Art and design and photography students at City of Oxford College have produced a selection of images which have been exhibited at the University of Oxford’s, Bodleian Libraries.
In October 2020, 44 Activate Learning students visited the Weston Library and enjoyed a lecture on the work of Helen Muspratt before starting a unique photography project in which 15 students entered a competition.
The Helen Muspratt Photographer exhibition honours the recent and important archive to the Bodleian Libraries, which includes over 2,000 original photographic prints and numerous surviving negatives.
Working alongside the Bodleian Libraries, students were tasked to produce work in the style of Helen Muspratt, using her unique ‘solarisation’ method. Alternatively, students had the option to look at other themes of her work to inspire them.
Students benefited from one-to-one sessions with celebrated Oxford portrait photographer and competition judge, Fran Monks. They then used the college’s dark room to create their solarisation effect.
Fran said: “I really enjoyed meeting the students and finding out how they had experimented with their portrait photography, inspired by Helen Muspratt’s work.
“Different students had tried out new styles of composition, ways of storytelling and photographic techniques as a result of seeing Muspratt’s exhibition in the Bodleian.”
Fran and Bodleian Librarian, Richard Ovenden, recently judged the competition before choosing the winner of the £200 prize.
Tierney O’Neill, Level 3 art and design student at City of Oxford College was the winner with classmate Tyler Woodford being highly commended.
Tierney said: “I am completely shocked and really proud to win this competition! It’s something I didn’t feel like I could achieve initially, and it’s solidified what I can do. I’ve since applied for a BA in photography, and I’m delighted.
“Helen Muspratt’s photos were a great inspiration. It was the look in the eyes of her subjects that inspired me most as I noticed that there wasn’t much there. When taking my own photos, I tried to capture a similar emotion in the eyes that she had, which is something I’d never done before.
“I don’t normally get along with portrait photography but through this project, I’ve been able to explore portrait and black and white photography in far more depth.”
Commenting on Tierney’s submission, Fran added: “By getting in close with the camera and framing the subject’s face with her hair and sleeve, Tierney has made a strong and intimate portrait which makes a bold visual impact.”
Callum West, Level 3 art and design student at City of Oxford College, said: “I enjoyed the project as it made me develop new skills, learn new techniques and editing styles such as solarisation which I used on my negatives and also on Photoshop.
“I really enjoyed working alongside the university as this experience gave me a lot of motivation to progress.
“It opened my eyes to black and white portraits and how effective they can be. I also really enjoyed working with old analogue cameras throughout this project and this has motivated me to use film for future projects.”
Emily Fox, Level 3 art and design student at City of Oxford College, said: “I really liked taking pictures inspired by an artist as it really challenged me to take on an aspect of photography that I wouldn’t normally do, while also getting to explore my favourite aspects of photography, like working in black and white.
“Working alongside the university and museum was an amazing experience for someone like me, who is hoping to specialise in photography. Learning about Helen Muspratt and what she did, including focusing her work on equality for women and unemployed people, really helped make a difference and for a young woman, that’s really inspiring and is something I’d love to work towards myself in my future career.
“Experiences like this allow people to get an inside look into what they’ve done in their career and what you could also do with enough hard work and for me personally it really motivates me to work harder so I can do everything I dream of when I enter the industry after I complete my education.”
In addition, the students work formed part of the Photo Oxford Festival 2020, the theme for which was Women and Photography. This coincided with and celebrated the centenary of the first woman matriculating and graduating from the University of Oxford.
