Metro Spotlight – Eden Hawkins
24.09.2020
Metro Imaging has an established reputation for supporting graduates and since instigating our mentorship programme in 2005, we have supported hundreds of emerging creatives. This years RCA / Metro Imaging mentee is Eden Hawkins who has been able to continue to create work for both personal projects and industry clients even during these challenging times. We took some time out to ask her about her practice and progress since graduation.
Can you please tell us a bit about your practice and style of photography?
Many of the projects I produce start from an interest in a material. The politics or history of that material becomes important as I begin moving between the lighting studio and the computer and then back again. I am interested in the effects of the digital or its abilities to flatten and manipulate surfaces. Rather than working to a particular style, each picture pulls together a commercial aesthetic with elements of collage and digital reconstruction. In my recent project, Like a Stitch in the Side, I digitally reconstructed swimming costumes and workout garments and created characters out of their digital forms. Each form was titled as a participant or racer. The project was the result of my research into the politics of stitching characterised historically as a woman’s labor, as well as an engagement with the effects of gym environments on the female form. The title of each racer referred to this research.
Do you think that printing your work is an important aspect for viewers to experience your work?
As each photograph has a focus on materiality, the print, surface, and size become key to the impact of each photograph. In my more recent projects, the interaction of the digital garment fibers on a surface really becomes central to the viewing. The pieces are tactile and porus but still digital and unreal and I think print ephasises this interaction. The resulting physical pieces are a meeting and heteroglossia of processes: a border between the physical and digital language. I think looking at something in a physical space is an entirely different experience from an online platform and can not really be compared. With this being said, I think there is alot of possibility with digital platforms and viewing experiences. I think the creative world will get better at developing these avenues whilst our gallery times are restricted.
In the current climate, what challenges do you perceive for the creative industries?
Who knows! There will be alot of challenges that will span from freelancers not finding work to independent creative spaces not being able to find stability. That being said, I think we will soon have an influx of independent creative work that refers to isolation and the pandemic. I do not think that everything will become digital. If anything, I really believe people will be desperate for physical interactions. I am hopeful that people will eventually want to go to galleries and buy magazines and books as a way of getting off their work screens. We will all be square eyed and looking for experience rather then a fill of digital content.
Do you have any new projects planned that you can tell us about?
I am researching processes and traditional techniques of craft that are being lost to make room for the modern textile industry. At first, I was looking at China, now responsible for almost half of the world’s clothing export, and the effects of these industry giants on the heritage and craft process of material production. I have also been researching remote places in Scotland and Ireland where heritage craft is deeply embedded in communities. My more recent commercial endevours include a campaign for a post surgery Langerie brand called Love Rose as well as recently commissioned to photograph a Moncler bag for Vogue US.
What is the Best and Worst career advice you have been given>
The best: Go with gut instinct on a project and to take all advice with a pinch of salt. At the end of the day, everyone has their personal tastes and if you try and follow the direction of too many influencers – the work can become diluted. I think there is power in a clear vision. I also was given the advice to not decide or label a project too early on in the creative process and allow room for it to evolve into something entirely different. The worst advice was to be less silly in my photographic style. Playful work is a treat.
News Articles you might be interested in:
OD Photo Prize 2022
OD Photo Prize 2022 After the success of last year, the OD Photo Prize returns for its second edition. This prize is an exciting open call for emerging artists working within the first ten years of their practice, founded...
Find out moreEdgar Martins exhibition MNAC, Lisbon
‘There’s a shite stunk in the Air…Dad’s oot oan Bail!’ Edgar Martins Exhibition, MNAC, Lisbon This new exhibition by Martins is a comprehensive and original take on his award winning literary and artistic project What Photography and Incarceration have...
Find out moreSpotlight: Samuel Ryde
We have been collaborating with visual artist Sam Ryde in the production of a new series of Limited Edition Giclée prints. It gave us time to find out more about his practice and in particular his use of social...
Find out moreSpotlight: Source Magazine
Source magazine was established in 1992 as part of activities originally to support a community of photographers based in Northern Ireland that had been felt unrepresented. From these beginnings the magazine has developed in its ambition and reach. I...
Find out moreSpotlight: Rick Findler
www.rickfindler.com As an independent photojournalist working in some of the most challenging situations, what first inspired you to pick up a camera to follow the path that you immersed yourself in? Whilst I was already taking pictures of landscapes...
Find out moreSpotlight: Marc Wilson ‘A Wounded Landscape’
Can you tell us a bit about ‘A Wounded Landscape’ what prompted you to undertake the project and had you always determined that it would be long term commitment to the story? I have wanted – or perhaps without...
Find out moreSpotlight: Ioanna Sakellaraki
We were first introduced to Ioanna’s practice as part of a Metro Imaging partnership with the Royal Photographic Society and have since followed her path through the RCA and onto a PhD at Kingston University. To coincide with an...
Find out moreSpotlight: Hayleigh Longman
This year has been particularly challenging for us as a company and our commitment to mentorship and supporting the creative community has had to adapt to C-19 protocols. Though face to face and peer workshops have had to go...
Find out moreSpotlight: Life Framer
For six years Life Framer has been shining the spotlight on emerging photographers. They have a truly international membership with a regular programme of competitions, culminating in annual exhibitions in several countries. They attract a quality cohort of judges...
Find out moreSpotlight: Somewhere in Between
Somewhere in between is a collective of six artists who are all MA graduates from UAL Camberwell and their work crosses several imaging disciplines including printmaking; film and photography. They are a close knit group of like-minded people who...
Find out moreSpotlight: Christiane Monarchi, Photomonitor
Founded by Christiane Monarchi, Photomonitor highlights lens-based artists at all levels of experience and practice, providing an important online perspective of their projects and vision. It is clear that the pandemic has isolated many and our ability to engage...
Find out moreSpotlight: London Independent Photography
Founded in 1987, LIP is a not-for-profit photography members group that with over three hundred members, promotes free thinking and active collaboration. This week sees the launch of its annual exhibition and series of talks and lectures and due...
Find out more