Ryde Arts: Photographer and

Cultivate, create, thrive #WeAreRydeArts

Ryde Arts enriches the lives of people – whether artist, participant, or viewer – through arts and culture projects. In this issue, we explore the alchemic process between artist and project, which often transforms the creative process from pleasurable pastime to a process of revelation, providing personal growth and uncovering new forms of expression.

Above: Julian captures the lines and movement of dancer Sophie Wintersgill’s performance in front of “Integration” by Jo Hummel-Newell

GROW

Photographer and artist Julian Winslow recalls how his involvement in the Ryde Arts GROW project prompted a contemplation of energy and connectivity. Made possible by Arts Council funding, GROW saw lead artist Jo Hummel-Newell take up an eighteenmonth residency at Quarry Road allotments, producing a body of work that referenced issues such as social integration and circular economies.

“For me, growth as an artist is always on the tails of growing as a human and this comes from many things – often it’s an interaction with a person, community or environment. I spent some time in the Ryde allotments, documenting life there, human, plant and animal. It sits in the bottom of a valley surrounded by houses, flats and a train station. It struck me how the allotments were like an iron age village; a small community of farmers, working the land and how this was nested within the broader community of the surrounding town. It was as if you could see how our past was nested in the present, where we had come from, a thread that stretched through

time and how we are basically the same creatures we were thousands of years ago. It made me feel very human and part of a long succession from the beginning to the present.” The threads of time, space and energy are also explored in Julian’s series of photographs of Sophie Wintersgill’s contemporary dance performance in front of Integration, the stunning collage centrepiece created by Jo for the exhibition. “I wanted to express the interaction between the two very different disciplines. To achieve the results I used two different techniques. The first involved setting the camera on a tripod in front of Jo’s piece and taking multiple long exposure images of the dancer as she performed in front of it. The long exposures create an abstract of the dancer, revealing the movements and how the lines of that reflect in the lines and shapes of the collage behind. In the second shot I wanted the dancer to be suspended in front of the work as the collage pieces were hung. This was achieved by freezing the dancer with a very high shutter speed while she had left the ground as part of the performance.” The effect creates more abstraction in the form of movement. The viewer traces the motions of the dance and is also drawn into the depths of the collage, a fusing of three creative forms: dance, art and photography. Julian relishes his role as an observer as he is genuinely interested in people. He gets to know his subjects in order to skim the surface and establish a deeper connection, gaining insight into the human experience and always feels changed as a result. “This expression of interest helps people to see that they are part of a community, that they are of value and interest. I believe that people who feel valued are better people.”

To find out more about Ryde Arts visit rydearts.org

A moment in time: dancer Sophie becomes part of the piece

‘For me, growth as an artist is always on the tails of growing as a human and this comes from many things – often it’s an interaction with a person, community or environment.’

Photographer and artist profile: Julian Winslow

Julian Winslow is an acclaimed contemporary photographer and filmmaker based on the Isle of Wight. His work is often an expression of memory, utilising intentional camera movement in conjunction with long exposures, allowing the moment to stretch, slipping from one time period to the next. Capturing a moment at different beats of time encourages the viewer to look beyond the everyday and invites you to meditate upon the complex nature and energy of the world we inhabit. Identity and time are themes that often rise to the surface of his work.

Julianwinslow.com Instagram @julian_winslow