INTRODUCTION
Photography is arguably both the dominant art form and the most uniquely powerful means of communication for our time. Single photographs sell for millions of pounds, and millions of us use camera phones to capture and disseminate the latest look, location, relationship, environment, event, upheaval and disaster. Through their remarkable facility to appear as objective representations of the world, photographs shape the fabric of our society and exert a questionable influence on our identities and the circumstances of our existence. Our photographs,distributed through social media, inspire increasing anxiety about our self-image and self-worth. Images from our past are discovered, re-purposed and sometimes re-contextualised by the malicious to embarrass and harm us. It can be argued that without education in photography, we engage in image based communication without knowing the language; we miscommunicate, are misinterpreted and misunderstood. Yet, whilst reading and writing are central to schools’ curricula, there is no formal education in photography until high school or university. This astonishing catalogue demonstrates how those educated here in the Department of Photography and Film at the University of Westminster have attained the highest levels of skill in photographic communication, both conceptually and aesthetically. They join us in an international community of researchers, artists, professionals,academics and technical staff, to make new connections and innovative productions through our unique convergence of art, science, technology, theory, history and culture. Students of BA Photographic Arts and BA Photography achieve work of breathtaking quality and diversity. We see their command of all stages of the production process: from research and development of the idea to the final production in the most appropriate medium for the message - fine prints, books, screen based work, installation and campaign posters. They insist that we reconsider our views of nature, landscape, the body, skin, normality, disease, family, gender, desire, self-image, identity, home, domesticity, the city, subcultures, the workplace, imperialism, cultural identity, globalism, the banal, high art, the political landscape and the ontology of the photographic process. The study of photography affords students an experience that transcends a trajectory towards narrowly defined professions.
Here they develop creativity,analytical skills and control over the imagery that influences our view and shapes our identity. Those emerging from these courses find themselves to be innovators and leaders in the arts, cultural practices and industries, influential in image creation and social intervention. Look closely at these images, their purpose is not to be found by glancing at the surface of the print or screen. Dwell on them and they will thrill and challenge you. Andy Golding Head of Department, Photography and Film, westminsterphotography.co.uk
EXHIBITORS
Bettina Adela
Jack Carvosso
Laura Aguilar
Helene Gisselmann Christiansen
Temitayo Allison
Kevin Couchman
Chloe Athanasopoulou
Natalie de la Mare
Robert Attard
Martin Dixon
avon A. Bashida
Sarah England
Sara Bertolasi
Luca Farinelli
MAX BIRDITT
Frances Foni
jane Bradford
Samantha Gleeson
Ruth Bridget Brennan
Kerimcan Goren
James Brown
Richard Grice
Ben Burfitt
Hayden Highland
Meg Burns
Jack Hirons
Cal Byrne
Zara N. Hoshi
Cristina Calvo
Sophie Iona
Kyra Campbell
Malachi Kelly
Vladislav Kolev
Valerie Pinto
Riikka Lahti
Lewis Rhodes
Fanny Landstrom
Hilary Rock
Julie Lauritzen
Poppy Roy
Owen Lewis
Valérie Sieyes
Bob Marsden
Charlotte Cassidy Simms
Donna McKeown
Lewis Simpson
Daniel Meads
Brenda Spooner
Alice Mercier
Rhiannon Stanford
Steffen Michels
Christina Stohn
Arran Milne
Natascha Urso
Konstantin Mitrokhov
Egle Usonyte
Maddie Nevzat
Lucy Waring
Tram Phuong Nguyen
Alexander Wells
Kavan Olbison
Simon Westgate
Fenris Oswin
Pagan Wicks
Bettina Adela
In My Own Skin Series of 4 prints, with audio In My Own Skin focuses on 5 young women who have no relation to each other. This project looks into their lives and invites others to identify the similarities and differences between them. The young women share with us their stories of self-image and sexual identity.
