In collaboration with photographer Steve Tanner we are on a journey exploring portraits of writers in their work spaces. This is linked closely with the Story Republic’s theme this year of Trading Tales and also with our work to support literacy and writing in schools through the arts. Our ambition is that this work will be published in a beautiful book of Steve photographs.
To date five writers have been kind enough to let us into their private sheds and dens: Patrick Gale, Annamaria Murphy, Jill Murphy, Pauline Sheppard and Bill Scott. All live and work in Cornwall.
“I’m still exploring various ideas of the writer’s space and have tried to work on a different slant, from details of the space to writers in conversation but I did get intrigued about two ideas. One is the writer in their space but with their eyes closed to give the illusion of their inner thoughts. This was enhanced by the technique that I used to shoot those images – over 50 images collaged together. I am looking for a different portrait and not just a smiley shot of a writer in their space. I was and still am exploring how to interpret the writer, their writing and their space. That’s why I also got intrigued with the fact that there are only 26 letters that a writer uses, yet every writer has such a distinct and individual voice. This I wanted to symbolise through a combination of their hand written alphabet and their faces.” Steve Tanner
To see the photographs please visit the Story Republic installation at the Exchange Gallery in Penzance from July 30th to 16 August.
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