PhotographyBA Hons

Iridescence is a social commentary that actualises social networking platforms, creating a fantasy existence where edits on how we look and the number of likes and followers have real-world worth. Iridescence removes the filters and exposes the effect social media is having on our lives; tackling issues such as body image, loneliness and screen addiction - and the composites create a character living within this 'utopia'. 

The body of work follows their navigation online, visualising how online pressures affect their battles with self worth, confidence and sexuality. Using self-portraiture to visualise my views on social media, and juxtaposing soft imagery with a harsh, unfiltered reality, portrays the issues resulting from these platforms. I hope this work goes towards inspiring positive change.

tom@tombullerphotography.co.uk | View Tom's portfolio | Follow Tom on Instagram

'do it cos you love it' is a call to action for the people who have given up on doing what makes them happy, and it’s a reminder to myself to never apologise for the things that make me feel alive. During this series, I faced my fears of imperfection and of stepping 'out of my lane' as a photographer.

I photographed myself, bonded prints to canvases and painted over the top, shaded with charcoal and covered my skin in paint. Most importantly, I did this for the thrill of it. I revelled in the experience of art-making and released the fears of what this might look like to everyone else. I create because I love it, and in doing so, I’ve  found a place for myself within it.

info@auroraphotographic.com | View Aurora's portfolio | Follow Aurora On Instagram

'Eve and the Garden of Houses' explores the outdated, abstract idea that a woman's role is in the home. The performative aspect produces an instant and impactful sense of uncertainty. The unusual positioning of these staged self-portraits creates an insight in how society see women as a whole. The obscurity of the positions is reminiscent of the confusion created by women speaking out against women's rights, and the mistreatment of women all over the world. The work allows the audience to look inward through the imagery.

tara.barton-leigh@hotmail.com

The Eye Of The Beholder highlights social issues around South London through personal observations. The concept behind this series came about when it was announced that a local hostel in my neighbourhood would be knocked down to make way for a modern block of apartments. Through personal observation, this series resonates modern day themes of gentrification, classism and political issues competing against each other.

ayeeshaayinlaphography@gmail.com | Follow Ayeesha on Instagram

The Best Days of Our Lives explores and documents the experiences of living by questioning the validity of this commonly used phrase.

Typically, when talking to the older generation, I am told I will look back on this time as the best in my life.  However, I am often left hoping that this isn't true and I wonder if these are the best, then I don't want to see the worst.

Therefore, through this series of cinematic images I explore our collective vulnerabilities, developing a narrative that examines what it is that strips us of the potential to lead an authentic life and see beyond our individual space.

charlotteesophieephotography@gmail.com | View Charlotte's portfolio | Follow Charlotte on Instagram

Encounters explores the way in which we perceive natural environments both in person and through photographs. Often, when visiting or passing through natural areas, we may be too busy or distracted to fully appreciate our surroundings. This work intends to capture the details in nature we encounter, but do not notice.

Although photographs cannot replicate reality, they can sometimes provide similar feelings of calm and quietness that we may experience when surrounded by nature. The soft and somewhat translucent aesthetic of the images encourages viewers to look more slowly and take in the entire scene whilst also transforming the subject into a dreamlike state.

charlottewhite1999@gmail.com

chris4422brown@icloud.com | Follow Christopher on Instagram

In a state of isolation and inability to explore the world, our minds begin to wander, and we reminisce of simpler times where there was no limit preventing us from venturing out. Yet, technology has allowed for a compromise, where we can roam streets and pathways of places we have never been, whether it's for entertainment or curiosity. Before anyone ever visits a new place, they might view maps or imagery around that place, in order to gain a better idea of what it might be like. Painting the scenery in a way which depicts a utopia, this work aims to capture the perfection found within imagery tied to holiday destinations.

