Jocelyn Allen, Emma Uwejoma and Sara Rejaie.
Some kind of identity brings together three diverse artists working within the medium of photography. Always pursuing a sense of identity, the work challenges the different approaches to a sensitive yet everyday subject. Through the act of self-portraiture new ways of challenging the approach to oneself physically, mentally and culturally reveal intimate documents.
‘Emma Uwejoma, Ngwako’. Photograph © Emma Uwejoma.
‘Your mind & body is all that you’ve got’. Photograph © Jocelyn Allen.
‘Assorted photographs’. Photograph © Sara Rejaie.
Some Kind of Identity opens at Open Floor, 102 Bute Street, Cardiff on 27th August and is curated by Alexander Norton. The exhibition runs till 3rd September. Their Facebook event page is here.
(William Shakespeare, The Tempest, I. 2. 397-403).
‘My father spent most of his life in, on or near the sea. He was born in Whitstable, Kent, in 1925 and grew up to the sound of gulls and shrimp-sellers. Later, when he joined the RAF, he was stationed in the Far East and brought back small packets of beautiful black-and-white photographs taken with his Leica camera. These show a mixture of exotic gardens, architecture, and beach scenes featuring implausibly large, feathery palm trees and brilliant sunshine.
Later Dad acquired a small dinghy and we would sail this determinedly up and down the River Avon on summer weekends, tacking every minute or so – less on a windy day, as the river was so narrow. He would also take sailing holidays on the North Sea, living on board for several days with new-found friends; these experiences inspired the poetry and short stories he wrote many years later.
Towards the end of his life Dad would take me and his two grandchildren to the Canary Islands every summer, where the white sands and dazzling turquoise sea were always a source of joy to him. He lost his life in the sea in August 2011, off La Oliva Beach outside Corralejo, Fuerteventura. As was his habit, he was floating on his back, looking up into the intense blue of the sky, and his heart simply stopped.
The images made for Full Fathom Five represent my first hesitant steps towards making something positive from the memories of that terrible day.
‘Full Fathom Five’ was made using coffee can and biscuit tin cameras using brass pinholes.
Celia Jackson is a senior lecturer in photography at the University of South Wales and work from ‘Full Fathom Five’ is currently on show at Fuse Art Space in Bradford as part of the exhibition Bradford Beach.
“I am delighted that Street Level Photoworks will be staging this exhibition of new photography by Document Scotland. These are exciting times for the collective and for photography in Scotland and their collaboration with A Fine Beginning is a positive message that Scottish photography is relevant, informative and outward facing.” – Malcolm Dickson, Street Level Photoworks.