Saturday,
February 8, 2014 at Thatcham, Berkshire
Organised
by John Umney – President OCASA and Eddy (?)
First event of its kind, dependent on
success might be able to organize more
FYF considered herself as an artist cum
photographer and was taking part in an exhibition entitled ‘Uncertain States’.
Her photographic journey has been over
25-30 years
Her relationship between photos
developed/evolved and first thought of herself as a social documentary photographer.
Influenced by exhibition she saw in her
late teens by Don McCullum which show suffering, pain, injustice and the
effects of war.
One of her first major pieces of work in
the 1980s she was influenced by poet Sylvia Plath and her poem called Mirror.
‘I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful-
The eye of the little god, four cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful-
The eye of the little god, four cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.’
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.’
The first part of
her portfolio consisted of reflections back or what is the viewer. The second part was about a lake, depths
in a lake. Fiona felt this piece of
work showed society’s views of women and female identify. She used herself as the model and felt
her images were looking from another perspective.
Felt her images
showed her as a bride, witch, seductress.
Some of her images were double exposed in water.
Most images
influenced by parts of text in poem.
Felt it showed
what was on the surface and what was inside people and that the camera recorded
distortions beyond the surface into the depths.
With her later
commercial briefs she felt it hard to match what she was being asked to produce
against what she wanted to create.
Fiona has been
told that her work is too ‘girlie/female’ for a make dominated industry but she
felt she had to do what was right for her, not dictated by others.
The Wedding Portfolio
Related to her own
wedding when she felt that her father led her down the aisle and ‘handed me to
another man’. Felt there were
social issues with Jewish women as still negotiations take place at wedding
ceremony between male members of both families.
She felt she
relied on intuition to compose the images for this portfolio, she was not an
official photographer but took ad-hoc images for herself.
Now Fiona felt she
wanted to be known at concerned photographer. Now defining herself in different genres
and had a varied style of photography.
Her format changed
according to subject, born out of intimate (?)
Gave subjective,
how I perceived concern.
Sand Tray
Became a Photo
Therapist and supported clients using a sand tray and plastic models. After clients had left recreated images
they had made and photographed them.
She made 3D images which identified issues and initiated discussions.
Up Close – a Mother’s View
Photographer her
daughter Ofia from birth to aged 12 for book. Her only work was taking pictures of her
daughter. The photography was
cathartic and allowed her to see her child more clearly.
She put on an
exhibition in local café, called Up Close, of Down’s Syndrome children which
included pictures of her own daughter, which showed positive aspects of
disability and hopefully made viewers think about motive, getting on with life.
Fiona was not
happy about main layout of cover and was advised against it as it was seem as
too feminine. Agent Susan Andrews
saw it and encouraged Fiona with her photography. Pictures included one called ‘Cut a Long
Story Short’ where Ophia was cycling into the distance and Fiona felt this
showed her walking into the future.
Picture Open Eyes
looked at Ophia as she grew older and felt it showed her waking up to the
world; took pictures everywhere.
Fiona picked up
comments and phrases from surroundings and linked them with images she took and
had taken in the past as part of her exhibition.
Portfolio ‘Beyond
the Wall’ taken in Israel and Palestine; found she was unable to proceed
without man to introduce her to subjects.
Discrimination against women she was unable to continue without
‘protection’ of minder. Images of
men taken against a plain wall on their own. Found subjects lost their bravado when not
in company of their peers.
This project
recorded feelings in Israel as took the pictures. The images were both black and white and
colour. And she felt the plain background strengthen the individuality of the
individuals.
Fiona spoke from
11.00 am until 2.00 pm with a short stretch break of 15 minutes.
