SOUTH WEST GRADUATE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2019
SOUTH WEST GRADUATE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2019 Thomas Beck Jasmine Bruno Peter Flude Evelyn Havinga Lily Miles Isobel Percy Ellen Stewart Archie Wells
F PUBLISHING
INTRODUCTION In 2002, I was awarded the Welsh Graduate Photography Prize, an initiative developed by highereducation institutes and Ffotogallery (Cardiff) in Wales. This enabled me to undertake an artist residency that led to the publication of Ha Ha: Margam Revisited. The opportunity was a catalyst in developing creative confidence and networks that benefited me during a period of uncertainty, a familiar feeling for many as they graduate. In founding Fotonow CIC, there was one ‘topof-the-list’ community that we were determined to support, the emerging graduate, so the South West Graduate Photography Prize began. This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the initiative, which has provided 68 emerging artists the opportunity to exhibit in London as well as created ten paid residency opportunities for each annual winner.
With the ever-increasing abundance of photographers practicing their craft, some might suggest that we must have enough photographs. And every year it becomes even more apparent that while the world does not stand still, we will always need fresh eyes to interpret it. This year’s artists have all been selected for their thought-provoking series and determined approaches to sharing stories. Take notice of these distinct image-makers, ask questions and where possible find means to support their journeys. As a social enterprise we sustain the prize through reinvesting our profits in addition to the invaluable support from; higher-education institutions, creative professionals and partner organisations. Matthew Pontin Creative Director at Fotonow CIC
THOMAS BECK Construction in Progress Coming from a generation where alternate realities are made increasingly believable, Beck is interested in the digital image and how its perception shapes reality. The slippage between visual fact and fiction, where reality and falsehood share the same stage, is a platform for his temporal practice.
Construction in Progress is a consequence of repeated interactions with disused objects from the rural surroundings of the artists home. Using photography’s ability to isolate moments in time, he encourages the potential for re-imagining the familiar.
www.thomas-beck.co.uk
JASMINE BRUNO To Catch a Thief “Are you Antonio Bruno?” “Are you Jasmine - as in my daughter?” The last time she had seen her father was eight years ago when she visited him in prison. And before that, she hadn’t seen him since she was three. Despite having gone to Italy to find him, she didn’t recognise him at first.
“Researching my father’s past answered a few of my questions,” explains Bruno, who discovered that in 1971 her grandfather shot her grandmother in the head. “My father and his five siblings saw everything; they were split up and put into foster homes”.
To Catch a Thief is an exploration of memory and identity. The series attempts to revive the absence of Bruno’s father during her childhood.
Bruno’s detached portraits and melancholic landscapes are united by a sense of unease that permeates them.
www.jasminebruno.com
PETER FLUDE Herodsfoot: A Thankful Village During the tragedy of the First and Second World Wars, two million British soldiers were killed. But one fortunate Cornish village welcomed home every individual who left to fight, both times. Surrounded by forest and nestled in a deep valley, Herodsfoot is known as a “Doubly Thankful Village”, a title bestowed upon settlements which suffered no fatalities during either of the World Wars. Across the UK it is estimated that there are 17 villages with “Doubly Thankful” status, but Herodsfoot is the only one of its kind in Cornwall. Herodsfoot gained its initial “Thankful Village” title when all of its thirteen men who left to serve in WWI returned safely. Their luck was repeated in WWII when all its men survived for a second time. Additionally, the village contributed to the war effort by manufacturing gunpowder for military explosive devices. Working at
Herodsfoot’s gunpowder mill was classed as a protected occupation, meaning workers were spared from fighting during the wars. In the centre of Herodsfoot is what appears to be a typical war memorial, though rather than mourning the deceased, it celebrates those who safely made it home. The men are remembered to this day by descendants still living in the village, who commemorate their fortune, but also recognise that they were forever changed by their experiences. Herodsfoot: A Thankful Village explores the concept of luck through Herodsfoot’s connection to its past and the community which inhabits it today, celebrating the village’s fortune and fortitude in the face of war.
www.peterflude.co.uk
EVELYN HAVINGA Hidden Identities “Identity is a recurring theme in my work. I use the face as a canvas. Who are we behind the masks that we wear?” Andreas Poupoutsis The underlying narrative around this photobook is the visual quest of finding one’s identity, whether it be the photographer finding her own through the subjects she photographs and using it as a self-reflective tool, or the counter argument that the subject matter themselves want to be projected in a creative way to express a certain inner feeling in themselves.
