South West Graduate Photography Prize 2020

SOUTH WEST GRADUATE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2020

SOUTH WEST GRADUATE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2020

ELLIOT CAUNCE SASHA HARE LUCY KANE JESSICA KEIGHTLEY VICTORIA MAIDSTONE ROSE MARY KOFOWOROLA OLAYANJU LLARA PLAZA-GARCIA POLLY WHITE

INTRODUCTION The South West Graduate Photography Prize was established in 2010 to support photography graduates across the region. It goes without saying that 2020 has proved to be a turbulent year for the arts and the pandemic forced a rethink in how we best share work undertaken by the short-listed artists. This wasn’t a smooth process, weaving around financial and time constraints leading toward this publication, now here we are, showcasing a significant anthology of narratives by a group of talented individuals (who successfully completed their creative degree programmes during some very challenging times).

So pertinent, that the first series within this publication shows us the most vast sense of isolation - what does our own individual ‘alone’ look like today? The next series reconnects us to the collective, through fragments of past rave culture. Soon followed by a return to ‘the self’, the raw human body. Like waves, the photographs in here take us away from ourselves, then crashing back again. Fashion is re-imagined through an honest collaboration within the family. Traditional customs explored through folk tales and the past connections to the land. A sense of belonging highlighted through cultural voice and the strain of social oppression. Hope and fears for the life of a brother.

Followed by an individual history reworked through archival narratives. The last series, a poignant reminder of the ‘witch hunt’ and its opposite, freedom to be oneself.

The nine artists represented here are pushing at the boundaries and asking questions that demand our vision to work hard, to consider our past and to be challenged in thinking about what comes next...

ELLIOT CAUNCE

Off-grid Scotland: Stories of Self-isolation in the Wild The still and moving image series focuses on intimate character driven stories that breach the topic of isolation and men’s mental health issues. Off-grid Scotland delves into the world of his muses, often holding a lens to the underrepresented and those on the fringes of society.

This series in particular aims to discover what drives someone to live alone in the wild and as observers, how do we view this alternative mentality? What questions does it raise about the world we live in?

SASHA HARE

A Man After Midnight A Man After Midnight (as a reference to unknown element of time experienced in the Rave) is an exploration of the chaotic rituals of youth across the UK party scene; focusing on the infatuating and subconscious sensory experiences individuals have, in order to let go. The photographs make reference to the UK Rave scene’s historical roots, exploring the way in which contemporary party atmospheres have evolved from its birth right. Research started with inspiration from early rave advertisements and social party politics around the movement, followed with first-hand creative responses and concluding with a collation of photographic techniques to result in a distorted and creative response to the environments and subject matters around the topic of sensory experience.

The images presented have been appropriated into another using cropping and projection, resulting in a newsprint publication presenting full bleed spreads and diptychs, which allows the audience to fully engage in the immersive nature of the project, mimicking the notion of rave culture. The final form makes references to Contemporary Documentary Imagery techniques, where the original image has been divorced from the overall narrative, colour reference to party environments, and title to create an ‘other’ form of expression. Today, A Man After Midnight’s narrative has responded to an environment of isolation and distortion; a projection of the once somewhat norm, where the party venues are currently closed but the innate need to party carries on.

LUCY KANE

Transparencies Whilst constructing non-figurative self-portraits, I test the possibilities of the photographic apparatus. The body of work Transparencies not only explores the notion of the self, but the physicality of the photograph and the photographic negative, viewing them as objects in and of themselves. The use of layered transparencies allows the viewer to peer into the image, yet simultaneously denies the gaze through the lack of clear depictions.

Performing as photographer and subject I take complete control over the representation of my body and the way in which it is perceived.

