One day workshop: ‘These Poor Creatures’ – Photography, Inequality, and the Countryside
Saturday 16th April, 09:30–16:30
A one-day forum of captivating panel discussions exploring how rural inequality is being examined in contemporary photography on the concluding weekend of the Photo|Frome Exhibition 15th – 27th April at the Silk Mill.
£20–£40 **TICKETS HERE NOW LIVE**
These Poor Creatures
In 1822, journalist, economist and politician William Cobbett published Rural Rides – a travelogue made on horseback from London through the West of England. When he reached Frome he observed that:
“These poor creatures at Frome have pawned all their things…
“All their best clothes, their blankets and sheets; their looms; any little piece of furniture that they had, and that was good for anything. […] The population of this Frome has been augmented to the degree of one-third within the last six or seven years. There are all the usual signs of accommodation bills […] new houses, in abundance, half finished; new gingerbread ‘places of worship,’ as they are called; great swaggering inns; parcels of swaggering fellows going about, with vulgarity imprinted upon their countenances, but with good clothes upon their backs.”
A Day of Discussion
As the only UK photography festival located beyond a major town or city, Photo|Frome is the pertinent forum to examine how rural inequality is being explored in contemporary photography.
Photographers Tessa Bunney, Jennifer Forward-Hayter, Kirsty Mackay, Naomi Wood, Denise Felkin, Jermaine Francis, and Andy Thatcher, who explore the representation of rural communities and experiences, will contribute towards discussions around the relationship between photography and the countryside, led by moderators Jesse Alexander and Phil Hill, including:
● How does the representation of poverty and inequality differ in a rural context compared to that of an urban experience?
● To what extent does photography obscure or reveal rural poverty and inequality?
● What part can photography play in communicating these differences and idiosyncrasies?
● Whose stories and what aspects of the rural experience should image-makers be addressing?
Schedule
9:30–10:00 Registration
10:00–10:10
Welcome (Jesse Alexander & Phil Hill)
10:10–12:00
Panel 1 – Working In And Working From The Countryside (Tessa Bunney, Jennifer Forward-Hayter, Working Class Creative Database)
12:00–13:00 Lunch Break
13:00–14:00
Panel 2 – Community, Connections & Collaboration: What Role Does Photography Play? (Kirsty Mackay, Naomi Wood)
14:00–14:30 Break
14:30–16:00
Panel 3 – Who Owns The Countryside? (Denise Felkin, Jermaine, Francis, Andy Thatcher)
16:00–16:30 Round-up Discussion
This one-day forum is supported by Falmouth University, home to the renowned Institute of Photography, which fosters experimentation and excellence in photographic practice.