E: bettinaadela@yahoo.co.uk
Laura Aguilar
The Chronicler Series of 4 prints The majority of my childhood memories involve the figure of my father with whom I spent most of my time. He was known as a man who knew right from wrong, a loving husband and a good father. My mother was ten years older than my dad and considered herself to be a very fortunate woman. She was totally in love with him. My sister and I knew a different truth from my mum’s. As a child, dreaming was an escape from reality, as well as reminder of it. E: raliuga_arual@hotmail.com
Temitayo Allison
Sensual Book, series of 6 prints My work is centred on our relationship with our bodies amid public scrutiny of the body image. It focuses upon the representation of the body and its various interpretations; it explores the portrayal of individuals and the ways in which these representations may be manipulated. It also expresses the comfort of being within an enclosed and intimate surrounding, allowing freedom and liberation to flow naturally from the human form.Â
Chloe Athanasopoulou
Memory of Oblivion Installation: 6 framed works, 2 video loops You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces, to realize that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all... Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action. Without it we are nothing‌ Luis Bunuel, My Last Sigh (1983) The project deals with personal memories from a past relationship and their gradual loss, caused by trauma and the inescapable passing of time.  E: chloeath@gmail.com
Robert Attard
Genderfuck Series of 8 prints The idea for this series stems from a fascination with drag culture and how it pushes the boundaries of gender roles and stereotypes by mocking the idea of masculinity and femininity, and the way they are depicted in the media. The series Genderfuck challenges these ideas around gender even further by putting men who would consider themselves as masculine in full drag for the first time. E: contact@robertattard.com
Avon A. Bashida
A Problem with Continuity Installation: Bed, book, 3 large prints, audio Trying to be the same as everyone else is the leap that left me vanishing. The world of the organized is the opposite of mine. Actually, the truth is that I am not disorganized; there is an order to my chaos E: avonbashida@gmail.com www.avonbashida.com
A Problem with Continuity
Sara Bertolasi
(ArD) Land Series of 8 prints The mountain region of the Alpujarras in Andalucía is in the south-eastern part of the Sierra Nevada. In 711, the Moors invaded the land, but with the conquest of Granada by the Catholic Kings, the Muslims were forced to accept Christian baptism or flee. Those who chose to stay became known as Moriscos. In 1567 a harsh decree from King Philip II banned Arabic names, dress and speech, sparking an uprising which led to two years of guerrilla warfare culminating in the ‘War of Alpujarras’. As a consequence many Moriscos were executed and others forced to leave the country. On the slopes of these mountains are strings of tiny villages which housed the remnants of Spain’s last Muslim communities. This land here is infused with mysticism and legend. People here believe that the souls who died in The Alpujarras war were reborn in the form of trees. E: rapa_nui_74@yahoo.it
MAX Birditt
Series of 5 prints The Austrian writer Peter Handke inspired me to explore natural phenomena. Handke’s descriptions are so detailed that a clear photographic quality is evoked by them. I have used his writings as a basis to pay avid attention to what can be easily passed by and to photograph these details in the clearest possible way. The photographs reflect concentration and stillness, key themes that run throughout Handke’s work. Each photograph represents this connection with Handke’s writing. To read Handke is to poetically engage in ones surroundings.
Jane Bradford
Knick Knack Series of 5 diptychs In Knick Knack, traditional figurative sculpture is positioned alongside personal sculptures found or made in my home. It is a quiet dialogue between the past and present definition of sculpture that has shifted over time, creating a hidden relationship and an alignment of traditional and new interpretations. Viewed side by side, the two very different unconnected portrayals of sculpture become connected. Knick Knack realises an opportunity to experience both; whilst jarring and engaging with each other they create a cultural narrative reflecting two very different eras in time. This series of diptychs not only depicts the dramatic change this medium has experienced, but can also reflect changes in other areas of art. E: janebradford@virginmedia.com www.janebradford.co.uk
Ruth Bridget Brennan
The Ongoing Photograph, 2014 Installation: 1 large framed print, 7 vitrines with polaroids Rather than presenting, as Geoff Dyer does in The Ongoing Moment, a number of ‘looks’ at a subject – a repeated moment seen through different eyes, The Ongoing Photograph presents one vision looking a number of times. Rather than looking outwardly to capture a human moment, this body of work looks inwardly, extratemporally, to meditate on the nature of the photograph. The project developed from the initial use of the Polaroid as the finished piece and came to represent the photographer qua photographer and the relationship between the photographers’ process, investigation of the photograph, and exploration of the photographic medium. It became an obsession over the image – how an idea consumes you – where you are caught chasing the impossibility of control and perfection and where this pursuit takes you beyond the practical, photographic uses of objects. E: ruth.b.brennan@gmail.com www.ruthbridget.com
James Brown
Palm of the Hand Book with 6 prints I look down to see the lines running across my palm. No matter how many times I look, I’m always convinced that they are not the same ones I saw yesterday. I try hard to concentrate on them and make a map of them in my mind. It keeps jumping. Under the heat in this room, I close my eyes and I drift off. I think of a bird, down at the bottom of a pit. It flies up towards the fleck of light that hangs high above. I follow the bird, moving fast, and burst through into the lightness with it. E: info@jamesmabrown.com www.jamesmabrown.com
