I brought some props along with me for my talk at the opening night of my current exhibition at Y Stiwdio: A cookie tin that once lived in my static caravan in Wales when I lived there full time and now lives on a shelf in my living room in Malvern. Inside are little gems, handmade gifts made and given to me by some of the kids from the eco village (when they truly were still ‘kids’). These include hair-clips made from used Cadbury’s roses wrappers made by sisters Maisie and Matilda, a ‘sock dog’ by Maisie and a little purse which contains several coins made by Matilda when she was about eight years old. It was a birthday present and I remember being so touched and asked if she’d like the money back to which she replied that no, it was for me and she was ‘doing quite well at the moment’. 

During my talk I said how I’d never wanted kids and now I felt like I had 19 of them, the 19 kids/teenagers/young adults that have been involved and photographed for my Where the Red Kite Flies project. Obviously my relationship with them is nothing like that of the parent (though I have been known to drive them to various activities and pick them up from train stations) so I don't actually know what it would be like to have 19 of my own children. And whilst my resolve to not having my own kids has never wavered, I absolutely adore these guys and feel incredibly privileged to have them in my life. 

I’ve begun to enter some of the photos from the series into photographic competitions. This can sometimes feel like a soul destroying prospect, because the number of rejections will always far exceed the successful applications. But I love this project and I’m really rather proud of it so I’d like to find ways to continue to share it with a wider audience. And I think my skin is a bit thicker than it used to be, when an unsuccessful competition bid would send me spiralling into "I can't do this anymore!!!" I've also embraced my stubborn, rebellious side and I'll just keep making work regardless. 

The forms of applications vary greatly between different competitions, some can be quite basic or they can require what feels like an essay. On one I am working on at the moment I got stuck on what appears to be a very simple question: “Relationship to sitter”. Ohhh. Well, that’s complicated. To write simply “Friend” feels like it diminishes the relationship I have to the people photographed but to not include that we are friends wouldn’t feel right either. So I did what I so often do these days when stuck on some form of writing associated with this project and got in touch with some of the young people involved. I got some brilliant responses:

Elfie: Amanda? She’s our parent's friend, she’s a photographer at work, she’s also our friend, and our aunt, and our little big sister. Our relationship is ever changing, but equally ever beautiful, and so full of companionship.

Maisie: ...when I met you, I was 11 and there was very much a separation there... almost an authority figure (although I know this was not intentional) but now, even though the age gap is the same it feels like we are actual friends now. 

Mirelle: I would say long term neighbour, family friend, friend. Make sure it's evident that it's long, that we haven't just met for this exhibition, that it's a really established relationship.

I think I've landed on Friend/Neighbour with a few additional descriptive lines below. Summing up a relationship that has spanned 13 years is pretty tough to do in a few lines  and I don't think I could do it nearly as well as they do themselves.

Exhibition Brochure

I will be doing a small run of printed exhibition brochures. The 40 page brochure features 43 photographs from the series along with captions written by the young people featured and is printed on 80gsm recycled paper. 

They are available to pre-order for £10 + 2nd class shipping to cover the cost of printing. All orders need to be in by June 9th and will be posted out within two weeks of that date. Contact me here if you're interested in ordering a copy.