This evokes questions from the viewers of who? what? why? This alone is what makes these photographs such powerful and influential images that remain in one’s mind, compared to a photo that may give you all the answers. The idea of taking away any remnants of that one particular person, whether it be their personality or any unique features, you are leaving it entirely up to the viewer to make their own assumptions.
www.evelynhavinga.com
LILY MILES Pink To Make The Boys Wink Prostitution is the world’s oldest profession. Over 70,000 people perform sexual services in the UK (88% being women) but it is currently a criminal offence to solicit sex work. The criminalisation surrounding this form of work makes for discrimination of women who perform these services. Often sex workers use different names to hide their true identity when at work to keep their personal lives separate. This project documents inside a brothel, which as the law currently stands are illegal but recognised as the safest environment for sex workers. Pink to Make the Boys Wink is a portrayal of a group of women who have chosen to work at City Sauna in
Sheffield. Run by a mother and daughter, the massage parlour provides sexual services to men who desire intimacy with a woman, as well as offering a safe place for the women to work together under one roof. Without judgement or condemnation, these photographs observe the working lives and friendships of these women - and what it means to work in a brothel, an often stigmatized environment. Many women working in the sex industry are already campaigning for social and legal change. This series is presented to contribute to them reaching a wider audience.
www.lilymiles.co.uk
ISOBEL PERCY Domestic Performance - Aspic and Apron Strings These dinner party scenes touch on themes of status anxiety and the pressures of societal ideals of success. In this project, the kitchen scenes are signifiers of social aspiration; the display, the technology and the ‘host’
expressing a desire to be ‘better’. However, the scene also provides glimpses into the drudgery, hard work and ephemeral futility of meeting this expectation.
www.isobelpercy.com
ELLEN STEWART In My Fence Wall This series focuses on the everyday banality of the home, aiming to deliberately confuse and question our own associations to our private space. Using the constraints of her childhood house, the artist plays with ‘making
strange’ the seemingly mundane in order to explore the tension between how we look at the everyday and the epic.
www.ellenstewart.org
ARCHIE WELLS Stemming The Tide : Britain’s Knife Crime Crisis In the 12 months ending March 2018, 285 people lost their lives as a result of knife crime in the UK. This figure is the highest number recorded since the Home Office Homicide Index began in 1946. 132 of those who died were killed in London, the highest recording made in ten years. Figures linked to homicide do not usually vary significantly from year-to-year, which is why this steep increase in figures is particularly striking. Whilst there may be no single element to blame for such violence taking place on what has now become a daily basis, there are a multitude of internal and external factors that are continuing to directly contribute to the rise in serious incidences that we are currently seeing.
These images serve as a visual exploration of the British knife crime epidemic through the documentation of the inner-city landscape, with pretences surrounding geographical boundaries being broken down, gradually revealing how they have ceased to exist. In addition to the recording of individual cases and locations, this work aims to act as an entirely open platform for those who have been directly impacted by knife crime, as well as those that are actively looking to fight it, to have their stories told and heard.
www.archie-wells.co.uk
E N I M S JA BRUNO See SWGP 2019 finalist Jasmine Bruno’s latest project in issue 10 of Loupe magazine www.loupemag.com
Fotonow CIC is a creative media organisation based in Plymouth (UK). The objective in developing the South West Graduate Photography Prize is to nurture opportunities for emerging visual artists while enhancing the visibility of photographic practice from across the region. Graduates from; Plymouth College of Art, University of the West of England (Bristol), University of Plymouth, Falmouth University, Bath Spa University, University of Gloucestershire and Arts University Bournemouth submitted work to be short-listed for exhibition in London with one artist eventually commissioned to work on a residency with Fotonow CIC at Ocean Studios (Plymouth). The eight short-listed artists showcased within this publication were selected based upon their creative approaches and understanding of how photography can inform and communicate. Published by Fotonow CIC Edited by Matthew Pontin publishing@fotonow.org www.fotonow.org cover image Š Thomas Beck back cover image Š Lily Miles
ISBN: 978-1-908678-26-3 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.
Thomas Beck Jasmine Bruno Peter Flude Evelyn Havinga Lily Miles Isobel Percy Ellen Stewart Archie Wells
ISBN 978-1-908678-26-3