Ben Burfitt
I THANK THE LORD I’M ALIVE (2014) Book with 5 prints E: benburfitt@hotmail.com www.benburfitt.com
pidgin-cinema.tumblr.com
Meg Burns
Florals Series of 5 prints The fashion editorial series takes its inspiration from the floral clothing, hair and makeup of the ‘70s
Cal Byrne
Ten Thousand and Eighty 1 Large print, object on plinth Unlike an analogue photograph, a digital image has no physical relationship to the scene it depicts, it is simply information. Without a computer capable of deciphering and displaying this information, the image does not exist. The source photograph, Bliss by Charles O’Rear, is the default computer wallpaper of Windows XP. It is considered to be the most viewed photograph of all time. On the 8th of April this year Microsoft put an end to 12 years of support for Windows XP. This represented the end of an operating system that was once the most widely used in the world. The aim of this project was to print digital photographic information without any digital technology. The process used to print this piece did not involve any negatives or other conventional printing methods. Instead, everything you see was created through a complicated process of dodging and burning, using nothing but a wooden frame, dice, bamboo skewers, a sheet of clear acrylic and a colour enlarger (light bulb with an adjustable filter mechanism). This piece consists of 126 individual photograms each containing 80 ‘pixels’ and took a total of 114 hours to print E: cnjbyrne@gmail.com
Cristina Calvo
A Disappointed Woman Installation: book, video and audio In 2012, I received a diagnosis of remitting-relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a turning point in my life. The unpredictability of the disease and the fear for an uncertain future submerged me into an unhealthy psychological state of disbelief and denial. The anxiety and frustration of confronting this new situation triggered the need to analyse and research MS, not only at a clinical level, but also the sociocultural means of dealing with this chronic disease. This body of work represents an emotional exploration and the journey from uncontrollable angst and mental dissent to acceptance and understanding of living with MS. The work is composed of 2 pieces. A Disappointed Woman video piece presents a visual allegory of the remitting-relapsing type of MS. The Journal of a Disappointed Woman narrates the journey towards personal acceptance by means of intimate thoughts and literature. E: contact@cristinacalvophotography.com www.cristinacalvophotography.com
Kyra J Campbell
Fusion 10 prints in various sizes Hong Kong cannot be put neatly into a box. As you soon as you think you’ve found its identity, it surprises you. Old and new sit side-by-side, working together to create the skeleton of Hong Kong. It’s a city where there is a small red shrine and a MacDonalds on every corner. They say once Hong Kong has you, she never lets you go. E: kyra_jane85@hotmail.com
Jack Carvosso
Sorry I Was Miles Away Installation: framed and unframed prints in various sizes Sorry I Was Miles Away unfolded through performing solitary acts and creating sculptural forms that explore the paradigms of photography. Often involving carefully composed performances and spontaneous feats of balance, the project disrupts the fabric of the everyday to create short narratives that lie on the boundaries of fact and fiction. Within the images there emerges notions of temporality with an acute focus on aspects of human finitude. They can appear ridiculous, pointless and seemingly useless, but that’s just how they provoke questions towards our relationship with everyday life. For once the log falls, when the cards collapse and the wet footprints disappear, all will continue, undisturbed by their presence and fade back into reality. E: jack.carvosso@gmail.com www.jackcarvosso.com
Balancing Axe
Helene Gisselmann Christiansen
Otherworld 9 framed prints ‘I feel that there is much to be said for the Celtic belief that the souls of those whom we have lost are held captive in some inferior being, in an animal, in a plant, in some inanimate object, and thus effectively lost to us until the day (which to many never comes) when we happen to pass by the tree or to obtain possession of the object which forms their prison. Then they start and tremble, they call us by our name, and as soon as we have recognised them the spell is broken. Delivered by us, they have overcome death and return to share our life… And it depends on chance whether or not we come upon this object before we ourselves must die.’ Swann’s Way, Marcel Proust, (1913) E: gisselmannphoto@gmail.com www.helenegisselmann.com
Kevin Couchman
Acid Dream/Liquid Sky Book/magazine, 3 prints Acid Dream/Liquid Sky is an attempt at illustrating the journey of the artist on both a geographcal as well as a personal level. As we turn the pages of this book we travel from the photographer’s home country of Belgium to the cities of Berlin and London. Paralleling this progression between different locations is the artist’s own voyage from teenage life into adulthood. E: kevin_9213@hotmail.com
Natalie de la Mare
Audience HD video projection A video installation consisting of over two hundred still photographs, fading one into another, capturing the cinema auditorium during a film screening, from the moments before the audience enter, to the time that they depart. With the rise of digital technology, the contemporary world has seen the shared viewing experience dissipate. Technological progress promises to bring people together, yet the advancement also brings the loss of physical communities in favour of their virtual alternative. The project explores both the relationship of the individual to the audience of which they are a part and their reaction to the cinematic experience. E: missdelamare@hotmail.co.uk
Still from Video Installation Audience.
