Invisible Lives: Connection and Representation in “An Ordinary Eden”

The Stirling Photography Festival is an inclusive celebration of community. Our mission is to develop skills, create opportunities, and build community through events, workshops, and exhibitions. Partnering with some of photography’s newest and finest talent from across the World, our aim is to connect our community through photography. Since we were established in 2018, we are delighted to have had the support of local businesses and Stirling’s creative and cultural organisations. Partnerships with Scotland's leading centres for photography, including Street Level Photoworks and Stills, strengthen our professional network and assist us in bringing leading artists to Stirling.

Stirling Photography Festival

An insight into how a project evolves and the questions that arise

The Barracks

Margaret Mitchell will discuss her most recent work An Ordinary Eden which premiered earlier this year in a solo exhibition at Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow. Carried out over four years, Mitchell photographed people with lived experience of homelessness looking at issues around housing, home and belonging, reflecting on the experiences of the individuals involved, the stories shared and how society responds. 

The talk will consider the process of making the work, from initial planning and the themes explored through to decisions made about what elements to include in the presentation of the project as an exhibition. Ethics, her responsibility as a photographer and the social use of photography will also be considered - does photographing lives which are often ignored increase visibility of the issues?

Questions on dignity, care and compassion surfaced constantly to Mitchell as she met, listened to, and photographed individuals across Scotland. Within this work are lives full of determination and dignity but also those damaged by isolation and needless years lost. Please come along to hear about the process of making the work and the wider issues it raises. 
About MargaretMargaret is a Glasgow-based photographer whose work ranges from exploring communities and children’s worlds through to projects on the individual and society. Bridging the psychological and the social, her work explores the intricacies and complexities of people’s lives with a particular emphasis on place and belonging.

Her work has received a number of accolades and has been acquired for the permanent collections of the National Galleries of Scotland, the Martin Parr Foundation and the University of Stirling. She has exhibited widely including at the National Portrait Gallery, London and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh. 

Her book ‘Passage’ was published by Bluecoat Press and her work has featured in the Guardian, De Correspondent, and the New Statesman amongst others. 
Links to view more of Margaret's work and to Follow her<a href="https://margaretmitchell.co.uk" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">margaretmitchell.co.uk
</a><a href="https://ordinaryeden.com" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">
ordinaryeden.com
</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/margaret.mitchell/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">
www.instagram.com/margaret.mitchell
</a>

<h3>We would like to thank The Robertson Trust and <a href="https://www.thebarracksstirling.org.uk" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The Barracks </a>staff for generously hosting and supporting this event with Margaret.</h3><h3>Read more here about the <a href="https://www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Robertson Trust</a> and their work supporting and championing those seeking solutions to poverty and trauma.</h3>

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Invisible Lives: Connection and Representation in “An Ordinary Eden”

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Invisible Lives: Connection and Representation in “An Ordinary Eden”

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