Common Ground is an annual collaboration between Autograph and UAL Insights which invites a group of local sixth form and further education colleges students to explore themes of identity through photography, with sessions taking place at Autograph and UAL's London College of Communication.
Created and facilitated by Adrian Wood and D Wiafe, this year’s programme will use the cyanotype process as a starting point to explore self-identity and expression through classic and contemporary forms of creative practice.
Students will be exploring the question: how do individuals use style, objects and their bodies to reflect their identity and the wider community?
Through the project students will:
• Develop photography, moving image and post-production skills
• Build confidence in experimenting and making work independently
• Make new work to contribute to their creative portfolios
• Connect with industry experts and mentors
The project will culminate in a celebratory event and a public presentation in October 2024.
D Wiafe is the Course Leader on BA (Hons) Commercial Photography course at London College of Communication (LCC). He is also a Senior Lecturer on BA (Hons) Photography at LCC.
D's work champions the power and contributions of youth-led thinking to collaborative projects. He has an extensive background in developing project partnerships with brands and arts organisation that enable creative talent to contribute innovate ideas to the development of branded content, community initiatives, social enterprises and more.
Adrian Wood is Senior Lecturer for BA (Hons) Photography at London College of Communication. Adrian is a London based Photographer and has exhibited domestically and internationally, including at Victoria & Albert Museum, (London) Aperture Gallery (NYC, USA,) Rencontres de Arles (France), and Musee de Elysee (Switzerland).
Community Outreach and Participatory projects are a core element of Adrian’s practice. Working with community and arts organisations, schools and government agencies, his work focuses on projects that encourage young people to use photography as a new way of seeing their own environment and themselves in relation to their communities, society and the wider world. The camera is used as a device for investigating the lines between participants' current realities and their future potential.
Banner image: UAL insights participants / Adrian Wood.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.