“If women don’t make that 50/50 then the people taking decisions about our communities are never going to be reflective of the needs” Jo Cox
In a world where we are constantly bombarded by photographic imagery, and if the majority of those images are created by men, then we are all looking at life through a male gaze. Therefore decisions about what we wear, consume, drive, holiday etc., will predominantly be made from a male perspective.
BEHIND THE SCENES is a new exhibition shot by AOPf22 women photographers, and also showing in parallel each photographer in action behind the lens. See it be it. By increasing the visibility of women photographers we hope to inspire and encourage the next generation of female image makers to rise up and help achieve that magical 50/50.
Click here to see the full exhibition, including a Short History of (the new) AOPf22 written by yours truly.
The exhibition was previewed in The Times – click here to read the full article.
This year also marks thirty years since the first f22 exhibition, and this wonderful tear sheet has been recovered from the AOP archives.
My thanks to all at the AOP and the f22 working group for bringing this great exhibition together.
Thanks also to Creative Director Geoff Waring for the brilliant behind the scenes picture of me perched on top of the sea wall. (You can see the original editorial this shoot came from here.)
Wishing you all a very happy International Women’s Day!
Flyer for WASHED UP | photography exhibition highlighting the Ocean Plastics crisis (the leaf is plastic!)
Exhibiting Washed Up as part of JAM on the Marsh festival afforded privileged access to the medieval churches of Kent’s Romney Marsh. But creating a photography exhibition in a unique venue can bring with it a unique set of challenges.
a glimpse of the Marsh from the clock tower at St.George’s Ivychurch, ‘The Cathedral of the Marsh’
Looking up at the ceiling below the clock tower
Firstly, how to hang an exhibition in a Grade I listed building without causing any damage to the walls? An existing church banner showed a way to achieve this that would also be sympathetic to the space.
This cloth banner sparked an idea on how to hang the exhibition
The next challenge was to find a suitable lightweight fabric on which to print the exhibition. The fabric also needed to respect the exhibition’s environmental message – highlighting the Ocean Plastics crisis.
Exhibition printing experts Genesis Imaging helped by sourcing a fabric light enough to hang and, more importantly, made from recycled Ocean Plastics! This shows how materials can be reused and play a part in a circular economy.
Prints ready for hanging in the South Aisle
Showing the exhibition during the long days of summer, allowed the artwork to be viewed in daylight and without using any electricity. The high ceilings and pale walls allow natural light to flood the aisles, creating atmosphere and adding to the viewing experience. The spaces between each of the windows created a natural gallery which informed the final print size.
Colour matched visitor
In keeping with the spirit of recycling, the exhibition is now available for loan. For details please message me here. If you missed the exhibition there is a virtual walk around here.
Packing up the exhibition at the end of the festival
My sincere thanks to everyone who helped make the exhibition happen:
Edward & Sarah Armitage, John Frederick Hudson and Claudia Ott, thank you for welcoming me into the JAM on the Marsh family and creating the opportunity to further highlight the Ocean Plastics crisis by showing Washed Up to a wider audience.
Thank you to all the visitors from far and near who took time to view the work and stay and chat. I enjoyed your company and conversations and value friendships rekindled and new friendships made. Especially church wardens Margaret, Celia and Ellan for accommodating the exhibition at beautiful St.George’s Ivychurch.
Celia and Ed helping out at the exhibition hanging
Delphine’s Sewing Corner for her generosity of time and attention to detail in stitching the artwork (and altering my dress!) Ann-Louise Barton for last minute takeover of print sales. Geoff Waring’s initial encouragement in creating the work. The team at BBC South East. The exceptional colour prints were created by Bernie, Deep and the team at Genesis Imaging on Innotech fabric.
Sarah being interviewed by the BBC
Deep at Genesis Imaging
Stitching the artwork
Print and postcard sales
Lance Dally for always supporting my ventures, not forgetting his terrifying balancing act at the exhibition hanging! Ann Carrig, my mother, thank you for always encouraging me to follow my dreams, and brava for finding a dress that matched the photography!
“I was attracted by the man-made flotsam and jetsam of sea-worn metal and brightly coloured plastics. There was once so much of it that if the mood took me I could choose objects by theme or colour.”
WASHED UP is a free photography exhibition showing as part of this year’s JAM on the Marsh, a multi-arts festival taking place on Kent’s atmospheric Romney Marsh. The exhibition is a comment on our culture of waste and aims to draw the observer in with a compilation of discarded objects including plastic lighters, bottles, gun cartridges and fishing paraphernalia, all found and washed up on beaches from Dymchurch to Dungeness. Bringing attention to a significant topic of our time and providing an example of human impact on nature.
