Commission

Brigstow Research Commission

An oppor­tu­ni­ty for one research team offered by Bris­tol Pho­to Fes­ti­val and the Brigstow Institute.

Bristol Photo Festival is delighted to be able to work with the Brigstow Institute to offer the opportunity for one research team to work together on a project that uses photography as a research tool/approach/method.

We’d like the project to be, ideally, both interdisciplinary and co-produced, and fit broadly within the Brigstow theme of living well. We are especially interested in projects that involve participatory photography or practice-led research (so photography is a critical part of the research process).

We invite applications from teams responding to either of the two themes identified by the Festival:

Growing Spaces - This theme raises numerous questions around the places where a variety of flora grows and is grown. We welcome a breadth of research questions that might explore the relationship between gardening, farming and craft, guerilla gardening, planting and harvesting during lockdown, productive and unproductive edgelands, as well as those spaces where nature is nurtured by human care and knowledge. We’re interested in agriculture and growing vegetables and fruit, but also trees and plants. These are just a few suggestions that are intended to open up, rather than close down thinking or define what we might mean by Growing Spaces! Have a look at the Bristol Photo Festival theme description at http://www.bristolphotofestival.org/growingspaces/

The Living Room Archive - This theme raises questions around the meanings given to the places we call ‘home’. We welcome a breadth of research questions that might explore where we live well, how ideas of what the living room represents changes over time and space, the negotiations of private and public space within the home, how we represent self within the home through curation, the gendering of domestic space, and the social nature of the living room. We are as interested in other living spaces that people create and occupy that are more transient and temporary, and what ‘home’ means for the displaced as well as the settled. What are other spaces where social interactions and conversations take place? These are just a few suggestions that are intended to open up rather than close down thinking or define what we might mean by the Living Room! Have a look at the Bristol Photo Festival theme description at http://www.bristolphotofestival.org/the-living-room-archive/

One commission will be made and the successful team will have a budget of c. £6k to fund costs such as fees and materials for the exhibition.
Disciplines
Photography Research