Juliette Colvin
1
Molly Caenwyn (English)
2-3
Juliette Colvin
4-7
Melissa Hird
8-11
Chloe Nash
12-14
Dylan Saunders
15-18
Kerry Woolman
19-23
Claire Smith
24-27
Gwen Pratt
28-30
Gergana Aleksieva
31-33
Alice Connolly
34-37
Glesni Morgan
38-39
Callum Lewis
40-43
Megan Jenkins
44-47
Grant Jones
48-50
Paris Tankard
51-55
Elliw Higham
56-59
Hettie Marsden
60-61
Jasmine Price
62-63
Kaitlin Spark
64-66
Karolina Birger
67-71
Josh Mallinson-Malvern
72-75
Stan Barker
76-79
Daniel Witchell
80-83
Morar Vlad
84-87
Molly Caenwyn (Cymraeg)
88-89
Morar Vlad
90
Desktop Murder During lockdown, I spent my days working through separation, through loss and through collective dread, with a jigsaw puzzle. This particular puzzle came with no image of what the final outcome was to achieve, but instead, a booklet. This set the scene of a murder mystery; the outline of a story and a line-up of suspects with small biographies, where you, the sleuth, find the murderer. The first task was to piece together the puzzle, finding colours and fragments that might look like they belong together. Once the missing image of the crime scene is revealed, it must be investigated and examined for clues. This visual analysis paired with theoretical research in the form of the accompanying booklet were the creative tools provided to help you figure out ‘whodunnit’. At a point of total distraction and absorption in the murder case, the realisation that a piece was missing brought reality crushing down. This missing piece reflected the loss of control that I felt during lockdown and everything else I was missing from my life. I missed my friends, my family, and, as a creative practitioner I missed the communities and networks I had made in the few years I had lived in Wales. Whilst I used the tactile pastime of a jigsaw to fill the absence of physical connections with others, many people replaced these interactions with social media and zoom parties. And slowly, as digital spaces began to improve, so did our online communities. As artists, we saw the industry struggle and our peers flounder without creative spaces. But collectives were created, online exhibitions curated, and lectures, talks and conferences were organised that no longer required travel, hotels and time off work to attend. Artists sought to support their community through the Artist’s Support Pledge, a sales campaign to help their peers through monetary and algorithmic means. These new digital ways of working not only brought individuals together, but information started to become more accessible and with this, the sources of information became increasingly flexible and grew. Niche online communities began to emerge with the flourishing popularity of the moving image platform, Tiktok. Want to learn about cyanotypes? Here’s a video. Want to learn how to pose models? Here’s another. Want to learn about 80s and 90s cult movies and cinematography? Here is a whole series! At first, it felt as though these content creators were sharing these pockets of knowledge out of a simple love of their interests and info dumping. This was half right. These content creators were in fact volunteer educators, intentional or not, circulating knowledge missing from the standard white, middle class, male, heteronormative school teachings. Those who had not previously been able to access these types of knowledge freely were now introduced to minority histories, cultures and complex theoretical knowledge - broken down into manageable 15, 30 or 60 second clips. This phenomenon not only highlighted missing information in compulsory education but the missing physical spaces of learning. This was evident when Arts Institutions followed these grass roots educators onto the platform, as a way of reaching new audiences as visitors were absent from gallery halls and museum grounds. What started as an app filled with dancing videos, has turned into a cavern of knowledge and stewardship.
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The vastly growing digital spaces were exciting and provocative yet also caused deep anxiety, not least with having to fill them. This expansion of space was also paired with a sudden increase in ‘spare time’. Instead of using this time for much needed rest from doom scrolling news sources, we were encouraged to fill it with self-improvement and were berated if we squandered it. This led to a mass creation of work brought on by this toxic productivity rhetoric. Galleries commissioned artists to make work in response to the pandemic. Photographers shared work via Instagram, creating online archives of the historical event we were all living through. Archives themselves began collecting work centred around the pandemic. They began serious reflection on their own collecting practices and set about decolonising and queering their archives. The activists, teachers and historians on Tiktok challenged power structures and the gatekeepers of knowledge were forced to examine their own missing pieces. Many trends, phenomena and discourses that emerged from our time inside have continued to grow and flourish. Many of which are reflected in this year’s cohort. The students in this publication have been in the unique position to experience the before, the during and the aftermath of Lockdown across the three years attending the BA Photography course. Beginning year one in the pre-pandemic, adjusting to university life and study, then adjusting to lockdown and working apart from the physical community of their peers. Some were having to live alone for the first time and pushed into solitude. Some had to move back into homes that had been grown out of, or into intense household units, be that with friends, strangers or family. For many, lockdown was uncomfortable. Our worlds were shaken upside down and the fragments and pieces that made up our daily lives lost. Many of us spent a lot of this time trying to find these missing pieces whilst in a fog. The image of what we once knew to be ‘the norm’ became blurred and for many, unrecognisable or lost. Forcing us to intensely reflect not only on ourselves, but our social groups, our upbringings, our political beliefs, cultural values and our own identities. Just like my mystery jigsaw, there was no image to help put the pieces back together. But luckily, this is a student body of creatives. Their final year saw a return to face-to-face teaching, post lockdown and the ‘new normal’ where they have spent their time making their own images in the form of their final pieces. Many reflect on the discourses that emerged throughout lockdown by way of investigation into collective emotions, histories and marginalised experiences. Some questioned that which was before - our pace of living, sustainability and belief systems. Others reflected on the self and what was missing on a micro level rather than macro, exploring inner relationships through unapologetic self-expression and the outer relationships, with people and with nature. The final images paired with summarised theoretical research in the form of the accompanying short texts, are the tools provided to help the viewer see the bigger picture. What has been chosen to be included, recorded, questioned and captured within this publication will help audiences understand that which was missing and has now been found by the artists.