The exhibition can be seen at St. George’s Church Ivychurch from 4 – 16 July. I will be giving a free artist talk on Friday 7th July, discussing aspects of my creative practice and inspiration behind the artworks. There will also be opportunity to purchase limited edition prints and art postcards. The talk will take place at 6pm in the South Aisle and you are all warmly invited.
More information about the festival is available here.
“I first saw this exhibition in the Greenham Common Control Tower and immediately fell in love with Wendy’s photographs. I just love the intimacy and honesty. I hope they will give those who don’t know much about Greenham, a little glimpse into this incredible time and place where our Es & Flo met.” Jennifer Lunn
I’m very excited to announce that my COMMON PEOPLE exhibition will be coming to London next month. Showing at Kiln Theatre from 5th to 24th June to coincide with the London performances of Es & Flo – a new play written by Jennifer Lunn and inspired by the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp.
My COMMON PEOPLE photography exhibition will be showing at the Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff from next Friday 28th April until Saturday 13th May.
The Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp was just over three years old when I took this picture. I was a photography student working on my final year project, and arrived and stayed at the camp for a few short weeks during a particularly harsh winter. The conditions the women were living in were tough. The ground was frozen, the milk froze, we slept in makeshift tents under piles of donated blankets, experienced daily evictions by police and bailiffs, and I witnessed at first hand the enormity of a nuclear Cruise Missile convey. Meanwhile these resilient women continued with their protest. Fueled by camaraderie and endless cups of tea, the pictures show how domestic life focused around the campfire.
The exhibition run will coincide with performances of Es & Flo, a new play by award winning playwright Jennifer Lunn, about two women who meet at Greenham Common. My sincere thanks to Jennifer for her kind invitation to show COMMON PEOPLE, and to Gemma Hicks, Sophie Williams and the team at the Wales Millenium Centre for their warm welcome and generosity. The exhibition is FREE to view. If you are in the area why not come take a look
Background info:
The 1980s were a time of great social disquiet in Britain. Miners were striking against the closure of Coal pits, and the Cold War with Russia had played into people’s fears, precipitating an international growth in nuclear weapons. There was public outcry when in 1981 the British government gave permission for US nuclear missiles to be installed at RAF Greenham. In response, a group of [mainly] women led a peaceful protest by walking all the way from Cardiff to the Common. The 120 mile march took them ten days, and on arrival many decided to stay. They were joined by others, and the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp was born.
If you want to learn more about the Greenham Women’s Peace movement do take a look at the work by activist group Greenham Women Everywhere.
The Power of Women charity uses creativity to champion equality and diversity of women and girls, culminating in their annual arts festival to celebrate International Women’s Day. The art auction and exhibition has been created to help raise funds to support POW‘s charitable work, notably the continuing issue of violence against women.
“Artists featured in this auction include internationally renowned artists, students and recent graduates, and people who create for their own enjoyment including young people. Everyone can create art!“
The 40 artworks up for auction can be viewed online here, or in person at the Hotel Michele exhibition space in Margate. Bidding opens online from next Wednesday 16th November.
If you were unable to attend the Awards party this is another great opportunity to see the work in real life. Or as an art director friend once said to me at a previous Awards event “…I’ve just seen the exhibition and was surprised at how much better the pictures looked in print than on my screen.” Now there’s a novel idea… ; )
I’m very pleased to have these two images included in the show :
As part of this year’s International Women’s Day celebrations it was my huge honour to be part of the curation panel for WOMAN an exhibition of extraordinary photography by f22 Women Photographers at the AOP. The final roll call of women & non-binary photographers selected for inclusion lists some of the foremost photographers working in the industry today :
Rhiannon Adam, Carol Allen Storey, Eleanor Bentall, Julia Bostock, Eleanor Church, Heidi Coppock Beard, Nadia Correia, Felicity Crawshaw, Sophie Ebrard, Jillian Edelstein, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Nancy-Anne Harbord, Olivia Hemingway, Elisabeth Hoff, Chantel King, Jenny Lewis, Laura Lewis, Sandra Lousada, Hannah Maule Ffinch, Carolyn Mendelsohn, Anne-Marie Michel, Patricia Niven, Laura Pannack, Kate Peters, Zula Rabikowska, Helen Roscoe, Jo Sax, Carol Sharp.