Martin Dixon
Estate of Mind Book, 5 prints Council estates suffer from bad press – no longer the planner’s utopian dream they’re now the tabloids’ feral nightmare, caught in the obscene rush to erase the social and herald the investment. Meanwhile, lives are lived as days go by and the best way to see how things are is to take a walk and take a look; to stand and ponder the estate map’s message – You Are Here. In 1997 I moved onto the Tabard Gardens Estate in south London. In 2014 I walked the estate with the writer Christopher Jones and photographed it as it moved into spring. E: martin@mdx.org.uk www.martindixon.org.uk
Estate of Mind
Sarah ENGLAND
The Pipe Dream Series of 8 prints The Pipe Dream explores analogue methods and double exposures to create surreal dreamscapes. This intimate series of images invites the viewer into haunted landscapes of the otherworldly. The project has been influenced by folklore and storytelling of the 19th century and touches on how opium use impacted writers and creativity generally during this period. Subsequently, many surrealist writers explored a recurring theme of dream worlds, doubles and mirrors, which echoed the attractions and fears that the first photographic media excited. This series highlights the uncanny phenomenon of photography alongside our cultural history and development of mythology, story-telling and imagination. E: sarah@sarah-england.com
LUCA FARINELLI
In a cafĂŠ, monday morning, over a hundred years later Book, 3 prints Years later, I remembered. The dull red room was just moments away from me. (I reached out and opened the door) A girl in a nightgown was nattering over the phone. An old man was sat on the sofa, one arm hanging lasciviously from the armrest, his face indefinite. Drawing from personal experience, In a cafĂŠ is a journey through a melancholy lost age, exploring the world of introspective memory. The juxtaposition of text and photographs, seemingly unrelated to one another, mirrors the relationship between the protagonist and the past, which is seen as both a safe shelter and a dystopian world. E: info@lucafarinelli.co.uk www.lucafarinelli.co.uk
Frances Foni
Mimesis Of Memory Series of 8 prints Mimesis Of Memory is an introspective photographic project that took place in Italy, which has encouraged the understanding of the meaning of spaces, objects and the narratives they construct within the means of memory. Space becomes an integrated part of an individual meaning, and objects become one of the main elements that resemble the existence of past memories. Moreover, the series of images provoke the identification of how each one of us has their own ownership of space, and the appropriation of their own narratives. The images are miming a journey, in which we find the representation of the loss of a father, homage to tradition and how the importance of roots engrave the advent of the future, established by the events of the past.
Samantha Gleeson
Flaws Series of 5 prints Through the use of large format photography the sitter is unable to hide their flaws. In a culture obsessed with perfection, symmetry is traditionally associated with our perception of beauty. This project seeks to transform the sitter’s personal insecurities into a kaleidoscope of colour, shapes and form. In this way, their insecurities are transformed into a large-scale celebration of beauty E: samanthaanngleeson@gmail.com
Jason Morales
Kerimcan Goren
Lines of Flight 5 large prints Traditionally, architecture is used to control the movement of people through space. Within a more corporate environment, designs with greater aesthetic flourishes are frequently employed to display power and status. Such designs can include the likes of slanted walls, undulated sculptures or simply polished ledges. However, as such obstacles are built to meet the standards of one community, a culture from the other end of the spectrum is quickly drawn. Skateboarders engage with their practice by applying their creativity to a range of terrains. Textured walls can be surfed like steep waves and benches can be adjusted to grind and slide via the diffusion of candle wax. In light of this, such locations often develop popularity within this culture and become the site of considerable friction between skateboarders and its occupiers. Lines of Flight concentrates on this conflict of reterritorialisation and studies the various skated surfaces found within the urban landscape of London. E:info@kerimcangoren.com www.kerimcangoren.com
Richard Grice
Richard 15 to 23 Series of 9 prints Richard 15 to 23 is a self-portrait project looking at the personas I have created since the age of 15. They began during a time of self-exploration into defining myself as a gay man in a small town in North Wales. During this period I moved between various social groups and built up personas to fit into them. The project deals with the idea of innocence and naivety of gay men during the stages of becoming comfortable with their sexuality. Gay dating apps have played a big role in my own exploration of this
E:richard.grice@live.com
Hayden highland
Subconscious Desire 3 prints This project explores the dangers of mass media imagery and the effect it can subconsciously have on us, by removing the physical details that make us different from one another. E:haydenhighland@me.com www.haydenhighland.com
The Cover Man
Jack Hirons
Silver Loop B&W 16mm film loop (08mins 22secs), variable dimensions Silver Loop is a 16mm film installation that highlights the material wealth of analogue image making. Throughout the 20th century silver has been instrumental to the understanding of our world because of its quality to be sensitive to light when combined with other chemicals, thus allowing a mechanical depiction to be produced. The looped film presents the closed narrative of a 1000 troy-ounce silver bar being processed into photographic film, to silver being recovered from photographic film and returned to a 1000 troy-ounce bar. E: hironsjm@gmail.com www.jackhirons.com
