Photobook Saturday

The effect is abstract and bodily due to the fleshy
colour and folds, especially when the hairiness is
visible on the print. The shape of the print on the
paper also references traces on a landscape, as if the
connection is with the earth. When the photos were
laid on a wooden bench in the church, the grain of
the wood reflected the lines of the distorted
labyrinth. There are aspects of the womb of god, the
Abject, exploration of the self or the body, and
sensuality.
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Location photography
Without the option of presenting my work in a
gallery setting in 2020, I photographed it in two
contrasting church buildings. The first was the same
church I visited last year, a beautiful Norman church
building where I filmed the Womb of God labyrinth
against a 12 th Century wall alongside a Jacobean
monument. The other is a 1930s Baptist church that
is used for the local Food Bank – which is why the
context of these photos includes bulk packs of food
and copies of Tin Can Cook. I’m grateful to the
Parish of East Ham and Bonny Downs Baptist Church
for allowing me to use their buildings. Thanks also to
Georgie King Clift for assisting with the photography.
Here it was the contrast with everyday objects that
appealed. The gold icon shone against a slightly
battered wall, but the snake somehow fitted in
amongst the boxes, with its colour and shapes
echoed in the cream panelling and the light giving a
softness to the stone. This contrasted strongly with
the picture of the same work in the Anglican church
alongside a coiled red rope, echoing its shape in a
different way. This has a far more magical,
transgressive air, especially as the rope is used to
restrict access to the area near the altar.
Likewise, I feel the softness of the fur of the Womb
of God labyrinth is highlighted in the daylight of the
Baptist hall, whereas it seems dark and imposing on a
traditional altar, like a portal to another dimension.
I ask myself how much my own feelings affect these
perceptions. Apart from working more tentatively in
the Anglican church out of respect for a grade 1
listed building, that church and its traditions are
unfamiliar, possibly alien, to me whereas the Baptist
hall has a scruffy familiarity.
The context of the ancient church gave my work
more apparent significance as icons or artefacts, in a
context where there are monuments, icons and
religious art from many centuries. The deep colours,
and ancient walls added a feeling of richness and a
mystical, possibly intimidating quality. By contrast it’s
only the wooden cross at the front that obviously
identifies the Baptist church as a religious building
rather than any other community hall from that era.
Right: White Snake, Pippa King 2020