Molly Caenwyn
Female Rage Juliette Colvin
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For 5000 years women have turned the other cheek, and every time we do, it gets slapped harder. Sometimes it gets slapped so hard we die. —Sinia Johnson, Going Out of Our Minds: The Metaphysics of Liberation (1987) Women have been compelled to silently absorb the controlling, belittling, and abusive behaviour of men. We suppress any retaliation—as the least angry response from women has been disproportionately attacked as more outrageous than any offence that provoked it. But that rage remains inside. That rage is passed down regretfully as inheritance from mother to daughter because there is nowhere to put it down, nowhere for it to go but quietly to other women. Throughout most of art history, which is meant to show humanity at its fullest—with the exception of the painted furious eyes of Medusa, works by Caravaggio, Sirani and Gentileschi portraying women killing their abusers—you will seldom see the face of an angry woman. What you will see instead is an abundance of images of submissive, passive and smiling women. Female Rage makes visible our visceral anger, contributing to more authentic representations of the female experience, with the aim that empowerment will follow. We must be the angry women that won’t turn the other cheek.
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Lost Melissa Hird
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During the recent pandemic, I would often take my daily walks near the reservoir at Thruscross—it was here I discovered the ruins of a submerged village, and I was swiftly taken aback by the memories that might have been lost. The village I refer to here is the flooded and demolished Yorkshire village of West End. The physical space disappeared in the submersion of the village in 1966, and the creation of the reservoir at Thruscross; an act which ravaged the physical community, but not the stories and memories that persist. It is this that I have tried to represent by capturing the landscape of the area and linking it to the stories of the community. Bringing new attention to a supposedly ‘lost’ area portrays the timelessness of community and monumentalizes this crucial unit of humanity—the people you run into in the village, the streets and fields siblings and friends played on, church graveyards..that human connection tied to the town and land.
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One Hour Chloe Nash
12
Our relationship with the outside world is often one of expansiveness, something we missed out on during the first lockdown of Covid-19. Many of us were locked in our homes, with an allowance of only one hour a day to exercise outside. Our lives consisted of repeated routines day after day, spending all but one hour in the same four walls. My daily exercise was a walk around the neighbourhood which served to keep me sane, giving me time to decompress from the stress and frustration built-up from being stuck inside in circumstances I hadn’t quite expected, with the man who subsequently has become my fiancé despite the trials of enforced confinement we experienced together. With this work I am trying to rebuild the relationship between home life and the world outside.
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Ubiquity Dylan Saunders
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Through this work I explore the concept of the contemporary British industrial estate with a focus on the space and emptiness held by these places. The parks being displayed here were predominantly built in the 1970s and were originally intended for temporary use. These, as well as more recent developments, have become a familiar trope in the British landscape, often occupying liminal areas within our cities and towns. These photographs were created from an uncomfortable and disaffected viewpoint, but a very real one. Banal and unwelcoming scenes meet you as you approach these lifeless areas. Utilitarian buildings confront you, and very rarely do we see anything personal or human. We are surrounded by sheet metal facades, unmaintained car parks and extant exteriors. Drifting from place to place allowed me to realise just how lonely it must be to spend every day here.
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Colour Blocks Kerry Woolman
20
Colour Blocks refers to the explosion of post-lockdown fashion, where we rushed outside and dressed ourselves in brighter, bolder clothing. Loud, unapologetic colours left individuals feeling refreshed, energised and confident. We ditched our overworn comfort clothes and let our imaginations lead us to rediscover the world with an upbeat, creative stride. Still uncertain of the future and processing the past, vibrant clothing produced a significant and positive psychological effect for the individual who used what they wore as an outlet for their exuberance and a way to boost their self-confidence shaken by global events. This bold and decisive colour saturated fashion photography opens up a whole new perspective on how we have collectively built back up the ‘blocks’ to establishing a bettered self. The fashion, design and aesthetics of this work explore the initial hesitancy and our exuberant attempts to re-engage with this new world, pushing us to express who we truly are.
Fabricated Claire Smith
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I use the tools of documentary reportage, interwoven with the intimacy of constructed practices, to celebrate a raw depiction of heritage craftmanship. My work comes from a place of wanting to rebuild a visual presence of an overlooked process. My aim is to explore the artistry within the rotation of people, production, and material, morphing these industrial spaces into more intimate snippets of attentive processes and techniques. My images adopt a different stance—not demonising the kingdom of fast fashion—but rather constructed as a vehicle for dismantling this consumer vision of the finished product. Using my craft to capture another, I want this series to be analysed as a journey, paused and examined, solidifying the timelessness of regeneration. Fabricated is an amalgamation of a transformed culture, and newfound appreciation of sustainability. It feels timely and imperative to expose the value of the ‘slow’ fashion cycle.
