PRESS/REVIEWS
BBC NEWS
Viewfinder
17th September 2010
Pictures on an island
by Phil Coomes
A photographer whose work I recently discovered is that of Giulietta Verdon-Roe whose latest project attracted my attention as it reminded me of The Hebrideans by Gus Wylie, one of my tutors at University. Giulietta has been documenting the inhabitants of North Ronaldsay, the northernmost island of Orkney, Scotland and is currently there holding an exhibition of the work entitled As You Are.
What's fascinating about this is the fact that though the exhibition has been seen elsewhere, this time the only audience is the same small community that is depicted in the photographs.
Giulietta's project took root following a childhood fascination with the Shetland and Orkney Islands and a desire to photograph within her own country. The idea of working on an island also brings with it certain constraints, primarily one of space, but this can be a real advantage as it provides a boundary to the project and stops it spiralling out of control.
Giulietta said:
"I originally began to research the Shetland Islands and then when I was about to set my dates to go, I was told about the furthest northern island of Orkney, North Ronaldsay, with its population of just over 60 and 13-mile dry-stone dyke, this was something that seemed impossibly romantic to me."
Although Giulietta had made contact with a couple of people on the island before setting off it was only on arrival that she began to realise the task she had set herself.
Giulietta said:
"Having flown in on the small eight-seater plane I was picked up by the lady who runs the bird observatory and shown the field where I could camp. I pitched my tent as the light was dropping, the wind getting up and the rain starting, I wondered what on earth I was doing.
"But I managed to borrow a bike with a basket for my camera gear and strapped my tripod to the back and began to cycle around and begin to understand the layout of North Ronaldsay.
"It took ten days of explaining myself before I took my first portrait. I was only booked to be there for two weeks, so although I knew this was meant to be the first trip of many, I began to worry that in reality I wasn't going to come back with anything of any substance at all.
"Halfway through the weather was so bad that everything soaking wet, the trip was not going to plan. However, with persistence and countless cups of tea in a great deal of homes I began to shoot more portraits and hear the islanders' stories."
That was in 2008, and it wasn't until earlier this year that she returned again to the island when she was able to re-visit those she had photographed and deliver prints from her first trip, which opened more doors.
This time around though, the weather meant that the tent was soon replaced by a chance to stay in a converted attic space of one of the houses on the island, Giulietta was now part of the island.
Five months on and Giulietta is back again, this time to display the pictures in an exhibition held at the Old Manse. When I asked Giulietta how the opening night had gone, she said:
"The opening itself was a great success, almost the whole island came, it lasted from 2pm until 11pm with food and drink aplenty, some individuals even began to form a little group to play cards. It was lovely to see so many of the islanders in one place.
"I think realistically there has been a mixed reaction, some only came to the opening because it was in a house which has been shut for almost 30 years and this was the first time it had been opened, so the exhibition itself was secondary. I think others are appreciative of the efforts to bring it up here and to be able to see what was taken and feel it's an appropriate representation of the islanders and its land. The comments in the guest book were very positive, but in all it's really difficult to know what is really felt.
"Currently two new families have moved into the two newly built council houses and there are now four children in the school again. The communities' outlook is currently positive and time will tell what will happen next, but they still need younger families to move to the island."
For Giulietta it's time to think about her next project, but for now she has more pressing matters to deal with as the house housing the exhibition is damp and the fibre prints are breaking away from the mounts and warping.
Taken from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/photoblog/2010/09/pictures_on_an_island.html#comments
Londonist - Review by Jonnie Fielding
Art Preview: As You Are @ Rich Mix
'as you are' is a fascinating and poignant exhibition by London based photographer Giulietta Verdon-Roe that has just opened in the Mezzanine Gallery at Rich Mix .
It’s an ongoing project that Verdon-Roe began in 2008 when she went to Orkney’s northern most island, the tiny North Ronaldsay, which due to an aging population, is effectively at risk of becoming a dying island.
Returning this year, she discovered that the population of 63 had dwindled to 50 and the 4 children on the island no longer have a school, as it was forced to close. However, two new council funded houses have been built in the hope that the arrival of some young families can revive a community that is heading towards extinction.
The exhibition is particularly interesting as it documents a community that is undergoing huge change and struggling to adapt and survive, whilst also sustaining itself in a way that hasn’t changed for generations.
As with any documentary photography of this nature, the images that Verdon-Roe has captured are all the more astonishing considering she had to be accepted into an incredibly tight-knit community, before being allowed access to their lives.
‘as you are’ is completely free and open until the 15th August.
By Jonnie Fielding
as you are runs till 15th Aug at Rich Mix Mezzanine Gallery, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA
July 18th, 2010
Taken from:
http://londonist.com/2010/07/art_preview_as_you_are_rich_mix.php
The Big Issue
I Am An Island
The now 50 inhabitants of one Orkney island are the subjects of Giulietta Verdon-Roe's fascinating project documenting this isolated community's way of life
An ongoing project to document the way of life on North Ronaldsay, the northernmost island of Orkney, Scotland, as you are was started by photographer Giulietta Verdon-Roe in 2008, when there were four children attending the island's school and the population stood at 63, just two years later that figure stands at 50. Surrounded by waters so stormy and treacherous that they have become a notorious ship graveyard, the island's main industries of crofting and sheep farming aren't enough to stop the islanders from making the crossing permanently to the mainland. Verdon-Roe's black and white images form a fascinating portrait of a way of life that has remained unaltered for many generations.
as you are, An exhibition by Giulietta Verdon-Roe, Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 (www.richmix.org.uk) Until August 15. Admission free
July 19-25 2010
P.18
