A selection of work produced during Semester 1 of 2020 by 3rd Year students on the BA Photography course at The University of Bolton.

2020 Visions exhibits the current 3rd year students' final major projects and shows the work produced in a new COVID world. 2020 Visions features a range of photographic genres from, fashion to documentary, landscape to fine art and more. It celebrates the talents and successes of the first semester of final year students on the BA (Hons) Photography course. 

View the publication here.

The Show Must Go On

Lauren Beaumont

This project looks at dance as an art form and photographically records different styles of contemporary dance in mundane places in the world around us. Beaumont shows that the closure of studios and many other places during lockdown, does not have to disrupt one's passion for dance and the ability to create photographs. Dance is beautiful everywhere. The project explores movement, shape and form, in an attempt to capture the beauty of dance, in environments where it is seldom seen. Due to recent government campaigns for people in the art sector to retrain, it is now, more than ever, an important time to highlight the beauty and importance of the arts. Ongoing fears for the future of the arts are present as the Covid 19 pandemic keeps venues shut and performances off the stage. 

Lockdown in Bolton

Georgina Gill
 

Exploring how events have an impact upon society and the ways in which individuals respond, is a key interest to this artist. In a documentative approach this project explores the ways in which lockdown has had an impact upon the town of Bolton. These concepts are reflected through the experimentation of fine art street photography, allowing the artist to implement unique editing styles whilst expressing images which reflect the feelings and outcomes associated with lockdown in Bolton.

Gold Silhouette

Yelena Overchenko

Yelena wanted to connect her project with commercial editorial fashion photography, as in the future she would like to advance her career in this direction. Since jewellery is an integral part of fashion, she decided to focus on this aspect of fashion photography. The goal of her project was to create a series of fashion looks that could be seen in glossy fashion magazines, but in fact, instead of expensive jewellery, she uses cheap copies of jewellery. In the project, she deliberately used the cheapest jewellery, chosen in one style from the trends of 2020 from different brands of the mass market. Thus, she wants to show that through thoughtful work on the images, the photographer can create a decent result, regardless of the cost of the product, by investing his vision and style in these photographs.

Diane

Leah Bevan

Using her own account of grief and the loss of her mother, Leah shares her experiences and feelings within that topic. To do this, she has written down these thoughts alongside self-portraits which have been created by using her family archive to recreate archival photographs of her mother as there is a resemblance between both people. As well as self-portraits, Leah has also created still life photographs of objects which belonged to her late mother. The sentiment behind each object, triggers memories relating to her. Leah’s aim is to discuss the question of how using familial archival imagery and the method of re-photography help cope with loss. Leah hopes to see people question their own experiences with loss and how those feelings can change as time progresses.

The Pendle Witches

Krista Robertson

The Pendle Witches is a project that talks about the trail that these women had to walk. The trail starts at Pendle Hill and ends at Lancaster castle where the women where then hung. Robertson thoroughly explored this area in great detail.The project will go in order from where the witches started their walk and will end at the castle where they were charged with witchcraft and were subsequently hung. The photos within this project Robertson has taken, are at the very location. There is still evidence from when the women were put to their death. 

The Colourful World of Photography

Maddie Threlfall

Everyone interprets colour in their own way by their own meaning.

Exploring the impact colour has on fashion and portraiture photography, each model used in this project has their own favorite colour on what they like to wear.

This work explores the relationship between the model, colour and lastly the photography behind it.

Isolation in Seascapes

Michael Stopford

At the close of 2019, the World Health Organisation China office was informed of a pneumonia of unknown cause, detected in the city of Wuhan (WHO.int, 2020). In February 2020 the disease was identified and named COVID-19 and by the 23rd March the UK Government had announced a national lockdown. The lockdown limited the bounds of social contact. During April it was reported around 2.6million people felt lonely (Health.org.uk, 2020). Loneliness has become a pandemic at the hands of the pandemic. Isolation in Seascapes is a series of images taken along England's North West coastline during a time of worldwide isolation due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

Landscape Fashion Photography

Walaa Matook

Photography to me is my effort to picture something in my mind and bring it back to life on a still frame. I want the world to see what I perceive in front of me. Every time I click a picture and put it on a screen to show to the world it feels like I am sharing a part of myself. The art of putting things together to make it appealing to the human eye is what I am most flustered yet amazed by. The satisfaction I get when I bring in a little more life to the picture by composing the colors and bringing in contrasts is irreplaceable. I want to use my camera to capture those little moments in life when you feel like everything you did was worth it just for this one little moment. 

Cherished Teddies

Jaimie-Leigh Moses

Cherished Teddies is a series of images that records individuals much loved soft toys they have kept since being a small child. The rips, the stitches and the dirt emphasize how much they have been adored over many years. Although they now may be kept in a loft or a box, the memories triggered from the teddy will still be there forever. The project shows these teddies in detail and suggests that photographs of objects of this nature could be used to trigger memory. 

Fitstory Repeats

Holly Reid

Reid travels through decades of fashion trends, bringing them all to 2020 through the exploration of personal style, influenced by trends that never go out of fashion and how this ‘repetition of ideas’ fits into modern fashion. Inspired by the iconic Japanese street fashion publication entitled Fruits Magazine, as well as her own love for 90s and early 2000s trends, Reid explores how the 80s, 90s and 2000s have shaped and influenced current fashion, from individual items of clothing to head to toe retro looks. Reid styles and photographs her models showing the influences of the past, with a modern twist.

The New Normal

Penny Haskell

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), is something in which we have all become accustomed to, the art industries are no exception to this. How will we overcome and adapt to becoming accustomed to PPE? How is PPE affecting us, mentally and physically? Will masks become a part of mainstream fashion? Throughout this collaborative photographic project, Penny Haskell has envisioned a ‘new normal’ fashion look with help from graduate textile and surface design student Laura May Pyott. These masks visually exhibit the issues of the pandemic and the mental strain lockdown has had on us all. It is important for artists to comment on current cultural zeitgeist. 

Through the Magnifying Glass

Aurelija Geistoraityte

Aurelija has always seen the world where humans are just a part of the bigger picture, rather than us being a centre figure. Aurelija believes that with animals, you get what you see, there is no malevolence or pretending to be something that they are not. The focus of the project were smaller but very important species around the world - insects, which account for about a quarter of all species living on earth. The project therefore attempts to show the beauty of these insects, through closer inspection. By taking on this project Aurelija's aim was to showcase the importance and the beauty of creatures in our ecosystem and remind people that we are all meant to live in harmony rather than sacrificing other species for our own good.