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A Family Thread Gwen Pratt
A Family Thread is a series of photographs which records and reconstructs selected crafted items made by my family over generations. The work encourages a visual confusion between the 2-dimensional and the 3-dimensional through composition and placement within a dramatic dark backdrop. The work asks the observer to look at the pieces in a different light by changing the perspective of the objects, highlighting their effectiveness and utility within the contemplative nature of a Fine Art framework. The work is also a celebration and elevation of craft, formerly housed within the family setting and ‘properly’ useful, making them instead something to be seen and admired for their visual and aesthetic qualities.
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Bodies Gergana Aleksieva
Bodies is a photographic series that aims to tackle social norms around body image. I deconstruct rigid ideas around the ideal of beauty and promote a dialogue about how these ideas can evolve through embracing inclusivity. Arranging a wide array of body types in what might be considered typical commercialised poses I aim to expose the ‘naturalness’ of these bodies played against the stereotype viewers are familiar with. I attempt to push them to reconsider how these images that promote certain kinds of bodies have had the power to dictate what is beautiful and what is not. More often than not people react in a negative way when met with suggestions that conflict with pre-conceived notions, but I hope these images promote discussion and suggest new ways of thinking about beauty.
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J.O.Y. Alice Connolly
Throughout my life I have had a genuine yearning to know the invisible God my parents talk so passionately about. It has been at the forefront of my mind always, yet become, over time, easier to push back, to ignore. Photography became my gateway to step outside a Christian belief, it made me question whether I was truly a ‘believer’ and ask what my disquiet around religion was actually about. It’s hard to photograph a concept, a feeling. I stepped away from myself and viewed my home as an artist, not as a daughter, not as a sibling. It gave me the strength to shoot intimate images portraying my family and our home. This project arises from a desire to heal myself from the years of religious domination and ‘Christian guilt’. But along the way I’ve gained the confidence and the admiration to want to raise consciousness around religion more generally— to present what it is really like, from the inside.
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#NoFilter Glesni Morgan
#NoFilter is a series exploring the performance of changing one’s appearance on social media platforms. I want to examine how filters start to erode one’s identity in the stripping back of one’s ‘natural’ appearance through the addition of the app’s filter tools that become more normalized and necessary. The ‘face’ is constructed in the performance of posting. Whilst these facial filters appear harmless at first, they inevitably become a mask to conceal one’s real identity. This series of ‘self-portraits’ is comprised of multiple ‘appearances’ of myself from a natural appearance to a very unnatural edited appearance, all available through the easy use of editing tools. These filters have become an obsession for some, especially young girls, increasingly confused about the relation between appearance and the ‘real’.
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Sympathy For The Devil Callum Lewis
This project is one of the most important bodies of work I’ll ever create. Sympathy for the Devil is the most appropriate name for a work through which I am determined to accept my own demons, mainly depression and anxiety. I explore deep, dark and very personal topics, from something as small as a moment of sadness to the most existential crisis of suicidal ideation and self-harm. Although there are many dark and negative emotions, on offer here are also moments of real happiness. Depression isn’t always doom and gloom. I’ve created imagery that engages this wild fluctuating mix of emotions.
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The Sound Of Escapism Megan Jenkins
The Sound of Escapism is a look at live music from a different perspective. While we may be used to seeing images of artists, singers and musicians on stage there is another component that is just as important to the atmosphere and construct of a gig: that is the audience. My images are captured when the stage lights are momentarily directed toward the crowd, acknowledging and emphasising their role. My goal is to capture the vast range of emotions that are felt individually but enhanced and shaped by the collective experience of listening to the music as part of a crowd. As a music photographer I get a front row seat to this, experiencing the private moments collectively felt in real time. The interactions between strangers, as well as friends, held within an overwhelming sense of community, makes the appeal of these events even stronger. This sense of the communal as well as the individual is unique to the lived experience of the live event.
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Gear Change Grant Jones
The world of car enthusiasts coming together to display their own cars and swap stories with other car owners is on display at both highly organized events in approved locations and at more ‘underground’ events, promoted and sustained through social media. Coming together in a supermarket car park or at a local garage, these gatherings offer an opportunity to show off cars or watch speeding, revving and manoeuvres. As a car enthusiast myself and a member of a local group, I have an insider’s view of this world and know first-hand how the car enables the building of friendship groups and support networks. I have attempted here to contrast both an insider’s investment in the activity with that of an outsider’s less participatory view. In focusing on the action taking place, the atmosphere, and the social environment, there is a sense of expectation in waiting for what might happen next but imbued with the risks involved.
