Lives of Others is Firecracker’s first physical exhibition, coming on the heels of 18 months of online showcases. The brainchild of Fiona Rogers, Firecracker is an avenue to present the work of European women photographers at a time when, says Rogers, who also acts as Magnum Photos’ cultural and education coordinator in London.
Lives of Others forms part of this year’s London Festival of Photography, whose theme is entitled “Inside Out: Reflections on the Public and the Private”. When she was approached with this theme, says Rogers, “I decided to interpret it using artists who have a history of producing work that is incredibly personal, almost insular, but that has been disseminated in the public realm via exhibitions, editorial or books.”
For this first exhibition, she has chosen the works of Léonie Hampton, Celine Marchbank, Natasha Carauna, Briony Campbell and Laura Hynd. Each of the five projects examines ideas around identity, culture, family and immersive participation. In The Dad Project and Tulip both Briony Campbell and Celine Marchbank use their powerful and moving photography to record the pain and devastation of losing a parent. Léonie Hampton’s In The Shadow of Things is the product of months spent clearing her mother’s home of the clutter collected over years battling with OCD. Laura Hynd’s self portrait project The Letting Go questions Hynd’s perception of herself and experiments with loss of control and inhibition. Natasha Caruana’s The Other Woman is a visual confession of Caruana’s life with a married man, and the exploration of other “other” women who were experiencing the same.
“The presentation methods of each photographer is very different,” says Rogers. “Several of the artists felt that their projects required quiet consideration, and so born from this was the idea to display small prints which demand a higher level of engagement from the viewer. Some of the photographers are presenting personal items alongside their photographic work, and some with text, so the projects become more in-depth and installation focused.”
For Rogers, the exhibition comes at a perfect time. “Nearly a year and a half since the project’s inception it felt like the right time to present something physical – away from the online audience that Firecracker has traditionally attracted. I’m pleased to be presenting such a high calibre of British photographers’ too,” she tells La Lettre. But, she wants to do more. “The conception of Firecracker’s online presence was always with an intention to further someone’s photographic career.” So, to coincide with the exhibition, Rogers will be launching the Firecracker Grant. “The Grant will provide at least £1,000 in funding for a female photographer to aid with the completion of a documentary photographic project. Applications will be considered from women photographers born or residing in Europe and submissions judged by a panel of industry specialists from a cross section of disciplines and sectors. The Grant will be awarded based on the strength of both visual portfolios and written statements, informing the judges how the Grant will be spent.”
Rogers hope that the Grant will be become an annual fixture, and that “with the self-funding initiative of the 2012 Grant I’ll be able to attract further funding to increase the cash and opportunities available,” she says. “Ideally this would mean that multiple photographers could benefit from the Grant, rather than offering one prize to a singular photographer.”
EXHIBITION
Firecracker presents: Lives of Others
June 02 to June 30, 2012
William Road Gallery
7-9 William Road, London, NW1 3ER