The exhibition was created by the f22 working group, and is featured throughout March on the AOPawards.com site and the @f22aop and @AssocPhoto Instagram.
I am very proud to have one of my images selected for the Turner Contemporary Poster Exhibition together with this roll call of extraordinary artists.
The exhibition is part of the Turner Contemporary Open which runs until 20th February 2022. The various posters can be seen dotted around East Kent railway stations creating a kind of art trail treasure hunt. Please let me know if you spot this one.
My featured image is part of an ongoing series titled On This Line That Divides. An exploration of the extraordinary Dymchurch Wall, a four mile sea defence on the south Kent coast overlooking vast sands, and where refugees have recently come ashore.
A new exhibition of my COMMON PEOPLE photography (including previously unseen images) opens at The Base this autumn. I am delighted to be showing my work alongside Jemima Brown‘s Peace Camp, and David Hockney‘s Hockney & Hollywood.
The Royal Photographic Society have been hosting an open call photography exhibition continuously since their inception in 1864. This year they received over 8,000 submissions from which the judges created a shortlist of 279, and I’m very pleased to have this portrait of girls from London’s Womanhood Academy selected for the shortlist.
Run by a collective of volunteers, all of African descent, the Womanhood Academy is a community youth group supporting the personal growth and empowerment of young women and girls. Their motto, Nurture A Girl, Raise A Nation.
My thanks again to Peaches Cadogan and team at Womanhood Academy, and Aundrieux Sankofa and team at Manhood Academy Also writer Sheryl Garratt, art director Jo Bell, photo assistant Julie Stewart and the team at Perfect Bound magazine.
My portraits of reform campaigner and TED speaker Kate Morrissey, and outsider artist Rachel Ara, are currently on show at Photo London as part of the Someone’s Daughter exhibition.
The exhibition, commissioned by The View magazine, is on show at Photo London until Sunday, and I’m pleased to be exhibiting alongside Nick Knight, Carol Allen Storey, Craig Easton, Laura Pannack, Nadav Kander, Hannah Starkey, Kristina Varaksina, Felicity Crawshaw, Poulomi Bassi, Conor Horgan, Harry Borden, Jennie Baptiste, Alba Duque, Billie Scheepers, Emily Garthwaite, Gavin Smith, Fiona Freund, Sarah Bennet, Amelia Troubridge.
Someone’s Daughter is an important new photography exhibition created by The View Magazine, lead campaigners for the rights of women in the criminal justice system. The View has commissioned twenty five international photographers, each to create new portraits of a woman activist/former prisoner, and a leading woman in the field of law/human rights. It was my pleasure and honour to photograph two extraordinary and inspiring women – campaigner Kate Morrissey and artist Rachel Ara.
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Kate Morrissey and Zane
The final portraits are being kept under wraps until the big revealwhen the Someone’s Daughter exhibition opens at Photo London this autumn. The exhibition will then go on tour to venues including the House of Lords, and the National Justice Museum. The portraits will be auctioned, raising funds to help The View Magazine continue their vital work supporting women prisoners and their families, and a copy of each portrait will be donated to the National Portrait Gallery for it’s permanent collection.
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Rachel Ara
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My thanks to The View Magazine, it’s an honour to be included in this important initiative. The exhibition will be curated by renowned photography expert Jennie Ricketts, former picture editor of the Observer magazine, and trustee at Autograph gallery and the Martin Parr Foundation. I’m pleased to be exhibiting alongside photographers Alba Duque, Amelia Troubridge, Billie Scheepers, Carol Allen-Storey, Conor Horgan, Craig Easton, David O’Driscoll, Emily Garthwaite, Felicity Crawshaw, Gavin Smith, Hannah Starkey, Harry Borden, Jennie Baptiste, Kristina Varaksina, Laura Pannack, Nadav Kander, Nick Haddow, Nick Knight, Poulomi Basu, Sara Bennett.
You can see the full exhibition at Photo London from 8th-12th September 2021. Photo London is open to the public and tickets can be purchased here. Further exhibition dates and venues to be announced. If you wish to support The View Magazine you can subscribe or make a donation here.
Self-Portrait is the latest group exhibition from f22 photographers, with images selected by guest curator Jaki Jo Hannan, founder of Equal Lens. The exhibition is part of a wider celebration of International Women’s Day and all images can be seen here until 31st March.
This image was originally included in a fashion editorial titled The Searchers published in Perfect Bound magazine, and photographed on the inspiring Lidham Hill Farm estate in Kent, courtesy of Jo at Farm Locations.