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Come As We Are (not as they want us) Paris Tankard
Many generations of queer people of colour have been consistently overlooked, leading to a deeper feeling of oppression and discrimination, not just from the wider society but from those within our own community. With Racism, Xenophobia and Colourism rampant within the LGBTQ+ community there have been many people who are still feeling othered from the community that should be banding together. Come As We Are (not as they want us) is the amalgamation of shared experiences amongst those who feel that they are being side-lined within a community already at odds with broader society. It explores the joy of queer life as well as the struggles around ethnicity, religion and identity too often pre-determined by views set in motion through the media. The work is designed to subvert the stereotypical newspaper print and screen depiction with their insistence on one dimensional views of diverse peoples. Come As We Are (not as they want us) is exactly that: our representations of ourselves and announces, quite simply, our arrival.
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Alia
21 • She/Her • Pakistan Telling my family I was trans was one of the hardest things of my life. I tried coming out at 12 and just got shut down, my mum told me that the devil was in me and that everyone would hate me, scaring me with AIDS and that I would never see the end of it. That made me want to pray away my femininity and all these feelings of becoming a woman. I honestly tried to do it. I ended up self-harming for years. When I was 16, my father found me with hair extensions and went crazy. He hit me. I ended up going to school with bruises across my body. I got taken into care after school and kept getting moved around—after that my whole family disowned me, even the ones in Pakistan. For them it was religion, it was wrong. Even here in Cardiff, I feel like people are diverse, but they look down on people in the LGBT community and like we’re going to die in hell. All my friends broke off from me, I was shunned away from the mosques. They see being trans as something to be scared of and telling men has always been hard. If I go out with someone without telling them men would get
angry, there’s been times where I’ve been locked in hotel rooms. I’ve been intimate with men and they’ve gotten pissed and end up raping me anyway. I’ve had knives pulled on me, I’ve been left in the middle of nowhere. I’m not forcing [my identity] down anyone’s throats but have respect for me. I haven’t dated anyone for a year. Whenever I’ve walked into rooms with men I’ve felt like they’re examining every attribute of my body, there’s immense pressure on me. Being a part of the Ballroom scene has made me shift my ideas and instincts, being around other queer people has made me feel like I never have to worry about how deep my voice is or how broad my shoulders are. Everyone’s just there to get their jush. I’ve loosened my standards within myself because most women don’t even do that for themselves. I’ve always felt like I’ve had to have a set of nails on for example, where most women wouldn’t care. I started seeing myself as two-spirited; before colonisation people saw women like me as very different, there was no gender binary and I want to bring that back.
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Marz
18 • They/She • United States
I’m Non-Binary but honestly, I’m an ethereal being. The reason I use They/She pronouns though is because I have the physical body of a woman and I have lived that experience but I feel like I’m more than just that, that’s where the They comes from. We’re just energy souls that have come to live the human experience.
option which gave me a feeling of imposter syndrome because I felt like it could never be me. It was never nurtured in my family. I had a struggle opening up to my mother about all of this because in my head she was always so open-minded but then to see her have all these limited views was quite eye-opening.
I never had any problems with my friends, I’ve always surrounded myself with queer people so it’s been super easy. Family on the other hand, generally accepted me, however… old minds don’t understand, it’s hard for them to comprehend. When I told my mum she sat there and cried saying “I’m crying over the death of my daughter”. Like girl, please? You’re doing the most? I had to learn to accept myself and that being enough and being in my own power was enough, that just brought this learned confidence of ‘I am who I am’ and that’s it. In my community I feel like being Non-Binary was never really an option, like I’m originally from Texas and all my family over there have extremely outdated views, like just to be gay was kind of a big thing. It was never an
Growing up in the UK I feel like it was a positive for me, because this is where I met all my Queer brothers and sisters, it nurtured that side of me definitely. I would have had a very confusing time growing up in Houston, I feel like it would have been worse. Being who I am is not a thing there. I’m happy I grew up here. I feel accepted in myself. There is so much self-doubt when it comes to gender identity, but I feel accepted by myself and that’s a huge start and I feel the same with my community that I’m building around myself. I’m definitely still learning. This is all such a process, but I’m feeling stronger. It’s all about self-love and self-appreciation, and acknowledgement is huge, it’s hugely important for me and for my journey.
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Feast Elliw Higham
Feast is a project based on relationships between families and mealtime. The fast pace of change has touched every aspect of human life, not least the idea of ‘mealtime’, once the centre of family life. Family dinner is physical, intimate and routine and the project aims to celebrate all that can be gained from this age-old way of eating but is perhaps in danger of being diminished by today’s distractions. We have endless choice, individual taste reigns supreme in this once collective activity. The use of fast food signifies the lack of connection despite being physically together in the same space. Where sharing food once brought family and friends together it is shown here in its processed, individualised, packaged state where one reaches over another without any sense of human connection or valuable interaction.
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Fairy Mentality Hettie Marsden
A Fairy Mentality is a series of self-portraits. Each of my characters are representations of parts of my own personality as fairies, whose fairy magic I have loved since childhood, seemingly bringing endless possibilities of life for me. This project is an exploration of what they mean to me now. The premise of my project is that although we adapt and change according to context we may bring with us costumes used as a kind of barrier against exposure of our own vulnerabilities. A Fairy Mentality helped me to explore my own personality traits in an attempt to connect all the pieces together.