zara n. hoshi
The Human Tour 3 large prints
SOPHIE iona
Worn In/Worn Out Loose-leaf magazine style publication, 3 prints Fast fashion has taken the high street by storm, changing the way we interact and respond to clothing. This change has impacted more than the bulging rails of our wardrobes, and the subsequently small financial implications on our wallets. The disposable pace of high street fashion is having a ripple effect on the environment, indicating we could soon be outlived by our clothing. By utilising a bold and saturated approach to fashion still life, Worn In/Worn Out aims to ask the viewer to simply consider their clothing in terms of its material properties instead of their instant appeal. E:sophieionaread@gmail.com
72% Cotton, 27% Polyester, 1% Elastine/100% Multi
Malachi Kelly
Youth Series of 5 prints Places define people, as people define a place. We can’t separate a person from their context (where they grew up and the life that they lead) just as we can’t separate the perceptions we form of that person from the influence of our own background or our current environment. E: Malachikelly1@gmail.com
Vladislav Kolev
Illuminated Series of 5 prints Illuminated is a series of portraits that examines our interaction with technology and its authority in the domestic setting. I photographed individuals in the intimacy of their home environment lit only by the glow of their television screens. E: valdesko@ymail.com
Riikka Lahti
Mummola Book, 5 prints Mummola (meaning “grandparent’s house” in English) is about my grandmother’s childhood home in Saarilampi, a small village in Rautalampi, Finland. The house has been completely abandoned for over 30 years, yet one can still find items which were left behind, like my great-grand father’s Sunday coat or his morning coffee cup. This body of work conveys the themes of memory and the passage of time E: riikka.lahti@hotmail.com
FANNY LANDSTROM
ON BEING/(LEARNING HOW TO BE) 7 screen video piece
E: falandstrom@gmail.com www.fannylandstrom.com
Julie Lauritzen
My neighbour Jozsef Franko Book, 1 print Taken from the book My neighbour Jozsef Franko, the images and texts delve into the world of the 88 year old Hungarian man I have known for 138 days, who has read my palm 32 times and who allowed me into the sanctuary of his home and told me his story. E: contact@julielauritzen.com
Owen Lewis
British Landscape Series of 5 prints This work is a combination of images from the archive of the Egyptian Exploration Society and the artist’s own photographs of the Sinai. It comments on the current situation in the country and opens up a dialogue between colonial rule throughout the 19th century and the present day.
Bob Marsden
MND Series of 5 prints Three of the people in this series of images will almost certainly die from complications of Motor Neurone Disease (MND) within the next two years. From diagnosis to death the median time is 39 months. No race, sex or age group except for childhood seems to be spared. At any one time there are some 5000 people living with MND in the UK. It is not only the effect on the sufferer of the gradual loss of the ability to look after themselves in the most basic and personal sense, but also on the changed and strained relationships within the close family. Medical Research is showing increasing evidence for a genetic basis in most, if not all cases. As our genes reveal themselves in all aspects of ourselves and our appearance, it is possible that these photographs also reveal this devastating illness. E: bobandraz@btinternet.com www.bobmarsdenphotography.me.uk
Donna McKeown
Melody Book, 1 large print, 12 polaroids Melody is my daughter who has Down’s syndrome. This has resulted in delayed communication in the way that we know and understand. My book is an insight into her world, her feelings and her personality. She has her own means of communication and expression which she diligently creates on a daily basis, writing down her thoughts, stories and dreams in her own language. Although we do not understand it, she will, when the mood takes her, translate it. I have collaborated with Melody using Polaroid’s, digital images, her script and quotes. Using Polaroids was a way of engaging her in the process and keeping her attention. This book is a humorous and honest insight into her life. E: donnalamarr23@gmail.com
Daniel Meads
Sedimentary Tropes Installation: 3D photographic sculpture, 4 screens, 3 prints The warrior, the victim, the athlete and the leader are a few of the motifs that run through the history of art. These tropes were created through the repeated layering of information and ideas. The sedimentation of which formed them into instantly understandable, predefined characters
E: daniel.meads85@gmail.com
Alice Mercier
Late Afternoon: A Paper Film Book, 4 prints This is a story set over one afternoon, told in fleeting moments through fiction and photographs. from chapter 01 A man with delicate features but a hard expression leant against his front door. He had narrow green eyes and wore a loose-fitting white shirt. Smoke rolled out of his mouth as he stared down, past the porch steps, at an invisible dot on the pavement. from chapter 13 His parents wait for him at home. The father finishes off a bottle of water; the mother wanders in and out of rooms. They pretend not to worry yet, but panic has begun to creep through every window. alicefrombefore@gmail.com
Steffen Michels
#FFF8E7* Installation: Blacked out room, 12 prints, binoculars Along with a reproduction of a 19th century celestial planisphere, this body of work comprises twelve images depicting constellations of moles on the skin of twelve different people. Each corner of a dimmed room features three small prints hung up high to be explored through a pair of binoculars. Despite the scientific approach to terrestrial and astronomical documentation through the inclusion of Earth and celestial co-ordinates, the installation seeks to establish an emotive appreciation of the reciprocal way constellations of moles on the skin and stars in the night sky resemble one another. A poetic interplay between the biggest and furthest objects and the comparatively minuscule human body alludes to the idea of a mutual history and ultimately, universal belonging. *Hex triplet of Cosmic Latte, the skin-like, average colour of the universe determined in a survey measuring the light emitted by over 200,000 galaxies