Photography copyright Wendy Carrig All Rights Reserved
I am delighted to be exhibiting a portfolio of my Greenham Common photography at The Pie Factory Margate as part of POW Festival 2021
POW! is a charity celebrating and exploring issues around feminism, women and girls, and their annual festival is designed to coincide with International Women’s Day celebrations.
I love the genuine emotion in this picture of model Kate Groombridge with her sons, Kate showering her boys with love and they feeling safe in her embrace under the wings of her coat. The picture has been selected for HOPE the latest group photography exhibition from the AOP which opens today and can be viewed here. I especially recommend viewing the short film by Catherine Losing, a compelling story of her family’s journey.
Exhibiting photographers have also been asked five questions :
When did you first pick up a camera and what did you point it at? I was ten and photographed my parents on a family day out at the seaside. I wanted to know how it would feel to hold the camera and press the shutter, and perhaps more importantly I had begun to realise the importance of documenting a chosen moment.
What inspires you? My inspirations constantly change. Today they are most definitely family, friends, faces, love, light, scent, touch, emotion, laughter, a secret path, big sky, trees, the sea, changing seasons, setting sun, dawn, the past, the future.
What’s been your favourite location for a shoot? Iceland and Dungeness.
If you had a time machine what advice would you give to your younger self ? Just do it, there is more than you could ever imagine.
Which of the AOP benefits are most valuable to you? Friendship, especially with the fabulous women of the f22.
This picture is part of a series titled Heartland that I worked on with a wonderful team of creatives who all volunteer their time and creativity to producing personal projects. My thanks to art director Jo Bell, makeup and hair artist Lizzie Court, fashion stylist Maria Francolini, my assistant and forever birthday girl JulieStewart and the forever young Kate Groombridge and family. The pictures were published in FY magazine and you can view all images from the original story here.
To accompany the opening of Actions of Art and Solidarity at the Kunstnernes Hus Norway this week, the curatorial team at the Office for Contemporary Art, Norway invited participating artists to contribute ideas for a protestplaylist.
Actions of Art & Solidarity opened today at the Kunstnernes Hus Oslo. This international group exhibition has been curated by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA) and I am absolutely thrilled to be invited as a participating artist, showing an extensive portfolio of my Greenham Common photography.
“…includes works by both national and international artists operating in the name of cultural, socio-political and environmental solidarity across various geographies and contexts…”
I am of course disappointed that I can’t be in Norway for the opening events, but I am hoping that I may get to see the exhibition [and meet the team] at the Kunstnernes Hus before it closes on March 21st. My sincere thanks to Katya Garcia-Anton, director and chief curator at OCA; Elsa Itzel Archundia Esquivel; Liv Brissach; also Astrid Vostermans the contemporary art publisher and founder of Valiz who is publishing the accompanying reader.
“Solidarity has re-entered the global zeitgeist with resounding force in the last decade. It has driven new thinking focused on countering systemic failures and outright abuses related to climate, economy, surveillance, health, gender and race amongst other issues. Actions of Art and Solidarity considers the central role that artists play within this historical shift in the new millenium, drawing parallels to synergic cases of the twentiethcentury.“
Photography copyright Wendy Carrig. All rights reserved
Beatriz Gonzales, Mural para fabrica socialista (detail( 1981)
Six of my images have been chosen for this ‘people’s choice’ exhibition – many, many thanks to everyone who liked and left comments. All 58 images created by 28 photographers can be viewed here from today until 21st January.
Many thanks again to the original team that worked on the series : Jo Bell art director, Maria Francolini stylist, Lizzie Court hair & makeup, Sam Turpin at Production Inc, the amazing Julie Stewart; the team at FY magazine, and of course the most generous and delightful model, photographer, dog-hotelier and host, Liddie Holt (and friends) x
Wishing you all a very happy and safe New Year.
Exhibition curation by Rachel Rogers at the Association of Photographers. Photography copyright Wendy Carrig All Rights Reserved
DOC.ALIMANTADO SAY FREE SOUTH AFRICA NOW!!!! by Wendy Carrig | Notting Hill Carnival, Portobello road, London.
The good people at adam&eveDDB have created an online Art Auction to raise funds for The Avenues Youth Project a North London Youth Club offering fun out-of-school activities for young people. The auction brief asked for work which focuses on championing diversity and the stories of people of colour.
Click here to view [and bid on] exciting photography and art by a diverse group of creatives – look out for my personal favourite, Stay at Home by collage artist Anna Bu Kliewer – and help raise funds for a great group of kids at The Avenues.
WENDY CARRIG 