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Born this Way Jasmine Price
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Queerness is not a phase and those who identify being a part of that community love who they love and feel the way they feel. We as a community shouldn’t have to make any part of ourselves less than real for the sake of what may be considered ‘ideal’ in a general and vague way by society at large, because there is an ideal version of us that isn’t something we should have to hide or keep locked up inside. Born this Way expresses the concept that as a community we shouldn’t have to be ashamed of who we are. This work helps to unpack my own personal experience coming to terms with my sexuality, confronting my issues with religion and shedding light on the blessings of my own uniqueness.
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The Park Kaitlin Spark
The Park is a series of observational images of the cultivated nature and scenery from within a childhood urban park. Unlike the days of my childhood, where the park was a source of safe adventure and play, as an adult I use the place as a meditative space, to unwind and contemplate my own growth and emotions. Returning as an adult has allowed me to appreciate this ‘natural’ environment, drawing my attention to the design and cultivation of the park but also to the view back out towards the society beyond the park’s edge, viewed at arm’s length from relative safety. While creating these images I stuck to a rule of pointing the camera to the outside of the park rather than looking in— to focus on the less tended (or manicured) textures of the plants, trees, shrubs, reeds and grasses that frame this space. This more wild growth brought to mind the complexity of my own emotions as multiple feelings and thoughts entangle themselves, like overgrown weeds in the landscape of my mind.
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Denouement Karolina Birger
Sea animals account for the highest numbers of animals killed yearly, statistics vary but it’s always significantly high. These are often killed unnecessarily or wastefully by the commercial fishing industry, or as a result of pollution of the sea from plastics and other toxins. The lack of regulation of these industries and others that drive overconsumption across the globe continues to allow this to happen, at alarming rates with no end in sight. Too many countries lack proper marine conservation laws and people can’t stop buying cheap products which puts these exceptionally beautiful and diverse creatures at such risk. Through colourful and vibrant images, this work attempts to highlight the beauty of these animals set against the stark reality of human disregard and greed. By creating a visual connection to these striking and precious beings I aim for the audience to immerse themselves into an imaginative and playful world, where real value can be seen.
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Driven By Her Josh Mallinson-Malvern
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Driven By Her explores the beauty of the human form whilst comparing it to the many angles and lines of cars. I wanted to expand my previous appreciation for cars and interrogate it by contrasting them to the hourglass figure and how such figures influenced car design. Initial inspiration for this idea stems back to 1961, when Raymond Loewy first used the bodies of models as reference when designing cars for the US market. To explore this concept, I created close-up imagery of cars and the human body focusing on these curves and details to make visible this comparison. The idea of solely using a female body as inspiration for the design of cars by today’s standards would certainly be seen as objectification, yet throughout this project I have attempted to subvert this common assumption making it ambiguous which bodies are being used and asking the viewer to think hard about the human figure, manufacturing and design.
while the glow left us Stan Barker
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while the glow left us renders scenes from the emotional landscape of the last two years, a terrain marked by the pressures of lockdown. With the physical distance between ourselves and our loved ones amplifying the pressures of isolation, our connection to the natural world and each other strained by restrictions, and our faith in the stability and security of society deeply shaken; for many the trauma of lockdown remains a black hole in the landscape of the mind, into which two lost years have vanished, never to be seen again. Simulating cinematic depictions of the paranormal in the place of the familiar human form so as to disarm the more sinister cultural implication of spirits, I aim to transform them into sympathetic witnesses to a tumultuous yet hushed era in our recent history. Through them, we’re offered a glimpse of the world not yet distant in the rear-view mirror — one of lost futures, a stagnant present and the spectre of yesterday.
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The bird song replaced the chatter of the street, in the echo of our absence. Time had long since stopped for us, but not for them. The world kept turning while we were left behind. Today’s routine the same as yesterday, to the same three songs over and over. Spring came but the glow wasn’t its passenger; its bloom unseen by our eyes, its warmth forgotten after the long winter of closed doors, absent any of the dwindling glimmer of autumn. Maybe next year, like they said last year. ‘Back to normal’ despite normal being a relic. It hasn’t been so long since normal, but without the glow it felt like a lifetime. Without the glow, we almost forgot.
The Impulsive Rambling That Focuses My Mind Daniel Witchell
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My images arise from an interest in the way that a flaneur interacts with the city, taking inspiration from how philosophers such as Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin would traverse the spaces around them. The work is a photographic journey showcasing the connection between the city and the walker, the observer. I have used my own interpretation of this to turn that approach into a physical body of work representing a journey through the city and surrounding areas, often going out with a camera and vague idea of where to head. Hunting for imperfections concealed within the built environment, a sense of melancholy is brought to the fore. In this work I have reduced abstract shapes and lines within the city to pure image.
