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Making something out of grief, using these pictures to represent #miscarriage as they remind me of ultrasound images; the extreme close up how it felt to know a tiny life was growing inside me, the black, white and grey when the radiant power of that little life went dark. The look of old film to represent things past, the softness of flowers my nurturing body, the spikes of the thistle that something was wrong and the intense pain, both physical and emotional. I'm not alone, almost every mother I know has had at least one #pregnancyloss. Let all the flowers in this series represent a life loved and lost. I used a macro adaptor on a 17mm lens and almost pressed the camera up against the flowers to get this effect. I like it. My heart hurts. Every day moving, growing, expanding towards a future bright and full, forming a picture of how it will be, who we will be together when you're born.....And then it all turns backwards, inside out, all wrong, it wasn't supposed to be like this, can't I put you back inside?.... and then slowly breaking apart all the newly forged connections, the mental structures dismantled in a fragmented mirror image of all we had imagined. #miscarriage I don't usually air personal stuff onto the internet but this is different. So many women and their partners go through this and we rarely hear anything about it, probably because it's tragic, desperately sad and we can't do anything about it except move on. I feel it needs honouring and representing in pictures, this experience that highlights our mortality and human connection through suffering and loss. I do feel connected with all the others who've experienced this and I hope that my images might be seen and appreciated by others who might not have the words or means to express their loss externally.
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#Puppets and #opera... in the Popera House with @bluebirdstheatre, photographing their fantastically funny performance of The Reduced Ring Cycle. #eventphotography #performance#theatre As the #eventphotographer for this special screening organised by @cinesisterssw, I moved silent and catlike across the cinema floor with ninja-stealth (?!🙃😬😆) to capture the audience engrossed in these films by south west female film makers at #exeterphoenix .... My award winning short film Inside was part of the screening as well and it was great to see it on the big screen. Our film, Inside, was featured in the 2021 Love Story Film Festival, in the International Shorts programme – and we won 'Best Short-Short'.
I've made two short films with fellow artist Lois Norman, and thanks to her entering them into film festivals worldwide, we keep on winning things! Before you ask, I'm afraid you can't watch them online yet as they are still doing the festival circuit. The first film we worked on together was Swivel, a gender fluid dance film, for which I did the sound design. It's won numerous awards for all sorts of things, most recently crediting me with Best Sound Design at the New York Movie Awards! The second is a film that sprung from a group project I facilitated during the second UK lockdown, shortly after Lois's father died. She had written a spoken word piece for his funeral, and I created some black and white imagery to illustrate her words that won me the Best Visual Effects award, as well as two others for Best At Home Covid 19, and Best Narrator for Lois. Gosh!
After learning about how trees communicate with each other in the book 'The Hidden Life of Trees', nurseryman Philip Nieuwoudt was inspired to plant a little oak woodland on a corner of his land in South Devon, so that the trees could talk to each other. As a creative person who spends his days growing multi-stem ornamental trees for landscape designers, Philip decided to plant his oaks in a spiral, so that hundreds of years from now, they might be seen from above and wondered at by anyone flying past... It's also an example of a healthy seven-year-old woodland in a meadow rich with unexpected biodiversity. Thanks to Philip Nieuwoudt at New Wood Trees: www.newwoodtrees.co.uk In this film, we visit the Morton family – Andy, Jane, and five-year-old Thomas – to ask how they use the woodland and what each of them loves most about being in their woods. With plenty of imagination and hard work, they've used the space and its abundant natural resources to create opportunities for a range of activities with different groups of people: building beautiful structures, shelters and a private family cabin for overnight stays; as a resource for forest school activities and running craft courses; using wood, water and clay from the land; being with friends and meeting other young families, and as a special place where they can simply be together, with everything they need to be comfortable away from home. What would you do with a woodland of your own? A film for Woodlands TV by Jemma Cholawo at Sallerton Wood. www.sallertonwood.org.uk
