Feet in the Water is currently showing at the Folk House Café on Park Street, Bristol until the 6th March. It features photography by Grace Hannell and Natalie Finch, with ceramics by Olive Haigh. We spoke to the two photographic artists about their work..
Tell us about your work…
Nat Finch: Grace and I have combined two of our ongoing black and white analogue photography projects in order to create an exhibition that focuses on movement. Grace’s work features ethereal moments caught during traditional folk dances; some of her images are static bodies lifted into the air, complimenting her longer exposures that show the trail of limbs from one move to another. My own work focuses more on the affect that the tidal movements have caused on the landscape – often omitting the source of change and showing the snapshots of land soon to be covered again by water.
Grace: Nat has described it beautifully in our exhibition bio as “This collaboration showcases the ethereal transient movement of folk dancing in contrast to the static forms of a landscape shaped by tidal patterns.”
What was your inspiration behind the exhibition?
Nat Finch: As someone that comes from a landlocked county surrounded by slow-moving waterways, the ocean has always been a bit of a fascination for me. The tideline seems like such a transient place where the landscape is constantly being altered, whether it is quickly sucked out to sea or eroded over a period of time. The idea is that I’ve taken these pictures and it is unlikely that any of the locations currently look exactly the same.
Grace Hannell: I’ve always been a folk music fan but it’s when I started Morris dancing that I turned my camera towards documenting dance. Morris dancing is much more varied than you might think, and is growing in popularity amongst younger people, I think partly due to its alternative nature, potential for creativity, folklore and nature inspired practices and history. I think dancing is an instinct! It’s free, it’s for everyone, it’s an expression of joy and movement, it’s part of being human. In this series I’ve attempted to show off the unique movements of Morris dancing, the costume, and the joy behind it. The Folk House also has some cabinets in their space and I knew that Olive Haigh’s folky, surreal ceramics would be a perfect fit for them. Olive has only recently ventured into ceramics and has a distinctive style that draws you into her world, so I’m excited that they get to be there too.
What is your connection to each other?
Nat Finch: While our styles are quite different the work we have both created throughout our friendship has often complimented each other. When making images we both focus on the connection between folklore, history and human interaction with landscape. Many of our projects are close to home and embody our love for the natural world – often channelling how this has impacted our own lives. Although we started these works independently there was a very clear partnership between the consistent rhythm of the tide and the flow of Morris dancing.
Grace Hannell: As Nat says, we’ve always been interested in exploration of place, heritage and what certain environments mean to us – it always goes deeper than what you see in the frame! It’s been really great to be re-introduced to traditional darkroom printing, and to have mutual support, I think we also hold each other accountable which helps!
What do you hope people take away from exhibition?
Nat Finch: I hope that people enjoy the images! This is the first time that the images have been shown and it was incredibly satisfying to be back in a darkroom printing them. Most of the images aren’t on social media or my website and these are the only prints I have made so it feels quite transient in itself.
Grace Hannell: I really like the fact that the Folk House Café is a free space, where people can sit and enjoy themselves. It’s a lovely, informal and accessible space to exhibit and I hope people feel that they’ve seen something new and interesting.
Where can people find more of your work?
Nat: I post infrequent updates on both my Instagram: @nataliemfinch as well as my website nataliefinch.myportfolio.com
Grace: I post regularly on Instagram as @gracehannell_
More of my work can be found also on gracehannell.co.uk
See more about the free exhibition including directions to the Folk House here.
Olive Haigh’s work can be found on Instagram under @olive.haigh
The Floating Circle 