Portrait of Britain - we have a (Leeds) winner
Leeds photographer Rachael Munro-Fawcett is among 100 winners of this year’s prestigious Portrait of Britain award with an image, Leonna Lynch, that celebrates womanhood, empowerment and woman’s connection to nature.
"It's a real honour to be recognised in this year’s award with work that represents and captures the essence of womanhood, especially so soon after becoming a new mother. I feel the portrait further encapsulates my own journey of womanhood as I find myself in a different stage of life, transitioning from non-motherhood to motherhood. As a busy new mother, I’ve naturally felt the pressure of time away from my practice, so to receive news of the award during this special time with my daughter has helped me stay connected to my work”.
The winning photograph titled “Leonna Lynch” is a timeless black and white portrait that speaks to the resilience, strength and power inherent in women. Shot in a farmer’s field in Burnsall, North Yorkshire, Rachael describes the winning portrait “as a celebration of the universal stories, experiences and complexities of womanhood that help bind us together”.
Produced as part of a multi-arts collaborative commission from Leeds based theatre company Redbobble Arts, the project explored the concept of the “wild woman”, and the transformative relationship between woman and nature. The collaboration brought together theatre makers, photographers, videographers, artists and storytellers to create narratives that celebrate the diversity of the woman experience.
Rachael continues, “I really liked the idea of capturing woman as their most natural and authentic self, to capture the inner power, wildness and spirit of woman. I felt drawn to representing woman without any societal or internal pressures, free from oppression, inequalities and expectations, the idea of not being anything but nature.
For its freeing and liberating form, I turned to dance to tell this story and worked with Leeds based dancer Leonna Lynch. In among Leonna's dance, I photographed her sitting in the farmers field against a backdrop, rooted in the landscape."
Recognised as the UK’s biggest annual photography exhibition, the Portrait of Britain exhibition from the British Journal of Photography will appear on JCDecaux digital screens up and down the UK for the next month, lighting up high streets, shopping centres, train stations, roadside billboards, London bus shelters and Heathrow airport. The exhibition will reach millions of people in cities including Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Liverpool, Sheffield and London. The 200 shortlisted images are also featured in the Portrait of Britain Vol. 6 photobook, published by Bluecoat Press and sponsored by JCDecaux.