JESSICA KEIGHTLEY

Whyle you was over Throughout my teenage years photographing my mother was a natural part of our relationship to simply understand and connect with each other. However, within this project, I am now re-exploring familial themes around an unconventional relationship between mother and child, and more broadly from the photographer. The art of playfulness is central to this reconnection and Mum’s learning disability is both inconsequential and also evident. In essence, this is a collaborative visual project which attempts to harness my mother’s raw passion for clothes, excess and consumption contrasted with my quest for photography’s attempt to record the intimate, staged and reconstructed.

VICTORIA MAIDSTONE

Antler Men Every year on Wake Monday, people gather in the small village of Abbots Bromley to witness the Horn Dance.

Despite uncertainty of its origins, the onlookers follow the procession along Bagot Street, caught in the magic of the movement. Immersing herself within the ritual, the photographer began to construct fragments of imagined scenes to fill in the gaps of the unknown.

In the process of this enactment, the presence of those who walked here many centuries ago comes into our consciousness. These tentative links demonstrate the continued importance of connection with the land to humans.

ROSE MARY

Voices of Redemption Is every human equal here? Who am I? Who are you? The term ‘Dalit’ meaning ‘broken’ in Hindi/Urdu and ‘oppressed’ in Sanskrit, is a chosen name for the lowercaste community of India. Generation after generation, people who belong to these communities are labelled as ‘impure’ and ‘untouchables’. Of all the regions of India, Kerala (Southern India) had and has the most rigid and elaborate caste structure. Violence against these people is considered ‘normal’ and is shunned from any mainstream media. According to the constitution of India, any discrimination based on caste, religion and colour is illegal, yet this often continues to happen with the silent approval of police and other officials.

This project is ongoing, which requires thorough research and understanding. The first part, Voices, revisits the life of Mr Neelakandan during his 20s, giving us an insight into the past Dalit reality. Neelakandan shares his experiences of trying to fight against inequality. The second part showcases the unconventional approach of a temple towards the oppressed communities. Irrespective of caste, creed or religion, everyone is welcomed there, which was once (and still is in rural areas) restricted in the name of Untouchability (a practice of imposing social limitations on particular castes). In a society where discrimination and violence against the marginalised are viewed as usual, Parasinikadavu Temple goes against the ‘traditions’ and the ‘culture’, as a thriving testimony of secular harmony, which I consider as a form of Redemption of hope and belief.

KOFOWOROLA OLAYANJU

What will become of us I have photographed my younger brother, Farouk Olayanju, as he transitions from childhood to adolescence.

Aspiring to become a footballer, he currently has no anxieties as to the future which awaits him, whereas his parents and older siblings fear what route Farouk might take based on the various pressures that exist in his surrounding environment. The series explores the theme of the cultural shift, youth identity and black society, elaborating on the reality of London youth lifestyle - as there is a perception that society groups all black young men collectively, associating them with gangs and other elements of criminality.

Although I believe that Farouk will not be involved in such activities, I worry about what may affect him sooner than it should.

LLARA PLAZA-GARCIA

Irene This project tells the story of Irene, a teacher who during the Spanish Civil War became an icon for the anarchist party. It shows the role of women during the confrontation, the repression that the fascist side wielded over the republicans and the censorship, which end up forcing Irene to hide all her memories from that time in a suitcase.

Irene was erased from all the photographs and documents of that period as she was a spectre for the Fascists. Now, 80 years later, we are able to show the untold Spanish story.

POLLY WHITE

As Dusk Crawls This series explores the witch trials of the 17th century in Wales, or lack thereof. In comparison to the rest of Europe at the time (and some parts of America) Wales had no ‘witch hunt’ and mass executions - these images attempt to explore this unique phenomenon. Influenced by the guilty verdicts of eight Welsh witches (only one sentenced to death), the series challenges Arcadian ideals of landscape to create a discourse between the beauty of nature and the darker undertones of folklore. By capturing this sense of the paradoxical, the desire was to build a narrative weaving the allure of the pastoral but also introducing a foreboding sense of ‘other’ in the environment.

