Graduate Show Award: Mersey Paradise

About

After exhibiting twice in Portsmouth and once in London as part of both undergraduate and graduate group exhibitions, Saesha has been awarded the Guildhall Graduate Show Award for her work at the CCI Graduate Show 2017.

Saesha says she is thrilled to have been chosen to take part as a solo photographer.

“My practice often explores youth identity and culture through documentary portraiture,” she says. “Mersey Paradise is one of my most personal yet as I captured intimate portraits of seven of my closest friends.”

Through exploring a subjective sense of identity and image, Mersey Paradise questions whether portraiture can reflect the intimacy of a friendship between photographer and subject. By shooting her peers at home in Manchester, Saesha explored commonalities and group identity; one that manifests itself to a wider cultural identity of youth in Northern England. Considerately composed and thoughtfully lit, the portraits reflect the character of the individuals as well as that of the artist.

“The title of the series mirrors that of a well-known song by The Stone Roses, emphasising the significance to me that I explored my self-identity in my home town,” Saesha explains. “Overall, the series is a cooperative piece between my closest friends and I and is a telling of ourselves together and our relation in the present.”

More about the artist: 

Website – www.saeshablueward.co.uk
Email – saeshablueward@gmail.com
Instagram – @saeshablue