Everything I Ever Learnt: Harena Now © Josie Purcell

Join us in Cambridge from 1-4pm on Saturday 4th May  for a special event to close the Everything I Ever Learnt exhibition. We’ll be welcoming six of the exhibition’s photographers to talk about the work they’ve shared.

This will be the last opportunity to see the exhibition, Everything I Ever Learnt, as it closes to the public on Friday 3rd May. 158 images from around 100 photographers – it’s not to be missed!

© Sophie Ellen

Sophie Ellen
We are Living as a Performance

With the rise of social media, we are overwhelmed by a sea of ‘Influencer’ images; alongside the everyday person trying to capture the ‘perfect’ selfie. We are growing accustomed to living our lives as a performance; uploading this for the world to see. In contrast to, or to enhance this, diversity is becoming more prevalent in the industry, allowing people to see a broader range of ‘looks’ that they can connect with. Sophie Ellen sees her project as a positive move towards aiding the healing of body image struggles, drawing on her own experience alongside those she photographs.

© Sarah Brittain Edwards

Sarah Brittain Edwards
Spinning Plates: Balancing Life and Art

After being stunned by the birth of her daughter 11 years ago, photographer Sarah Brittain Edwards lost all of her desire to be creative, and felt like she had lost a part of her identity that she had always known. There became an inner conflict between her overwhelming role as a mother, and her passionate urges to create as a visual artist. Gradually this yearning and desire re-emerged, and she began to explore her emotional and often turbulent relationship with her child through her camera, which has evolved into the on-going series ‘Daughter’.

© Matthew Dever

Matthew Dever
Where Have all the Individuals Gone?

In 2014, the Spectator published an article on the rise of crowd culture: ‘Individualism is dead: we have succumbed to the lure of the crowd’, where Ross Clark argues ‘of all changes in British life over the past generation, nothing has been quite so stark as the strange death of individualism’.

A month before publication, six million people had lined the streets to watch the Tour de France wind through Yorkshire. Clark, referencing the unprecedented crowds, suggests that ‘it couldn’t have been the sport they were after; a more unsatisfactory spectator experience could scarcely be imagined.’

Five years on, this presentation will analyse the mass shared experience and ask where have all the individuals gone?

© Heloise Bergman

Heloise Bergman
Re-Framing Cultural Identity: Kauae Tehe – Women With Chin Tattoos

Heloise Bergman reveals the heritage behind her portraits, part of a personal collaborative project, ‘Ta Moko – Modern Maori Warriors’, which she has been working on for the last six years; documenting the revival of the lost art of ta moko, as a symbol of the restoration of Maori language, art, medicine, craft and other traditions in her home country.

These women are 21stcentury Maori wahine from different tribes across Aotearoa, New Zealand. By wearing these facial tattoos, they are proudly reclaiming their cultural heritage in a postcolonial society, which previously banned their most sacred traditions. A ‘moko kauae’, or chin tattoo, is the external symbol of inner identity. Each is unique, like a finger print, and incorporates its wearers’ whakapapa; their genealogy, history, tribe, talents and accomplishments.

© Tiina Burton

Tiina Burton
Extended Time Through Slit-scan Photography

Photography is often thought of as capturing a moment in time. Tiina Burton has been looking at ways to extend and enhance this to include movement and distort the conventional process of portrait photography. The method used for these family portraits is experimental slit-scan photography, where Tiina has adapted cameras to take images whilst film moves past a narrow slit behind the shutter. Tiina will talk about how and why she used this technique, including simple modifications to a camera, and discuss other modifications and resources available.

© Gemma Taylor

Gemma Taylor
Not a ‘Girly Girl’

Since winning Miss Transgender UK, Bea has found that many people, mainly strangers, will presume what she’s like, make judgements, and have a view on how she should live her life. The title reflects Bea’s constant wrangle in ‘having’ to define herself against other people’s expectations of a model, a pageant queen, a transwoman, and a woman full stop. Not a Girly Girl sets the record straight, challenging transphobia and notions of femininity and tell Bea’s story from her point of view.

Gemma Taylor will talk about working collaboratively with Bea, share some pictures from the ongoing project, and answer any questions.