Shannon, Chris and Alex's, Tinkers Bubble, Somerset, June 2004
Photograph
June 2004
June 2004
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
David Spero is a British photographer known for his quietly contemplative enquiries into overlooked communities and the appropriation of space.
For Settlements, Spero spent 10 years documenting communities that aim to live with minimal impact on the environment. The series focusses on self-built dwellings, featuring structures erected in line with their residents’ ecologically sustainable, land-based living. These communities are almost entirely self-sufficient; they use recycled building materials, renewable energy sources and grow their own food. This body of work follows four low-impact communities: Tinker’s Bubble and King’s Hill in Somerset, Brithdir Mawr in Pembrokeshire, and Steward Woodland in Dartmoor. Each is home to between 10 and 20 residents who value close proximity to nature and a visceral connection with the land they inhabit. These photographs are a sensitive record of how these communities live, surrounded by lush green settings in dense forest that suggest an almost fairytale-like quality.
Spero graduated from his studies at the Royal College of Art in 1993. Since then, he has made many celebrated photographic series, including Settlements, Churches and Ball Photographs. Spero’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Northern Photography Centre, Finland, the National Media Museum, Bradford, and The Photographers’ Gallery, London. He was awarded the Photoworks Fellowship at the British School in Rome in 2009. He has also been the recipient of the British Council Award and the Kyoto Exchange Award. A monograph of his series Churches was published in 2007 and of the series Settlements in 2017.
For Settlements, Spero spent 10 years documenting communities that aim to live with minimal impact on the environment. The series focusses on self-built dwellings, featuring structures erected in line with their residents’ ecologically sustainable, land-based living. These communities are almost entirely self-sufficient; they use recycled building materials, renewable energy sources and grow their own food. This body of work follows four low-impact communities: Tinker’s Bubble and King’s Hill in Somerset, Brithdir Mawr in Pembrokeshire, and Steward Woodland in Dartmoor. Each is home to between 10 and 20 residents who value close proximity to nature and a visceral connection with the land they inhabit. These photographs are a sensitive record of how these communities live, surrounded by lush green settings in dense forest that suggest an almost fairytale-like quality.
Spero graduated from his studies at the Royal College of Art in 1993. Since then, he has made many celebrated photographic series, including Settlements, Churches and Ball Photographs. Spero’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Northern Photography Centre, Finland, the National Media Museum, Bradford, and The Photographers’ Gallery, London. He was awarded the Photoworks Fellowship at the British School in Rome in 2009. He has also been the recipient of the British Council Award and the Kyoto Exchange Award. A monograph of his series Churches was published in 2007 and of the series Settlements in 2017.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Shannon, Chris and Alex's, Tinkers Bubble, Somerset, June 2004 (assigned by artist) |
Materials and techniques | C Type Print |
Brief description | Colour photograph by David Spero, 'Shannon, Chris and Alex’s, Tinkers Bubble, Somerset, June 2004', from the series 'Settlements', 2004, C-type print |
Physical description | Photograph depicts a straw bale and wattle walled hut with canvas tarpaulin covered bender roof. The hut is surrounded by pine trees at Tinkers Bubble Woodland Community, Somerset. |
Dimensions |
|
Style | |
Gallery label | Photography Centre, 2018-20:
David Spero (born 1963)
Emma’s, Tir Ysbrydol, October 2004
Emma’s Garden, Tir Ysbrydol, September 2010
Rooh’s, May 2008
Shannon, Chris and Alex’s, June 2004
Communal Portrait, November 2004
Exterior Communal Kitchen, August 2004
From the series Settlements
2004–15
Spero spent ten years documenting four communities in England and Wales that try to live making minimal impact on the environment. These communities are almost entirely self-sufficient, using recycled building materials and renewable energy sources, and growing their own food. The series intersperses photographs of self-built dwellings with portraits of their residents, who live according to their ideological and ecological beliefs.
C-type prints
Purchase funded by the V&A Photographs Acquisition Group
Museum nos. E. 257, 277, 280, 283, 284 and 292-2017 |
Credit line | Purchase funded by the Photographs Acquisition Group |
Place depicted | |
Summary | David Spero is a British photographer known for his quietly contemplative enquiries into overlooked communities and the appropriation of space. For Settlements, Spero spent 10 years documenting communities that aim to live with minimal impact on the environment. The series focusses on self-built dwellings, featuring structures erected in line with their residents’ ecologically sustainable, land-based living. These communities are almost entirely self-sufficient; they use recycled building materials, renewable energy sources and grow their own food. This body of work follows four low-impact communities: Tinker’s Bubble and King’s Hill in Somerset, Brithdir Mawr in Pembrokeshire, and Steward Woodland in Dartmoor. Each is home to between 10 and 20 residents who value close proximity to nature and a visceral connection with the land they inhabit. These photographs are a sensitive record of how these communities live, surrounded by lush green settings in dense forest that suggest an almost fairytale-like quality. Spero graduated from his studies at the Royal College of Art in 1993. Since then, he has made many celebrated photographic series, including Settlements, Churches and Ball Photographs. Spero’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Northern Photography Centre, Finland, the National Media Museum, Bradford, and The Photographers’ Gallery, London. He was awarded the Photoworks Fellowship at the British School in Rome in 2009. He has also been the recipient of the British Council Award and the Kyoto Exchange Award. A monograph of his series Churches was published in 2007 and of the series Settlements in 2017. |
Bibliographic reference | Settlements by David Spero, published 2017
Book dummy for the monograph titled 'Settlements' was acquired as part of this purchase. |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.257-2017 |
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Record created | March 7, 2017 |
Record URL |
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