Fabricated by Claire Smith

from BA Photography · Looking for Missing Pieces · Graduate Publication 2022

The Closer it Gets by Morar Vlad

Fabricated

Claire Smith

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.