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Self and the City

KWMC hosted the South West Photography prize during the summer of 2013.

We worked with Fotonow on a series of activities and events exploring the role of visual culture in the stories we tell about people and places in a digital age. This included:

A special event bringing together curators and photographers from three cities (Bristol, Cardiff and Plymouth) to talk about their experience of photography.
A series of pop-up events in Bristol with a very special converted campervan that has been converted into a camera obscura.
A series of interviews with emerging photographers in the South West

The Camper Obscura

Photographers Jonathan Blyth and Matthew Pontin had already established a practice in working with communities in building camera obscuras and the idea of a mobile vehicle emerged in the shape of a Foster and Day coach-built 1986 VW T25 camper van.

Fotonow estimate that nearly 15000 people have jumped on board the Camper Obscura since its very first appearance, making for a very busy and sociable experience of photography. As this transient community departs for pastures new, a portrait is made as testament to the tourist like attraction the Camper provides.

Fotonow brought the Camper Obscura for a pop-up tour of Knowle West, working with a group of young people at KWMC on a sunny June day. They returned for a second tour of duty with Knowle West Children’s Centre in July 2013.