E: steffenmichels@ymail.com steffenmichels.com
ARRAN MILNE
Phōs-obscuro (light – dark) Large framed prints Light sets the boundaries for the faculty of sight. It is the agency our vision relies on to see the world. Light is also perceived with an awareness of its antonym, darkness. Light travels for miles through the vacuum of outer space imperceptible to the eye, only once light pierces the atmosphere and reflects off airborne dust do we see a blue sky. The invention of photography is a pigment for the medium of light. The depiction of light extends from a deep black to an over-exposed white. These polar opposites represent the area where an image can be seen. In Light-Dark the limitations fixed upon this technology are exploited to overcome the medium’s implied boundaries. This relationship between light and the optical technology is reflected through the chemistry within the material substrate, and highlights the medium’s failings as well as its potential to delve beyond representation. E: arranlmilne@gmail.com www.arranmilne.com
Flare 1 2014 (Ilford HP5 4x5 film)
Konstantin Mitrokhov
Get a Bodysuit Book, 1 print The current surge in popularity of tattooing will probably fade over time, leaving thousands of people with permanent marks on their skin. It is not only the idea of leaving a physical trace of past decisions on your body but the ritual itself that makes tattooing so appealing to many. The book is a visual meditation on pain. The tension between the ineffability of personal experience of getting a tattoo and empathy towards the person under the needle defines the core of the story. The photographs are supported by the tattooist’s monologue. E: info@mitrokhov.com
Maddie Nevzat
xii Series of 5 prints My project explores the change and transition from childhood to adolescence. I wanted to illustrate the contemporary physical and psychological complexities of teenage experience, and document the pressure that young girls face as they grow up. E: maddienevzat@hotmail.co.uk
Trâm PhU’O’Ng NguyEn
Sông/Song Book, printed hanging screens Here, a river flows / Visual words I cannot speak / Between soft, white pages . E: tramnguyenp@gmail.com www.nguyenptram.com
KAVAN OLBISON
Heroine Couture I large print Through the staging of multiple thematic narratives, this project aims to explore the imaginative and fantastical possibilities of fashion photography. Each collection of images is inspired directly by the style and intention of each respective fashion designer, and strives to communicate their unique brand and identity through a vibrant and playful use of colour, coupled with a bold and memorable narrative. E: kavanolbison@mail.com www.k-ophoto.com
Fenris Oswin
Steampunk Now Book, 5 prints A series of photographs that captures the UK Steampunk culture as it is at this moment. It is a young sub-culture that is finding its feet in the ‘real world’ where it is developing its own styles of costume and design which will in time change as the sub-culture becomes more popular. E: fenrisoswin@gmail.com www.fenris.co.uk.
VALERIE PINTO
Saint Germain des Fosses, 2 minutes stop Series of 6 prints This series of discrete images sends me back to my childhood, which I spent in a remote area of the French countryside. They allude, in particular, to a journey I used to make twice a week between my parents’ home and Lyon to attend a boarding school. At the time, this trip felt like quite an adventure, most probably because of my youth (I was 13 years old) and inexperience. One of my parents, usually my mother, would drive me to the nearest railway station, Saint Germain des Fosses, from where I would continue on to the final destination by myself.This project relates to the first part of this journey; its sole value stems from the personal significance that it embodies. Although the trip was, most of the time, uneventful, it is emotionally charged for me. It culminated in the imminent departure of the train which, in my mind, was associated with separation from my loved ones. This trip can be seen as an allegory to adulthood. E: valerie.pinto@btinternet.com
Lewis Rhodes
Bangers Series of 10 prints IIn the 1960’s, a race promoter observed that crashes were the most exciting part of any race meeting. From this, an entire sport of Banger Racing was born. Today, each weekend across the UK, racers as young as thirteen limp out onto dirt tracks and disused stadiums in an array of vehicles salvaged from scrapyards and back gardens; stripped to the core and rebuilt for their destruction. Winners are awarded cash prizes, but money isn’t a concern of the men on the track. It’s the adrenaline and heated rivalry between racers that keeps the tradition alive. Bangers documents the sport over a number of months, observing the carnage on and off the track, and the people behind it. E: lrhodesphoto@gmail.com
HILARY ROCK
LAURA 1 large print Photographing roses had an emotional beginning for me, at a time when my mother’s health had become very fragile. Flowers continue to evoke poignant feelings and provide inspiration for my work. E: hilary@hilaryrock.co.uk www.hilaryrock.co.uk
Poppy Roy
Indefinite Progress Installation: 1 Large Print, Plant pot with flowers Traditionally within the family unit, the camera acts as a passive narrator helping to form familial ties, shaping the memories of our own narratives and constructing the social space and cultural meaning of our identity. Indefinite Progress investigates a loss within this unit through a collection of objects and personal photographs representative of their memory and existence. E: poppyroy29@yahoo.com