The historic influence of pamphlet literature also allowed for a study of Wales’ unique history by discovering how the role of witches in the community had turned the rural into a much more sinister place, so much so that warnings were published to the public due to their activities. A picture began to emerge of the norms and values of Welsh society at this time and their relationship to each other and the land, which began to unpick the reasons why a fear of witches never gained such traction - in short, Welsh courts were more concerned with the problem of theft.

Exposing the mystery and myth embedded in the landscape, the series hints at a darker side of the natural world and aims to invoke a sense of curiosity.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

ELLIOT CAUNCE Elliot graduated from Falmouth University with a first-class degree in BA(Hons) Press & Editorial Photography. He went on to participate in the Bridging the Gap director development program organised by the Scottish Documentary Institute. The Off-grid Scotland project has been short-listed and won various awards including ‘Best in Show’ at AOP Student Awards and ‘winner’ at the Portrait of Britain competition.

www.ecaunce.co.uk

SASHA HARE Sasha, based in the South West of the UK, is a documentary social photographer. With a unique documentarian style, Sasha also explores the ways in which people interact with each other, utilising photo-montage and manipulation to create a unique style to her work. This has included three years of study at the University of Plymouth. Sasha has a keen interest for how photographs are manipulated and appropriated in various ways, taken in order to adapt and evolve her practice.

www.sasha-hare.format.com

LUCY KANE Lucy is an artist whose practice revolves primarily around the female body and the notion of the self. Recently graduated from Arts University Bournemouth with a BA(Hons) in Photography. Currently based between Bournemouth and London.

www.lucykaneart.com

JESSICA KEIGHTLEY Jessica, a graduate from BA(Hons) Fashion Photography at Falmouth University, is a photographer whose interests lie in the space between documentary and the re-imagined archive. Relationships, people and places are central to her investigation.

www.keightley1998.wixsite.com/mysite-7

VICTORIA MAIDSTONE Victoria explores different communities and the environment, honing in on their connection to other elements such as time and mythology. Experimenting with a combination of mixed media, from analogue, digital and camera-less photography, producing projects that surround our connection to nature, water, place and spirituality.

www.victoriamaidstone.com

ROSE MARY Rose is a Fine Art Photographer from India currently based in Plymouth. Her work reflects her experiences and identity, primarily focused on creating a unique visual language to carve space for India’s unheard voices. Rose aims to create works that would push other artists to explore their reality.

www.alchemistphotographs.wixsite.com/mysite-2

KOFOWOROLA OLAYANJU Kofoworola is a London raised documentary photographer, by Nigerian parents. As an undergraduate student she had the desire to portray the London she was accustomed to. Through her theoretical work she has been able to develop an understanding of how concepts and ideologies are used by artists such as Cian Oba smith, Doug Dubios & Ron Jude.

LLARA PLAZA-GARCIA Llara is a multidisciplinary artist who uses photography as the main way of creating art. She focuses on current issues such as politics, sexuality and animal rights, approached with a postmodern attitude in order to connect better with the audience.

www.maracullara.com

POLLY WHITE Polly is a UWE graduate based between Bristol and West Wales. She holds a distinct interest in our connection to nature and the land, in particular within folklore and religion. Having never been interested in history during her school years, Polly’s image-making is now fundamentally fuelled by the past - her camera introducing her to a way to interpret and retell forgotten stories.

www.pollyrhwhite.com

SOUTH WEST GRADUATE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2020 Published by Fotonow CIC © 2021 Edited by Matthew Pontin With thanks to Elizabeth Orcutt, Molly Budd and Lily Markes.

In memory of John Curno. publishing@fotonow.org www.fotonow.org cover image © Victoria Maidstone

ISBN: 978-1-908678-27-0 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright owners.

ELLIOT CAUNCE SASHA HARE LUCY KANE JESSICA KEIGHTLEY VICTORIA MAIDSTONE ROSE MARY KOFOWOROLA OLAYANJU LLARA PLAZA-GARCIA POLLY WHITE

ISBN: 978-1-908678-27-0