with the Royal Photographic Society (RPS). My main goals at the moment are to keep getting my works publicised.
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Where can we see more of your work?
Website: coolcapturephotography.co.uk
Charlotte EADES-WILLIS
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Mandisa BAPTISTE Andrew BARROW Charlotte EADES-WILLIS Sarah NEWTON Philip SINGLETON Jo SUTHERST Gemma WILLIS
Tell us about yourself and your background in photography.
How has Falmouth Flexible’s MA Photography helped you develop your photography practice?
brought both together – being concerned with the impact of man’s activities on our natural environment.
Coming from a career in Clinical Psychology and Clinical Neuropsychology, I was apprehensive about starting a degree in photography, diving straight in at MA level! From recording meaningful events, places and people to reflecting my innermost thoughts, feelings, instincts and impulses, photography is a medium through which I can express myself. Drawing on my academic and clinical background, photography gives me a voice and opportunity to research, understand, experiment, narrate and communicate in a way that evokes and stimulates sensory experiences for myself and others.
The course has been challenging and a huge commitment, but the gains have surpassed my initial expectations.
My Final Major Project, Out-Sight-In, with its 2 series, Dark Matter and Event Horizons, is continuing to generate interest, and I feel that I have only just begun with them. While I am one of many presenting images of our waste, I am one of few who has used flatbed scanning to do so for Dark Matter. I may also be unique in producing images of recycling facilities (Event Horizons), some of which appear in abstract form as other worlds.
It has helped me in broadening and deepening my knowledge, understanding and ability to critically appraise photographic imagery. It has allowed me to draw on and apply my innate and learned abilities and skills acquired during my early life and career. The course has also encouraged me to experiment and go beyond my selfperceived limits of what I could and should be doing in making images.
How would you describe your photography practice?
I am not sure that I fit into one style or genre of photography – it feels constraining to think of myself this way. When I think about my approach in recording our natural environment (landscape and nature) before my recent course, and what I have been doing more recently, I think documentary (almost becoming archaeology of the Anthropocene period!), with contemporary and visual art twists, could apply to my work. I move between accurate factual recordings to abstracted presentations. Both approaches have successfully drawn in viewers to interrogate, puzzle over and discover the underlying narrative intentions.
Drawing on my learnings and the diverse pool of experience embodied in my tutors and fellow students, and working my way through the modules to the Final Major Project, I feel I have made a significant shift from ‘hobbyist’ to ‘professional’ photographer. What are your professional goals for the future?
My interests are varied, and I can be photographing wildlife one day and architectural structures another. There is plenty of scope for improvement with both, and I look out for opportunities to learn from others more experienced than myself. In a way, my MA project has
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Where can we see more of your work?
Websites: sarah-newton-77zw.squarespace.com/beauty-and-thebeach sarahnewtonphotoblog.wordpress.com Instagram: @sarahnewtonphotography
Sarah NEWTON
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Mandisa BAPTISTE Andrew BARROW Charlotte EADES-WILLIS Sarah NEWTON Philip SINGLETON Jo SUTHERST Gemma WILLIS
Tell us about yourself and your background in photography.
I am an architect, photographer and manager – so I use opportunities in my work to explore and create imagery. I am a recent member of the RPS, and have successfully sold limited edition versions of my work. My focus now is on sculptural themes.
What are your professional goals for the future?
I am now embodying archive imagery and artefacts into resin casts alongside my concrete work. I enjoy exploring the counterpoint of surface and depth via the 2 media. Each have a tangible form, and are a deliberate departure from the glass-framed tradition. Where can we see more of your work?
How would you describe your photography practice?
I am fascinated by the interstitial; the pause in the life of spaces, the humanity is present but not visible via detritus and traces. Photography is thus seen as implicit as a counterpoint to the common misconception that it is explicit. How has Falmouth Flexible’s MA Photography helped you develop your photography practice?
I embarked on the MA with only an amateur view of the image world. The challenge of study, critical thought, creative-making, and managing a solo show was a huge undertaking, and I came out the other end with a good grade and a feeling that my creativity had been enhanced.
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Website: www.philipsingleton.art Instagram: @philip.d.singleton
Philip SINGLETON
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Mandisa BAPTISTE Andrew BARROW Charlotte EADES-WILLIS Sarah NEWTON Philip SINGLETON Jo SUTHERST Gemma WILLIS
Tell us about yourself and your background in photography.
A photographer with a rare chronic endocrine disorder (Addison’s Disease), I am also an engineer and teacher. Born in Coventry and now based in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, I was shortlisted for the Picfair Women Behind the Lens award in 2018. I have taken photographs for as long as I can remember. Over the years, I have explored all genres, and have now realised that the human condition forms the focus of my personal work. I am very interested in the use of masks, makeup, and self-portraiture to explore the impact the ever-increasingly online world has on us and our sense of identity. The pressures placed on us online are exhausting, and those with health issues have no energy to deal with this. So, like me, they have to learn to love themselves, even if they do not conform to the expectations of others. I was awarded a Distinction for my MA. I also hold the accreditation of Associate of the RPS. How would you describe your photography practice?
As a photographer, I am very interested in the psychology and emotions behind self-portraiture, and what is actually feels like to be human in an ever-increasingly online world. Scrolling through Instagram, it is clear that we have developed an unhealthy obsession with celebrity in this mass media age. The pressures placed on us online are exhausting. Using innovative digital methods, I use images as a vehicle for discovering and communicating meaning, and exploring interpretative strategies, which contribute to new understandings of the role of technology in our society. Exploring visual and textual aesthetics and materialities, my work capitalises on my strengths in creative practice and digitally-enabled research to advance and explore our knowledge in the field of visual culture.