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The Closer it Gets Morar Vlad
The Closer it Gets is a long-term body of work that evokes the myth of Icarus and, more specifically, the Icarus of Edward Field’s (1963) eponymous poem. Images from the island of Ikaria are combined with studio-based portraiture to enhance the mythical feel of these scenes. Using historical artworks such as Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (c.1560) by Pieter Bruegel and a contemporary overexposed and oversaturated aesthetic, this modern interpretation of the myth springs to life with less didactic purpose. Myths are meant to teach us basic lessons about our human condition and showcase either a way to overcome it or reasons why our behaviour is not practical. Likewise, these images direct the viewers’ attention to contemporary notions of what might constitute hubris or ambition. But instead of being used as a warning it aims at something much more speculative. It becomes something new. Getting your wings burned trying is better than looking up and wondering what could have been.
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Llofruddiaeth wrth y Bwrdd Gwaith Yn ystod y cyfnod clo, treuliais fy nyddiau’n gweithio drwy arwahanrwydd, drwy golled a thrwy ofn oedd yn gyffredin i bawb, gyda phos jig-so. Doedd gan y jig-so arbennig hwn ddim delwedd o sut y dylai edrych yn y diwedd. Yn hytrach, roedd llyfryn yn cyd-fynd ag ef. Roedd y llyfryn yn cynnwys hanes llofruddiaeth; amlinelliad o’r stori a nifer o bobl a allai fod wedi bod yn gyfrifol am y llofruddiaeth, ynghyd â bywgraffiadau byr. Chi fyddai’r ditectif, yn datrys dirgelwch y lladd. Y dasg gyntaf oedd rhoi darnau’r jig-so gyda’i gilydd, dod o hyd i liwiau a darnau oedd yn edrych fel rhai a allai berthyn i’w gilydd. Wedi i ddelwedd goll y safle troseddu gael ei datgelu, rhaid ymchwilio iddi a chwilio am gliwiau ynddi. Y dadansoddiad gweledol hwn ynghyd ag ymchwil ddamcaniaethol ar sail y llyfryn oedd yr offer creadigol a ddarparwyd i’ch helpu i ddarganfod ‘pwy a’i gwnaeth hi’. Pan oeddwn dros fy mhen a ’nghlustiau ym myd y llofruddiaeth, daeth y sylweddoliad bod darn ar goll â realiti yn ei ôl yn glep. Roedd y darn coll hwn yn adlewyrchu’r teimlad oedd gen i fy mod wedi colli rheolaeth dros bopeth yn ystod y cyfnod clo, a phopeth arall oedd ar goll o fy mywyd. Roeddwn i’n gweld eisiau fy ffrindiau, fy nheulu, ac, fel ymarferydd creadigol, roeddwn i’n gweld eisiau’r cymunedau a’r rhwydweithiau roeddwn i wedi’u ffurfio yn ystod fy ychydig flynyddoedd yn byw yng Nghymru. Treulio amser gyda darnau diriaethol jig-so wnes i i geisio gwneud iawn am golli cysylltiadau ffisegol. Trodd llawer o bobl at y cyfryngau cymdeithasol a phartïon Zoom i lenwi’r bwlch. Ac o dipyn i beth, wrth i fannau digidol ddechrau gwella, gwella hefyd wnaeth ein cymunedau ar-lein. Fel artistiaid, gwelsom yr anawsterau oedd yn wynebu’r diwydiant a gwelsom ein cyfoedion yn gorfod gweithio heb ofod creadigol. Ond cafodd cydweithfeydd eu creu, cafodd arddangosfeydd eu curadu ar-lein, a threfnwyd darlithoedd, sgyrsiau a chynadleddau nad oedd angen teithio i’w cyrraedd, na gwestai i aros ynddyn nhw nac amser o’r gwaith i’w mynychu. Ceisiodd artistiaid gefnogi eu cymuned drwy’r Addewid Cymorth Artistiaid, ymgyrch werthu i helpu eu cyfoedion drwy ddulliau ariannol ac algorithmig. Roedd y ffyrdd digidol newydd hyn o weithio yn dod ag unigolion at ei gilydd, ond yn ei sgil hefyd, fe ddechreuodd gwybodaeth ddod yn fwy hygyrch a daeth y ffynonellau gwybodaeth yn fwyfwy hyblyg, ac fe dyfon nhw. Dechreuodd cymunedau ar-lein ddod i’r amlwg gyda phoblogrwydd mawr y platfform delweddau symudol, Tiktok. Eisiau dysgu am seianodeipiau? Dyma fideo. Eisiau dysgu sut i gyflwyno modelau? Dyma fideo arall. Eisiau dysgu am ffilmiau cwlt a sinematograffeg yr 80au a 90au? Dyma gyfres gyfan o fideos! Ar y dechrau, roedd yn teimlo bod y sawl oedd yn creu’r cynnwys hwn yn rhannu’u gwybodaeth am eu bod yn caru eu maes ac am ledaenu gwybodaeth. Dyma oedd hanner y gwir. Roedd y crewyr cynnwys hyn mewn gwirionedd yn addysgwyr gwirfoddol, bwriadol ai peidio, yn cylchredeg gwybodaeth nad yw’n rhan o ddysgu gwyn, dosbarth canol, gwrywaidd, heteronormaidd safonol ysgolion. Roedd y sawl nad oedd gynt wedi gallu cael gafael ar y mathau hyn o wybodaeth yn rhwydd bellach yn cael eu cyflwyno i hanesion a diwylliannau lleiafrifol a gwybodaeth ddamcaniaethol gymhleth - wedi’u rhannu’n glipiau 15, 30 neu 60 eiliad hawdd eu treulio. Gwnaeth hyn dynnu sylw at y wybodaeth sydd ar goll mewn addysg orfodol ac at y mannau dysgu ffisegol oedd ar goll. Daeth hyn yn amlwg pan ddilynodd Sefydliadau Celf yr addysgwyr llawr gwlad hyn i’r llwyfan digidol, fel ffordd o gyrraedd cynulleidfaoedd newydd gan fod ymwelwyr yn absennol o neuaddau, orielau ac amgueddfeydd. Mae’r hyn a ddechreuodd fel ap llawn fideos dawnsio wedi troi’n ystorfa faith o wybodaeth a stiwardiaeth.