Growing a Woodland: Ten Years In Pam Macdonald introduces us to her now ten-year-old woodland at Higher Druid Wood on the edge of Dartmoor, showcasing the different species and reasons for growing, including carbon capture, climate resilience, creating a wildlife corridor, increased biodiversity, soil replenishment, and edible produce. It's surprising how tall trees can grow in only ten years! Hazel for Coppice and Nuts Pam is growing several different blocks of hazel for various purposes, including coppicing for making hurdles and other useful structures, and using the nuts for making hazelnut oil and other edibles. We learn about the difference between cobnuts and filberts, and how coppicing benefits the landscape. Growing a Woodland: The Tree Nursery Pam shows us round the community tree nursery, explaining why growing from local seed is better than shipping from commercial tree nurseries located elsewhere, and the different types of trees that will go on to be planted in the new woodland on her land, and wherever the trees are needed around the nearby town of Ashburton. Owning a Woodland: Sharing Health Does it make you feel better to have spent time in the woods? As a woodland owner, Pam at Higher Druid Wood in Devon noticed the positive changes in herself from spending time working and being on the land, feeling stronger and healthier both mentally and physically. So she decided to invite the local community to come and join her, so they could feel better, too. From forest schools to women's groups, sharing health, sharing skills, and shared experiences by sharing land – this is a film about nurturing good health and offering that experience to others in a way that helps create a ripple effect of benefits into the wider world. If you go down to the woods today... you might just hear a special performance by Concord Clarinets of the classic Teddybear's Picnic in a woodland near Bristol. East Devon artist and musician Matt Calder turns sculptural forms using spalted beech and sycamore, inspired by his experience of Japanese ceramics. Matt has a particular passion for "things inside things inside things..." originally inspired by his wife's pregnancy, and in this film he makes an egg form. A film by Jemma Cholawo with music by Matt Calder: www.calderart.co.uk A kuksa is a traditional Scandinavian bowl or cup. Here in the dappled sunlight of Sallerton Wood in West Devon, Andy Morton shows us how to make one! Another film sponsored by Woodlands TV. Chainsaw artist Ella Fielding created this phoenix sculpture for a school in Mitcham while the pupils were away on half term. Ella started carving ten years ago with the Tree Pirates, and she is now a full time sculptor and mother of two young children. As an artist, she thinks in 3D, and after some brief sketches to demonstrate her idea, Ella uses the form of the wood to guide her instinctively, working with the grain, the knots, any nails and rock pockets becoming part of the finished piece. You can see more of her work on Instagram @ella.fielding.sculptor. For those who are missing the annual wood fairs this year, here's Ian Sanders making tree tables at the Oak Fair last year. Have you ever wanted to just take your cat and a tent and be alone in the woods for a while? Lola did! I met her in the woods on the Falkland Estate in Fife, beginning a new carving project. This is her first carving in a while, and she was feeling inspired to practice her skills and enjoy the peace and solitude of working with wood in the woodland, while camping in a bell tent with her adventurous cat, Mushu.
There's nothing I love to film more than the skilled hands of a craftsperson. Here is a short film I made for Cradle to Grave willow coffins.
Cradle to Grave from Jemma Cholawo on Vimeo. A film about starting your first period and what to expect. Made for Bell House as part of their series of educational period events for parents and daughters. I was invited to the Falkland Estate in Fife to visit two different hutters and learn more about hut life. Another film I made for WoodlandsTV, a challenge to film singlehandedly in torrential rain... Well done to Luke Bryant of Cumbria Rivers Trust for being such a weather-resistant presenter and continuing even when his mouth was full of water... I made these films on the Bamff Estate in Perthshire, where beavers have been introduced to restore the wetland habitat. Louise Ramsay explains why beavers are really important for regeneration, water purification, climate change, flood prevention and biodiversity. It was amazing to see these elusive creatures in the wild and quite tricky to film as they only come out at dusk – all of the beaver footage was shot in about half an hour over two days. Good thing I'm happy hiding quietly in the bushes... The music is by Sophie Ramsay, daughter of Louise and Paul who own the Bamff Estate. After filming, they kindly welcomed me into their lodge for dinner and highly astute conversation in a cavernous, ancient kitchen... All I can say is: beavers are great. We need more beavers! I made this little series for WoodlandsTV, featuring the wonderful Fi Martynoga, expert forager and writer of Scotland's Wild Harvests. A community film celebrating the life of botanist and illustrator Rev. William Keble Martin, with recollections from local people who knew him. We also explore the ways in which the landscape has changed in the 50 years since he lived here, and what we can do to take care of our beautiful parish. I made this documentary as part of the Woodbury Wide Awake celebrations of 2019.
I went to see our dance film, Swivel, on the big screen at Exeter Phoenix last night, showing as part of the Two Short Nights film festival. It was brilliant to hear the soundscape (I did the sound design) from all sides in the cinema, and feel the audience following the tension and release that we worked so hard to create. Swivel was amongst a very inspiring selection of films from local film makers, and it was lovely to catch up with these really talented people from my neck of the woods.
Nobody likes a smear test, but in this film I made for Bell House, we learn why they are so important, and what to expect when you go for the test. When you first start out looking for edible mushrooms, it can be a bit daunting to know which ones to pick. In this film, Margaret Lear takes us on a little foraging adventure to discover some easily identifiable mushrooms to eat. A film for Woodlands TV. |