The selfies that we share are the contemporary form of a self-portrait. Social media sites like Instagram increasingly use computer algorithms to assign labels to photographs and to recognise users. These algorithms are becoming ubiquitous, being incorporated into filters that allow users to adjust their appearance. The images represent the visual stimulus we are exposed to online, exploring the world of the media-generated selfie. They encompass elements of celebrity, self-confidence, and socially-acceptable personas. My images explore and unravel the concept of selfidentity. How has Falmouth Flexible’s MA Photography helped you develop your photography practice?
I can honestly say that choosing the MA Photography with Falmouth Flexible was the best thing I have done in a long time. Returning to education after a long break has been empowering. Not only have I been able to contextualise and develop my practice throughout the course, but I have been able to do this without having to relocate or give up work. Working with experienced photographers and other professionals during the course has enabled me to understand where I fit in the industry. I have another solo exhibition planned for July/August this year – something that I would never have thought I would do in the past. I have enjoyed the challenge, and have been very appreciative of the help and support given by all the tutors and student advisors during the course. I am so thrilled to have achieved a Distinction, and am now about to go on to start a PhD (something I never dreamed possible). I am so grateful to all at Falmouth for opening my mind to endless possibilities and a very bright future. What are your professional goals for the future?
As Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”.
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
The future of my practice is multifaceted. My MA project, Fractured Identities, offers further development of the research behind the project. I intend to deepen my research into what it’s like to be human in this rapidlydeveloping digital world, taking this research into a PhD starting in September 2019. There is also an opportunity to develop Fractured Identities into a teaching resource for Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education in secondary schools. The objective will be to raise awareness of the dangers of online image-sharing and to discuss mental health issues caused by comparing oneself to others online. I intend to make the Mask of Divine Proportion project into a fully-participatory website. Visitors to the site will be able to upload their image and manipulate it to fit the mask. The project is in its infancy at the moment, and is planned for 2020 release. Other plans include a 6-week exhibition of the Masked Identities project in July and August 2019. This has already been secured at the Heritage Centre Gallery in the Forest of Dean. Discussions are also underway for other opportunities to exhibit. So where will this journey end? I don’t know the answer. What I do know is that I will stick with it and take every opportunity that comes my way. Where can we see more of your work?
Websites: www.josutherstphotography.co.uk www.fractured-identities.co.uk Instagram: @jo_sutherst_photography
Jo SUTHERST
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
Mandisa BAPTISTE Andrew BARROW Charlotte EADES-WILLIS Sarah NEWTON Philip SINGLETON Jo SUTHERST Gemma WILLIS
Tell us about yourself and your background in photography.
I have been working in the photography industry for around 14 years now. I completed my BA in 2005. I occasionally freelanced as a wedding and portrait photographer, alongside teaching photography at college level, from 2008 until 2015. From 2015, I made the leap into self-employment fulltime, as I had built up my wedding photography business. I really enjoyed this as I was back to photographing regularly. However, I still wasn’t making the kind of work that I was really passionate about. I decided to apply for Falmouth Flexible’s online MA to help me further my own personal practice. Teaching had meant that my personal work had become stagnant, and I felt as though I had a creative block. I was good at advising on and discussing the work of others. But when it came to my own work, I hit a wall. This is where the MA helped me enormously. Since starting the MA, I have also gained a professional commission, following the work of my Final Major Project. It was for the Blind Veterans UK, where I shot a series of reportage images for a campaign. How would you describe your photography practice?
I have always been fascinated by people, and so my work often takes the form of portraits. The series I have been shooting, as part of my Final Major Project, is very
reportage in style. Documentary photography always plays a huge part in my research and inspiration, but I love having that engagement with the person I am photographing. I find that what I am trying to say within my work is stronger when I show the connection between myself and the person I am photographing. I love to convey emotion and intensity with the portraits. How has Falmouth Flexible’s MA Photography helped you develop your photography practice?
The MA has helped me immensely. I don’t think I would have had the motivation and confidence to produce this kind of work without the support and advice from my tutors and peers. The sense of community in the group was amazing. The fact we lived in different counties and countries didn’t matter, as the online platform kept the group together and ideas flowing. The fact that it was all taught online was a huge benefit to me, as I had a small baby and an 18-month-old toddler at home, so I would study in the evenings. If I missed anything, it was all recorded, so I would just watch it in my own time. When I began the MA, I was suffering from postnatal depression, and it unintentionally really helped me through it. The work I did led me to meet others in the same position, and encouraged me to talk about something I was initially ashamed to admit I had. Not only did the MA help me to develop my practical and contextual ability, it helped me to overcome, as well as create awareness of, a condition that was, at the time, not talked about nearly enough.
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
What are your professional goals for the future?
I am still working on the Working Mother project. I’m meeting people regularly who are keen to take part and passionate about raising awareness around post-natal depression. I am in the process of making Working Mother into a zine, which will include interviews and stories, so my immediate goal is to get that completed and published. I have also begun work on another project, though I am still in the early stages. For the future, I would like to get commissioned for more reportage shoots, and to get some of my personal work in the public eye more. My main professional goal is to be a full-time freelance reportage and portrait photographer. Where can we see more of your work?
Website: www.gemmawillis.weebly.com Instagram: @_gemma.willis_
Gemma WILLIS
Falmouth University / MA Photography (online)
MA Photography BA (Hons) Photography (Top-Up) Find out how studying with us part-time, online can enhance your creative, critical and professional skills. flexible.falmouth.ac.uk +44 (0)1223 447713 @falmouthflexiblephoto