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Roedd y mannau digidol yn tyfu’n aruthrol, yn gyffrous ac yn bryfoclyd, ond eto’n achosi pryder mawr, am orfod eu llenwi’n gymaint â dim. Roedd y cynnydd hwn yn y gofod hefyd yn cyd-daro â chynnydd sydyn mewn ‘amser sbâr’. Yn hytrach na defnyddio’r amser hwn i orffwys a dianc rhag sgrolio arlein diddiwedd drwy newyddion drwg, fe’n hanogwyd i’w lenwi â hunanwella a byddem yn cael ein dwrdio pe baem yn ei wastraffu. Arweiniodd hyn at greu llwyth o waith, wedi’i yrru gan y rhethreg wenwynig hon am gynhyrchedd. Comisiynodd orielau artistiaid i wneud gwaith mewn ymateb i’r pandemig. Rhannodd ffotograffwyr waith drwy Instagram, a chreu archifau ar-lein o’r digwyddiad hanesyddol yr oeddem i gyd yn byw drwyddo. Dechreuodd yr archifau eu hunain gasglu gwaith yn ffocysu ar y pandemig. Dechreuon nhw fyfyrio o ddifrif ar eu harferion casglu eu hunain a mynd ati i ddad-drefedigaethu a hoyweiddio eu harchifau. Heriodd actifyddion, athrawon a haneswyr Tiktok strwythurau pŵer a gorfodwyd y sawl oedd yn dal yr allweddi i wybodaeth i archwilio eu darnau coll eu hunain. Mae llawer o’r tueddiadau, ffenomenau a sgyrsiau a ddaeth i’r amlwg yn ystod ein cyfnod dan glo wedi parhau i dyfu a ffynnu. Mae llawer ohonynt yn cael eu hadlewyrchu yng ngwaith carfan eleni. Mae’r myfyrwyr yn y cyhoeddiad hwn wedi bod yn y sefyllfa unigryw o fod wedi profi’r cyfnod cyn, yn ystod ac ar ôl y Clo Mawr yn ystod tair blynedd eu cwrs BA Ffotograffiaeth. Gan ddechrau blwyddyn un cyn y pandemig, yn addasu i fywyd ac astudiaethau prifysgol, yna addasu i’r cyfnod clo a gweithio ar wahân i gymuned ffisegol eu cyfoedion. Roedd rhai yn gorfod byw ar eu pennau eu hunain am y tro cyntaf erioed a’u gwthio i fywyd ynysig. Bu’n rhaid i rai symud yn ôl i gartrefi roedden nhw wedi meddwl eu bod wedi eu hen adael. Symudodd rhai i unedau cartrefi dwys, boed hynny gyda ffrindiau, dieithriaid neu’r teulu. I lawer, roedd y cyfnod clo yn anghyfforddus. Cafodd ein bydoedd eu troi wyneb i waered a chollwyd y darnau hynny fu’n gymaint rhan o’n bywydau bob dydd. Treuliodd llawer ohonom lawer o’n hamser yn chwilio am y darnau coll mewn niwl digon trwchus. Aeth y ddelwedd oedd gan lawer ohonom o’r hyn a fu’n ‘norm’ yn aneglur. I lawer roedd yn amhosib ei hadnabod a’i dwyn yn ôl i gof. Gwnaeth hyn ein gorfodi i adfyfyrio’n ddwys nid yn unig arnom ni ein hunain, ond ar ein grwpiau cymdeithasol, ein magwraeth, ein credoau gwleidyddol, ein gwerthoedd diwylliannol, ein hunaniaeth. Yn union fel fy jig-so heb ddelwedd, doedd dim i’n helpu i roi’r darnau’n ôl at ei gilydd. Ond yn ffodus, mae’r myfyrwyr hyn yn gorff o bobl greadigol. Yn eu blwyddyn olaf, dychwelwyd at addysgu wyneb yn wyneb, ar ôl y cyfnod clo a’r ‘normal newydd’, lle maent wedi treulio eu hamser yn creu eu delweddau eu hunain ar gyfer eu darnau terfynol. Mae llawer yn adfyfyrio ar y disgwrs a ddaeth i’r amlwg yn ystod y cyfnod clo drwy ymchwilio i emosiynau, hanesion a phrofiadau o fod ar yr ymylon. Roedd rhai’n cwestiynu’r hyn a fodolai o’r blaen - cyflymder bywyd, cynaliadwyedd a systemau cred. Roedd eraill yn adfyfyrio ar yr hunan a’r hyn a oedd ar goll ar lefel micro yn hytrach na macro, gan archwilio cydberthnasau mewnol drwy hunanfynegiant onest, a chydberthynasau allanol gyda phobl a gyda natur. Y delweddau terfynol, wedi’u paru ag ymchwil ddamcaniaethol gryno yn y testunau byr cysylltiedig, yw’r offer a ddarperir i helpu’r gwyliwr i weld y darlun mwy. Bydd yr hyn a ddewiswyd i’w gynnwys, ei gofnodi, ei gwestiynu a’i gadw yn y cyhoeddiad hwn yn helpu cynulleidfaoedd i ddeall yr hyn a fu ar goll ac sydd bellach wedi’i ganfod gan yr artistiaid.