danwebb275@gmail.com | View Daniel's portfolio | Follow Daniel on Instagram

Eu and I explores ideas of memory, migration and self-representation through significant objects and family heirlooms. As I had to move from Romania very suddenly, I only had the possibility to take a few things with me when moving to England. This sequence includes photographs from old family albums and objects I kept through the transition. They represent my past but also who I am as a Romanian woman. Old photographs from the family archive are overlapped onto images I took of the handmade embroidered textiles, creating a sense of reflection from a present point of view onto a past memory or object.The objects become tools in which a person's identity is imprinted. Exploring the relationship between human and object, the home and the migrant self, helped me depict my hybrid identity and delve into past memories.

info@elenacatalinaphotography.co.uk | View Elena's portfolio | Follow Elena on Instagram

Intermediate: being or occurring at the middle place or stage. This body of work is about a middle place, a moment caught between friends. The photographer and the subject. A camera and a gaze. 

Working closely with the people around me, I captured these intimate moments where the camera’s presence does not disturb the authentic moment. The personal portraits are an in-between stage of the subject meeting the camera’s gaze, allowing the audience to be  there in the moment with them.

wildash99@aol.com | Follow Emily on Instagram

Docklands investigates the impact of global trade. The ways in which the environment has adapted and been affected by this trade, alongside the continued change in environment due to the constant movement of trade,  is explored in the work.

The focus on a small port and its surroundings was intentional as trade is not limited to just the port but expands into the sea. Observing the lone ships roaming the seas on heavily calculated routes, yet seemingly aimless to the outside spectator, Docklands aims to expose the relationship between the relevance of global trade in the modern world and its environmental impact.

Jacques.studley@gmail.com | View Jacques' portfolio | Follow Jacques on Instagram

Modern estates present a tension through ideas of autonomous lifestyles therefore controlling the perception of living on the edges of the industrialised landscape. This presents an expanding radius of wealth, indicating an idea of economical aspiration within urban living, as a stopping point of financial comfort. 

British Estates investigates the social boundaries and uniformity estates provide, through indexical photography, exploring the societal divisions produced. Drawing on the familiarity of an estate home itself, it presents an awkwardness around this type of homing.

j.lambert.photo@gmail.com | View James' portfolio | Follow James on Instagram

‘Womanhood' continues my exploration of female experience whilst also including underlying notions of misogyny and patriarchy with a critical view of the feminist movement. 'Womanhood' expands on my previous video piece, 'Baby Girl' which explores women's individual accounts of unwanted male attention. By continuing with ambiguous and metaphorical approaches, I am able to create work that requires an understanding of female experience, provided to the viewer through my poetry, creative language and use of signs. This work features both moving and still image, as well as sound and written content. The combination of these medias creates an immersive experience; adding to the plethora of feminist art which we can use to aid our fight in the confrontation of gender inequality.

jforsythphoto@gmail.com | Follow Jasmine on Instagram

This project emerged from a series of walks around my local area during the various national lockdowns throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when we had the freedom to go outside for exercise. I used the camera as a mediator between myself as the observer and the intra-urban, and used these moments to document the various marks and evidence of human existence that caught my attention and that are prone to go unnoticed by others. 

'Observe' is a body of work that touches on those banal traces of anonymous narratives that you witness as part of the daily norm. As the city constantly develops and changes, so does my photography and the imagery that inevitably follows alongside it, finding the beauty within the banal.

jemmaelvinphotography@gmail.com | Follow Jemma on Instagram

The warm embrace of spring engulfs this garden, a space where I spent most of my childhood. I've become an observer of a place that I thought I already knew so well, and I've nurtured my fascination with the processes of caring for a life that isn't human. This work became more than just stylistic - romantic imagery inspired by the botanical depictions of the historic naturalistic photographers and ecologists - it's become a window into our connections with the nature that surrounds us.

