(image: Assembly vi by Martin Seeds, 2016)
For his Brighton Photo Fringe exhibition at The Regency Town House Martin Seeds exhibits a series of works taken on the grounds of the Stormont Estate, the home of the Northern Ireland assembly. We ask him a few questions about this project and what photography means to him..
Can you tell us a little about your earliest experiences with photography and what drew you to the medium? What images inspired you at that time?
While I was growing up my father always had still and cine cameras around. I remember he had a Polaroid Swinger, a 6×9 Coronet and Super8 film camera –I think he was more interested in the gadgetry than image making. A while back he gave me the Coronet, the Super8 and my Grandfather’s tin box camera. As a teenager I was always involved in outdoor activities like rock climbing and hill walking, which was a way to stay clear of the violence on the streets of Belfast. My friends would take their cameras on our outdoor trips so I joined in – my first camera, an East German made 35mm Praktica. On my trips to the mountains I would take my Praktica and make pictures of my friends, the things we got up to and the occasional landscape. It was all a bit of a fantasy escape from the real issues that were going on around me in Northern Ireland at the time.
How has your relationship with photography evolved since then?
I came to London in the mid 1980s and I focused on my I.T career. I did not make any photographs for decades until I fell in with some artists and started going to a lot of art exhibitions. The artwork that made me think differently about photography was Jens F by Collier Schorr (2002). Since then I started collecting photographs, visiting more galleries and eventually I took some night classes and began developing and printing my own photographs. In 2008 I took a break from my I.T career and studied for a BA in Photography. The course improved my image making skills and opened up my eyes to contemporary photographic practices. I have always been interested in technology and although I don’t make work about technology I like to know how to manipulate it to reinforce some idea or concept within my work. I recently completed my Masters in Photography at the University of Brighton which helped me further refine my practice interests and gave me time to develop ideas and create new work.
Where do you find inspiration? How do you find your ideas?
I visit Northern Ireland a lot and draw on the experiences from my visits. It is important for me to keep abreast of current news events and I regularly visit exhibitions, attend artist talks and also seminars on Irish studies, technology and the arts. I like to read and research from photography and academic journals, articles related to my practice interests (post conflict Ireland, identity, nationalism vs tribalism).
Can you tell us a little bit more about the work you are exhibiting at Brighton Photo Fringe 2016?
I’m exhibiting selected pieces from Assembly, a body of work I developed during my Photography Masters at the University of Brighton.
Assembly was made in the Stormont Estate, the home of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The work uses the power of photography to generate allegory – letting the plants, trees and foliage deliver a message, from the grounds surrounding the Northern Ireland parliament building, about the struggles embedded in a fragile political landscape.
Assembly suggests the importance of the grounds as a common material space beyond culture in which difference and likeness are both articulated and intertwined in a natural world outside of the political chamber.
Assembly consists of 6 parts (i – vi). Each part reflects upon a different aspect of the fragile post-conflict political landscape of Northern Ireland. At The Regency Town House selected works from the project are on display. The full body of work can be viewed on my website www.martinseeds.com
Assembly vi. consists of 60 landscape photographs. Taken within the grounds of the Stormont estate over the course of a year, these photographs reflect the two different political viewpoints that are held over the same landscape. At The Regency Town House this work is exhibited as a slideshow.
The works in Assembly are for sale, please contact the artist directly for details: mseeds1@gmail.com
Assembly by Martin Seeds can be seen at The Regency Town House Basement, 10 Brunswick Square, Hove from 1-30 October, Thursday-Sunday 12:00-18.30. Full details here.