Valérie Sieyes
My Kitchen 3 prints Imagination augments the value of reality… to give poetic space to an object is to give it more space than it has objectively, or rather, to follow the expansion of it’s intimate space. The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard, In this project My Kitchen, I am trying to create a different space, a dreamy place with an immense horizon and a diffused light. All the images of this project have been shot in my kitchen, and they are all images of domestic objects. E: valerie.sieyes@mac.com www.valeriesieyes.com
Charlotte Cassidy Simms
The Space Inside The Grid 3 prints The space inside the grid represents the part of the subject’s body which they feel the opposite sex has appropriated from them and henceforth no longer belongs to them. The grid itself represents the divide between genders. E: charlottecassidysimms@hotmail.co.uk
Lewis Simpson
British Subculture 3 framed prints London houses a diverse community of subcultures, with connections spreading out across the country. British Subculture makes use of period photographic techniques to chime with the origins of these movements. The images promote the fashion and lifestyles of these cultures as they are today. The final portraits series offers a unique insight into a Britain rarely seen. E: lewissimpson@me.com
Brenda Spooner
Just Take Two Four Times a Day Series of 5 prints This series of prints portrays the photographer’s continuing journey to recovery after several operations over the last 7 years. The Correspondence records just some of the letters that have been kept; letters of communication with consultants, physiotherapists and medical insurers. E: brenda@brendaspooner.com www.brendaspooner.com
The Correspondence
Rhiannon Stanford
Strata Series of 8 lightboxes What the Photograph reproduces to infinity has occurred only once: the Photograph mechanically repeats what could never be repeated existentially. Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography, Roland Barthes In 1826 the first permanent photograph was taken by Joseph NiÊpce, an eight-hour exposure depicting the view from an upstairs window. Since then, the photographic image has been regarded as a physical remnant of moments in time. Strata looks into photography’s relationship with time, its physicality and the connection between still and moving image E: rhiannon.b.stanford@gmail.com www.rhistanford.co.uk
CHRISTINA STOHN
Probe [Until Unproductive] Installation: Book, 3 prints, video with audio This body of work interrogates the interface between the impersonal terrain of a call centre and its human components. Probe [Until Unproductive] is a command on the corporation’s computer screens that call centre agents are strictly required to adhere to whilst conducting telephone interviews. These repetitive structures aim to deliver consistent ‘quality’ control, to enforce productivity and cost efficiency. Workers become automated, anonymous agents in this institutionalised system, repeating prescribed modes of enquiry to the respondents. Their interchangeability is reflected in the numbered booths, lined up in identical rows. E: c.stohn@gmail.com
Natascha Urso
She Once Was. Series of 8 prints She Once Was is a project that was born out of an inherent fascination with my Grandma whom I have never known yet have always been compared to throughout my life. She has been kept alive by family and an extensive archive of photographs which have been my only point of reference and have been responsible for shaping the image I have of her. Most recently, when looking through this archive I noticed how every picture sees her posed, poised and prepared for the camera. I was intrigued by the thought that she put on a certain character for the camera while also being at a loss as to whether I was seeing the real her. This spurred on a fascination to see if I could discover her true nature solely through photographs and in turn possibly understand the binding connection I feel towards a woman I have never met. E: taschaurso@yahoo.com
Egle UsonytE
Domus Est Uber Cor Est Installation: Book, 5 prints, audio with sensors People coming to live in the UK have different expectations, dreams and goals. We all have our own reasons for leaving our homelands. Living abroad, away from our birthplace, raises diverse questions related to a very particular emotion; the feeling of ‘Home’. We all have a unique understanding of what home means to us E: eglyte@gmail.com
Lucy Waring
Wear your heart on your sleeve Series of 5 prints Principles can become a burden in a privileged society. It is easy to become defined by the issues we are passionate about and yet be unable to be consistently true to them. Is it possible to avoid hypocrisy in every aspect of our lives in such a diverse and complicated social landscape? The imposed structure of our daily lives can undermine our core beliefs. Are those principles more of a brand of shame than a mantra for the way we live? E: Lucy.waring@live.co.uk
Alexander Wells
Five Pseudographs Series of 5 prints This series of images depicts five recreations of pre-existing found colour slides. By reconstructing these forgotten photographs I have given them new existence. I have brought them to the surface for observation and given them a new purpose. All images are 11cm wide. E: wellsago@yahoo.co.uk
Blackburn Meadows Power Station
Simon Westgate
3 large banners The language of advertising is an all-pervasive one, in London we are in a saturated world of words and rhetoric. The messages that are offered by this myriad of text and images suggest lifestyle choices that conform to their own idea of what is right. We can claim these spaces back, the words and form are set out for us to exploit, to hide our own message in plain sight. We can use their words to speak out, their style to refute their ideology. E: simon@bythelightdivided.com
Pagan Wicks
