Albion

On the 18th of November an exhibition was held by 8 photography students at my university. Six people exhibited their own work and two people curated work from other photographers. But this wasn't a normal exhibition. There was no box room with photographs on the walls, no, this exhibition was on a 1940's Routemaster London bus.

The exhibition was all about Britain, upon arriving you were given a authentic looking bus ticket with the exhibition information on that you could keep, designed by Jasmine Rajagopalan. The whole thing looked so professional the only thing that gave away the group were uni students were the UCA logos displayed on the tickets. In keeping with the British theme (if the big red bus wasn't enough) a marquee had been put up with a table underneath covered in a union jack, offering visitors a traditional cuppa tea and biscuits (or a cake, if that's what you're into). To make the experience all the more authentic, a member of the group was dressed as a bus conductor and held a tally counter which clicked away as the time passed and more and more people were curious as to what the red bus was all about.

You could see the photographs from the outside of the bus but boarding the bus was a complete game changer. With images of British fashion, urban landscapes, mini coopers, the military and 'disgracing Britain',  it was quickly realised that their goal had been completely achieved, it was impossible to not think about Britain. Cup of tea in hand, leaning out the back of the bus, it reminded me that we as a nation are something to be proud of.

Charlie Hummerstone-Pope and Jasmine Rajagopalan focused on fashion in Britain. Although their theme was the same, after holding separate shoots, their final products were at the contrasting ends of British fashion. Charlie focused on high fashion, showing how powerful and fierce the typical British fashion designer can make their pieces look despite not being over the top; "The exhibition is what we as individuals think represents Britain best" he added when I chatted with him at the event. Jasmine however, focused on the alternative side, her models moody glares, dark make up and doc Martens screamed indie kid with a hint of 70's punk. With the Union Jack proudly flying in both photos linking them together beautifully. "This is our interpretation of Britain as a generation, but we're all aware everybody's views are different".

Jay curated images from an organisation called mini madness, while Kara curated images from a photography duo "C & A photography" who focus on taking pictures of battle reenactments. Hollie and Samantha collectively took photos of the British army on a training day, reinforcing the proud to be British feels we were all holding as we toured the bus. Giulia's images displayed her own interpretation of urban landscapes as a exchange student from Italy, who was quite adamant her images wouldn't depict the capitals skyline as a typical tourist would. Quite alternatively, Jacob's interpretation of Britain was a little different, showing images of homeless people and drunks, although giving the exhibition viewers a little more to think about, it still didn't pull the focus of how the other images had painted Britain to be great. 

Plans to set a projector up and display all the images on the side of the bus were halted due to typical English weather, which also unfortunately put the exhibition to a premature end. It didn't matter though, the daylight hours were enough for the group to do themselves proud.   

(L-R Jacob Venn, Giulia Garetto, Samantha Liu, Hollie Lansley, Kara-Jayne Thorn, Jasmine Rajagopalan, Charlie Hummerstone-Pope (Jay Smith is out of shot))

Charlie's personal photography blog

Jasmine's flickr account

Kara-Jayne's photography Facebook pagex

Hollie's photography Facebook page