Northern Charter
5th Floor, Commercial Union House
39 Pilgrim Street
Newcastle NE1 6QE

Thursday 23rd March 2017 (1:00pm – 6:45pm)

[https://gallery.mailchimp.com/dc483abffe68524470c37657e/images/3d21e6f9-554c-42a1-89e1-cf6cc3455632.jpg]
Marjolaine Ryley ‘Gust of Wind’ 2014

Northern Charter and The Family Ties Network in association with NEPN present this study day, which considers how photography can create visual conversations about lived experiences of illness, loss, medical conditions and the ‘unseen’ within representations of the family. Photography is a difficult medium when it comes to photographing something that is not always visible. The particular visual strategies adopted by four artists explore a range of approaches for circumnavigating the challenges this presents.

In ‘Too close to home?’ Rosy Martin examines the challenges she faced in attempting to represent her mother’s dementia. Then the task of ‘curating the museum of sources’, somehow finding visual strategies to reflect her grief and sense of loss as she faced dismantling the family home, alone. In ‘Acts of Reparation’ Rosy used the process of re-enactment phototherapy to replace her parents, in their home and honour the memory of who they had been. Arabella Plouviez presents ‘Alzheimer’s: A Quiet Story’ which considers how, through the confusion of Alzheimer’s disease, the everyday becomes out of reach. This work takes a domestic environment, lived in for a lifetime, and the medium of photography which we so often use as our memory to explore ways in which our brains get lost through this illness. Sophie Ingleby discusses ‘S E E D’ a photographic insight into fertility treatment. The project explores different aspects of IVF through a series of portraits, conceptual photographic works and documentary imagery from Newcastle Fertility Centre at LIFE. Sarah Tulloch presents ‘Object Image’ which interrogates both the material fabric of the image, the object, and the image content of the photographic subject. Marjolaine Ryley discusses ‘The Thin Blue Line, The Deep Red Sea’ which examines the ways miscarriage and pregnancy loss have been explored (and ignored) in arts and culture.

The work of these five artists raises questions as to how we see (or don’t see) these lived experiences. More than this, through their exploratory visual strategies, such practices are asking if it is possible to perceive – and therefore understand – such experiences and conditions differently. As well as talks by our speakers, a range of graduates and current students will be showing portfolios of work that connect with the day’s themes. There will also be a chance for informal discussion and dialogue around this important subject.

To view further details and the schedule see the FTN website:
https://familytiesnetwork.wordpress.com/events/<http://wordpress.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dc483abffe68524470c37657e&id=cb3916f439&e=6b42d8a3dd>

To book a place, please visit the eventbrite page:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/beyond-the-visible-north-east-photographers-network-tickets-32086799481?aff=es2<http://wordpress.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=dc483abffe68524470c37657e&id=2a7c864da3&e=6b42d8a3dd>

The Family Ties Network is a group of artists, filmmakers and writers based in the UK, who explore connections between memory, space, place and the family in photography and moving image. Through events, conferences, exhibitions and publications, they aim to investigate a range of issues, encompassing the visual representation of family memories, oral history, bereavement, displacement, estrangement and the family home.
https://www.facebook.com/FamilyTiesNetwork/<http://wordpress.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dc483abffe68524470c37657e&id=c1eab87688&e=6b42d8a3dd>

The Northern Charter is a space for contemporary art in Newcastle upon Tyne. An artist-led organisation The Northern Charter provide spaces for artists and art organisations to make, show and curate contemporary art.
[http://www.thenortherncharter.org<http://wordpress.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=dc483abffe68524470c37657e&id=48347f2064&e=6b42d8a3dd]www.thenortherncharter.org<http://wordpress.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=dc483abffe68524470c37657e&id=48347f2064&e=6b42d8a3dd>

NEPN aims to develop new opportunities for photographic artists and audiences for photography through commissioning and exhibiting innovative photographic work in gallery and new public contexts.  NEPN is an initiative of the Northern Centre of Photography at the University of Sunderland.
[http://www.northeastphoto.net<http://wordpress.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dc483abffe68524470c37657e&id=4d81ee2260&e=6b42d8a3dd]http://www.northeastphoto.net<http://wordpress.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dc483abffe68524470c37657e&id=4d81ee2260&e=6b42d8a3dd>