Molly Caenwyn
Molly Caenwyn is a photographer and photographic historian currently based in Stockholm, Sweden. Molly’s practice explores materiality and a phenomenological approach to photography, through analogue and alternative photographic processes. Their work predominantly focuses on Eroticism, Intersectional Feminism and the Abject and holds a BA (hons) in Photography from the Arts University Bournemouth. Molly has a keen interest in conceptual theory and photographic history which led them to undertake an MA in Photographic History at De Montfort University (2017-2018); the following year Molly was awarded the Avril Rolph Bursary by the Women’s Archive Wales for research into Mary Dillwyn. Molly’s historical research currently focuses on early Welsh and Swedish female photographers. They regularly share this research through blog updates and are currently navigating the world of Tiktok to make Photographic History more accessible. Mae Molly Caenwyn yn ffotograffydd a hanesydd ffotograffeg sy’n byw yn Stockholm, Sweden ar hyn o bryd. Mae gwaith Molly yn archwilio materoliaeth ac ymagwedd ffenomenolegol at ffotograffiaeth, drwy brosesau ffotograffig analog ac amgen. Mae eu gwaith yn ffocysu’n bennaf ar Erotiaeth, Ffeministiaeth Drawstoriadol a’r Distadl ac enillodd radd BA (anrh) mewn Ffotograffiaeth o Brifysgol y Celfyddydau Bournemouth. Mae gan Molly ddiddordeb brwd mewn theori gysyniadol a hanes ffotograffig a arweiniodd at ymgymryd ag MA mewn Hanes Ffotograffig ym Mhrifysgol De Montfort (2017-2018); y flwyddyn ganlynol dyfarnwyd Bwrsariaeth Avril Rolph i Molly gan Archif Menywod Cymru am eu hymchwil i Mary Dillwyn. Ar hyn o bryd, mae ymchwil hanesyddol Molly yn ffocysu ar ffotograffwyr benywaidd cynnar o Gymru a Sweden. Mae Molly yn rhannu’r ymchwil hon yn rheolaidd drwy ddiweddariadau blog ac ar hyn o bryd maen nhw’n ymgyfarwyddo ymhellach â byd Tiktok er mwyn gwneud Hanes Ffotograffig yn fwy hygyrch.
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Published by / Cyhoeddwyd gan: University Of South Wales / Prifysgol De Cymru BA (Hons) Photography / BA (Anrh) Ffotograffiaeth University Of South Wales / Prifysgol De Cymru 86-88 Adam Street / 86-88 Stryd Adam Cardiff / Caerdydd CF24 2FN Copyright / Hawlfraint: © University Of South Wales / Prifysgol De Cymru, 2022 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publishers. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents act 1988. Cedwir pob hawl. Ni chaniateir atgynhyrchu unrhyw ran o’r cyhoeddiad hwn, na’i storio mewn system adalw, na’i drosglwyddo ar unrhyw ffurf neu drwy unrhyw fodd heb ganiatâd ysgrifenedig gan y cyhoeddwyr. Mae’r awduron wedi datgan eu hawliau i gael eu nodi fel awduron y gwaith hwn yn unol â Deddf Hawlfraint, Dyluniadau a Phatentau 1988. We would like to thank everybody who has supported this project / Hoffem ddiolch i bawb sydd wedi cefnogi’r prosiect hwn
ISBN: 978-1-909838-61-1 Printed by / Argraffwyd gan: Taylor Brothers, Bristol / Taylor Brothers, Bryste Published / Cyhoeddwyd: June 2022 / Mehefin 2022 Designers / Dylunwyr: Callum Lewis, Morar Vlad, Oliver Norcott Design Mentor / Mentor Dylunio: Oliver Norcott Creative Director / Cyfarwyddydd Creadigol: Peter Bobby Guest Writer / Awdur Gwadd: Molly Caenwyn Editors / Golygyddion: Callum Lewis, Morar Vlad, Magali Nougarède, Peter Bobby Text Editors / Golygyddion Testun: Kerry Woolman, Stan Barker, Dr Eileen Little Translation / Cyfieithydd: Cris Dafis Published in an edition of / Cyhoeddwyd mewn argraffiad o: 500
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