Not currently on display at the V&A

Five People Thinking the Same Thing III

Photograph
1998 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Frances Kearney graduated from the Photography MA course at the Royal College of Art in 1998. The three photographs in the V&A collection were all exhibited in her final degree show and acquired at that time. They are part of a larger body of work, titled 'Five People Thinking the Same Thing'. Kearney's work is concerned with the passing of time within a domestic setting, often with the subjects absorbed in what Kearney has described as "lost time".


Object details

Category
Object type
Titles
  • Five People Thinking the Same Thing III (assigned by artist)
  • Five People Thinking the Same Thing (series title)
Materials and techniques
c-type print mounted on aluminium
Brief description
'Five People Thinking the Same Thing III' (woman with a cigarette by bath) from the series 'Five People Thinking the Same Thing'. By Frances Kearney, 1998
Physical description
Photograph mounted on aluminium showing a woman leaning on a bath with her back to the viewer.
Dimensions
  • Print height: 123cm
  • Print width: 153.1cm
  • Frame height: 126cm
  • Frame width: 157cm
  • Frame depth: 7cm
Gallery label
Label for 'Making It Up: Photographic Fictions' (3 May 2013 - 12 January 2014): Frances Kearney (born 1970) Five People Thinking the Same Thing II, III and V 1998 Kearney’s images seem to be spontaneous snapshots but they are meticulously staged. Clothes, expressions and posture are all contrived for the photograph, and scenes are re-worked until a sense of stillness is achieved. Kearney’s figures convey a monumental and meditative quality, absorbed in what she has described as ‘lost time’. They are caught at a moment of personal reflection, perhaps waiting for something to happen. C-type prints Museum nos. E.496 to 498-1998
Object history
This set of three photographs are part of a larger body of work, titled Five People Thinking the Same Thing but only these images were exhibited at the summer degree show.

Historical significance: Kearney's creation of a subtle narrative, focussing on the representation of human thought and emotion, relates well to the photography by Lady Hawarden. Her work is concerned with the passing of time within a domestic setting often with the subjects absorbed in what Kearney has described as "lost time".
Historical context
Kearney creates a subtle narrative, focussing on the representation of human thought and emotion, that relates well to the photography by Lady Hawarden. Her work is concerned with the passing of time within a domestic setting, often with the subjects absorbed in what Kearney has described as "lost time".
Frances Kearney graduated from the Photography MA course at the Royal College of Art. These three photographs were all exhibited in her final degree show in the Summer of 1998.
Production
Reason For Production: Exhibition
Summary
Frances Kearney graduated from the Photography MA course at the Royal College of Art in 1998. The three photographs in the V&A collection were all exhibited in her final degree show and acquired at that time. They are part of a larger body of work, titled 'Five People Thinking the Same Thing'. Kearney's work is concerned with the passing of time within a domestic setting, often with the subjects absorbed in what Kearney has described as "lost time".
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
E.498-1998

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Record createdSeptember 3, 2003
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