Neeta Madahar & Melanie Rose and Anna Fox were originally commissioned to make new work for the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery’s exhibition, The Moon and Smile (2017), invited to respond to a period in the 1840s and 1850s, when Swansea was at the centre of early experiments in photography worldwide.
John Dillwyn Llewelyn (1810–1882) played a leading role in nearby Penllergare, as did his wife, Emma (1808–1881), cousin of photography’s inventor, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877). Dillwyn’s sister, Mary (1816–1906), captured the earliest photograph of a smile and his daughter, Thereza (1834–1926), the first photograph of the moon. The family’s passion for growing orchids became the inspiration for Neeta Madahar & Melanie Rose. Photographing the ruins of the Orchid House at Penllergare, they then studied family correspondence in the archives at Kew Gardens and identified forty species of orchids grown at Penllergare. Selecting eight orchids, they worked experimentally with traditional and digital processes to make one-off silver gelatin prints, giving the flowers an almost uncanny presence.
Anna Fox’s project also explores time and memory in photography. Fox was intrigued by the way in which the Dillwyn Llewelyns sought to capture reality while, with their careful staging, they also explored photography’s illusory qualities. Visiting the places they photographed, many now play a role in today’s leisure industry. The artist took multiple photographs for hours at a time, and then stitched them together digitally to make a final image, giving the illusion of instantaneity, but in fact representing an extended period of time: a ‘site of play’, exploring the past with multi-layered digital technology.
Richard Billingham was born in the West Midlands and now lives in Swansea. In the 1990s, his work came to prominence with the candid photography of his parents’ home life, although his practice has always included landscape, as well as animals – whether wild or domesticated. Untitled (Welsh Moor) captures the local ancient moorland on a wet, misty day, where cattle have grazed for centuries. Welsh Moor and the Gower have a powerful resonance for people in Swansea, and more work can be seen later this year, when Billingham will be the recipient of The Wakelin Award 2018. These works, gifted to the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery by the Contemporary Art Society, offer a vibrant contemporary connection to the long history of photography in Swansea.