I realise that there is so much abundance as long as you take the time to look. I invite my audience to observe with me, to notice the details in the smallest of processes. Through these images, I focus upon the order, detail and individuality that lies within our natural spaces, allowing us to slow down and consider the importance of taking the time to notice, to explore and to breathe.

jessicamennell@yahoo.com | Follow Jessica on Instagram

A Warning From History makes reference to the concept that life in itself is a cycle. Referencing the 1918 Flu pandemic as a mirror to Covid-19, it explores the idea that our current lives are a small segment of the human experience. Initially,  experiences we go through may seem new, but in reality, these experiences have already happened and will continue to happen in the future. This collection acts as a reminder that if we do not align our priorities with nature, our cycle of humanity may come to an end.

libertyjeannette@gmail.com | Follow Liberty on Instagram

Somebody Shot the Swans predicates landscape photography in an untraditional manner through the incorporation of autobiographical themes. Through this, my images act as external depictions of internal thoughts, emotions, memories, and trauma, considering the landscape as a canvas for the representation of my 'self'. Natural breaks in the urban topography are evocative and compelling through their unique language and the intrigue of their spectacular beauty. I find myself captivated by these spaces because I envision them as extensions of myself, as well as external reflections of my state of mind. It's as though my mind is projected and scattered throughout the urban terrain. Additionally, non-places and in-between sites often infiltrate my work, representing the liminal purgatory of my head space.

treacher.melissa@gmail.com | View Melissa's portfolio | Follow Melissa on Instagram

A Daughter's Loss is a response to the sudden death of my father, caused by the current pandemic. In the weeks after his death, within which I had to self-isolate in my childhood home, I realised how much his absence became a massive presence in the domestic space. Through a series of videos, photographs and scans, I attempt to capture the silence which I can't escape from and the absence that haunts me.

My intention is to encapsulate the bond between father and daughter and show how his role of being a father has affected not only my upbringing but also my desire to become a photographer. The series has become a form of therapy; it has forced me to interact with objects and spaces which have a punctum to me, in an attempt to help me navigate through this grieving process.

miacurtismays@live.com | View Mia's portfolio | Follow Mia on Instagram

Despite being quite broad, the project’s title has a meaning behind it. It's not a very simple and a straightforward answer as each part of it branches out into a couple of different things. It's about my generation and the younger ones, a culture our world has generated within the fashion industry. Hypebeast generally refers to a person who is devoted to acquiring fashionable items, especially clothing and shoes, but It's so much more than that.

maslankaoskar@gmail.com | Follow Oskar on Instagram

'Structure' is a series of photographs focusing on our relationships with objects and how they become mediated through photography. The work reveals qualities within objects that might otherwise remain hidden, to the point that the objects start to 'look back' as much as they are observed. My process involves walking around my neighbourhood and photographing objects that I encounter.

sglasford@ntlworld.com | Follow Sienna on Instagram

A series of moving images that depict the passage of time in a dream-like state. The movements are limited and jagged within the fixed frame. This movement is added to analogue images by several different methods of digital manipulation.

sophevansphotography@gmail.com

Basic Principles focuses on the culture of competitive ballroom dance, characterised by rules and codes that structure and make sense of performances and performers alike. 

Through the use of collage and repurposing of material, the purpose of the original images, to showcase individuals and performances, is subverted in order to foreground the structuring forces within which such performances become relevant. 

These images act in the manner of a synecdoche; reflecting wider society, and the forces to which we are subjected in our daily existence. Karl Marx termed this ideology; defined by his assertion 'they do not know it, but they do it'. This work aims to awaken the viewer into a radical consciousness in which they can gain a deeper understanding of the social environment they exist within.

summerleewilsonphotography@gmail.com | View Summer-Lee's portfolio | Follow Summer-Lee on Instagram

In the recent 8 months, the urge to face notions of trauma and memory has been documented through the chosen medium of photography. Addressing issues such as addiction and loss has proven beneficial, as photographing became a vital form of therapy for my father and I. The returning visits to his home allowed a sense of trajectory to unfold. During the time of documenting, my father was admitted to hospital. His liver failure had taken a toll, and his body almost went into shock. The doctors told my father if he was to drink alcohol again, it would be fatal. Since then, he hasn't had any alcohol. "Break the Habit, please" allows the viewer to explore the emotions of witnessing post-destruct and sobriety first-hand through the daughter's eye.

up895978@myport.ac.uk | Follow Zoe on Instagram