Album Book, 3 prints Album reflects on personal images from home in the form of polaroids. The series developed from a longing for home; it considers the idea of home as more than a physical place. The images featured in the work are either years old or very recent. It is a homage to the past expressed in the present. E: p.wicks.photographic@gmail.com
STUDYING PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER:
THE DEGREE SHOW EXHIBITION CATALOGUE INCLUDES WORK FROM THESE COURSES:
BA Photography (4 years part-time) This course is the only four-year degree in Photography in the UK and it is aimed at school leavers and mature applicants who use photography in their work and are concerned with issues of photographic representation. The course is designed to equip students with a range of critical skills for understanding the uses, functions and meanings of images in relation to art, society and culture. The course is taught one day a week for four years with further access to facilities. Prior experience or learning may be credited, and applicants with exceptionally advanced qualifications or experience may be granted admission at Credit Level 5 of the degree. CAREERS Many of our graduates go on to work as photographers and photographic artists or pursue a range of careers within the broader photographic sectors, such as picture editors and researchers, designers, magazine editors, museum and gallery curators, writers, teachers and community project workers and many go on to postgraduate study. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS Applicants must demonstrate a strong interest in both the practical and theory side of the course, have a high standard of oral and written English and submit a portfolio. A short essay may be set for applicants interviewed. T +44 (0)20 7911 5000 E course-enquiries@westminster.ac.uk westminster.ac.uk/photography
For further details see: http://www.westminsterphotography.co.uk
BA Photographic Arts (full-time) This course combines creative practice with the theoretical and critical study of photography and related media. The course is unique in placing an equal emphasis on Practice and Theory and on encouraging the integration of written and visual research. It is designed to equip students with a range of critical skills for understanding the uses, functions and meanings of images in relation to art, society and culture. Students also learn to produce image based work in a range of media, and to communicate their ideas with sensitivity to audience, purpose and context. As well as our experienced and highly respected teaching staff, the course is supported by a range of visiting lecturers and guest speakers. CAREERS Graduates go into a wide range of photography related careers including: freelance photography, picture editing, picture research, photography education, curating, publishing, digital image processing, image management and postgraduate study. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS Applicants must demonstrate a strong interest in both the practical and theory side of the course, have a high standard of oral and written English and submit a portfolio. A short essay may be set for applicants interviewed. T +44 (0)20 7911 5000 E course-enquiries@westminster.ac.uk westminster.ac.uk/photography
For further details see: http://www.westminsterphotography.co.uk
OTHER PHOTOGRAPHY RELATED COURSES OFFERED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER:
BSc Clinical Photography The BSc Clinical photography combines the study of science, photography, digital imaging, anatomy, physiology, biology and clinical practice. A substantial element of the course involves work-based learning in a clinical setting. This is achieved through a significant number of hours of work placement in a variety of relevant specialisms throughout the three years of the course. BSc Photography and Digital Imaging Technologies In the digital era photography is becoming a much more technical profession. There are very few courses that provide students with the background knowledge to truly master modern imaging systems. If you seek a deeper understanding of the processes involved, this course is for you. Students will have a technical or scientific background and a desire to explore the fundamental principles of imaging. BA Contemporary Media Practice This long established course combines film, video, photography, digital media and theoretical debates, and continues to break new ground in contemporary media production. Practical instruction in a range of visual media from film and video to interactive digital media and photography encourages multi-skilling within an innovative and creative environment. Students may specialise in one or two media or forge new links between converging and cross-disciplinary media.
For further details see: www.westminsterphotography.co.uk
MA Documentary Photography and Photojournalism This course provides a unique combination of professional practice and critical understanding for photographers and journalists interested in entering the field of editorial and related photography. It builds on the international reputation of the journalism and photographic departments of the University. The MA is a modular course designed to equip students with a sound command of the working methods necessary to sustain a career in contemporary journalism. MA Photographic Studies The MA Photographic Studies is intended for those who wish to develop their practice, theory and criticism of photography to a higher level of expertise and scholarship. The course aims to develop relationships between a creative photographic practice and critical theory in the context of art and mass media culture. Modules explore practices of photography and develop student awareness of social, cultural and critical issues involved in photography and its histories.
The University also offers the following Foundation Degrees: Foundation Degree in Professional Photography Foundation Degree in Image Management
For further details see: www.westminsterphotography.co.uk