Creative London: Holly Wren
We caught up with Photographer Holly Wren, mid way through her debut exhibition Love Lived, which opened at The Broadgate Tower, City of London, in February to find out a little more about what visitors can expect to see.
1. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHERE LOVE LIVED STARTED?
Through one of my clients, I came to hear of an exhibition space in a new building near Liverpool St – The Broadgate Tower. It occurred to me that London is an old, but truly ageless place of constant regeneration and that an exhibition there should seek humanise the glass and concrete a bit but also lend some of London’s sense of community and heritage to the space. I’ve been fascinated by the outstanding work of Contact the Elderly for some time and I quickly realised that there was a creative synergy. For anyone that doesn’t know about Contact the Elderly I really recommend finding out more – their singular mission is to provide means for older people to get together and make friendships. Simply put, my idea was to help raise awareness for their work by seeking the timelessness of the human condition through photos and video. Perhaps that sounds a bit grand… I really wanted to show younger people, and those of us caught in the hurly-burly of the city – the new and the regeneration of this grand old town – that older people understand – they lived – the same important human experiences that we do. And that their experiences and wisdom are perhaps an undervalued resource in society. No topic is more emotive than love and no-one can really live without it – yet it’s an intensely personal and often very private story for each of us. My idea was to find out about love from the perspective of people who had really lived it. I hope the exhibition does justice to the warmth candour and emotion that the subjects offered so willingly.
2. SO THE PHOTOS TELL THE STORY OF LOVE, LIVED?
Yes – I hope they do – and they tell other stories, too – the face shows so much to a still camera, it’s really a story book, and older people make wonderful subjects for portraiture. But beyond the images, the exhibition offers a written account of the subject’s recollections of falling in love and living their love. There’s an interactive element through the website lovelived.co.uk too, which has some wonderful video footage shot around the interviews and sitting by Bold Content
3. SO IT’S A MULTI-MEDIA EXHIBITION? I CAN IMANGINE YOU HEARD SOME AMAZING STORIES – DID YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE?
Yes – I’ve always found myself inventing stories behind portrait photography – trying to imagine the life of the sitter. This project shows that the truth is far more rewarding than you can imagine and hearing the story really makes you look at the pictures in a new way. It’s intensely personal – and exactly what I hoped we could. As for a favourite, I don’t think I can pick one! They were all amazing in their own right, and what interested me most was that before almost every interview the sitter said that their life wasn’t that interesting, and they didn’t have a story to tell. Then they would amaze us, and often really affect us with their love stories. We went through such a roller coaster of emotions – laughing and crying in the same interview. I was particularly moved by Jim’s incredible love for his wife, and although it doesn’t seem particularly upsetting, Chitra’s brave and independent tale really touched me, and reminded me that love doesn’t need to be the only focus. On top of all of that, there are stories in the exhibition that I can personally relate to, but I think that’s whats amazing for people that see it – there is a little bit of us all dressed up in the clothes of bygone generations.
4. SO YOU’D SAY THAT IT WAS A REWARDING PROJECT TO WORK ON? CONTACT THE ELDERLY IS A GREAT CHARITY, WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE WORKING WITH THEM?
I can honestly say it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done – and if visitors experience even just a tenth of the joy we had in making it, it will have been a roaring success in my eyes. Contact the Elderly have been wonderful, I cannot sing their praises enough. They are actually a relatively small charity which makes what they do even more amazing. They run almost entirely on volunteers and that is just inspiring. Love Lived has been fully supported by the team at head office from the moment I pitched it to them and they have been amazing. They helped me to organise the visits and select the sitters. But more than that, there is a network of hundreds of volunteers that reach out to these people and give up their time monthly to bring friendship and fun to these isolated older people. And those volunteers gave even more time to help me, which was just incredible. I had the opportunity to visit three of their famous tea parties during the project and it was genuinely a whole lot of fun. Which is not the first word you’d probably think of when considering a tea party for older people!
5. AS A PROFESIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION IN LONDON?
It’s a cliché, but I’m a real people person. So I’d have to say I get my inspiration from that – the people I meet. People’s stories fascinate me – and there are millions of incredible stories just wondering around London every day. Everyone really does have a story and I love how art in general, and photography in particular, works as a medium to bring humanity together and offer insight into some of those stories. An extension of that concept is my fascination with the ordinary. I think there is something really wonderful in the ordinary, because really people are all a bit extraordinary. It’s nice to see people recognise themselves through others.
6. AH SO YOU ARE A PEOPLE WATCHER! WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE IN LONDON TO HANG OUT AND WATCH PEOPLE, ANY SECRET GEMS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
I am! Haha! I love watching the intricate world of the city through its people. Where do I like to watch them? Well, I love sushi. To me, sitting alone eating sushi is a really perfect day. That may sound a little odd, but, it’s where I do my soul searching and dream up new ideas while watching the world. There is a little place in Covent Garden called Kulu Kulu Sushi that is really great, it’s a small sushi train with a real local, down to earth vibe. And free green tea. It’s a haven for me. And conveniently just a stone’s throw from the portrait gallery…
7. DO YOU VISIT GALLERIES OFTEN? WHAT ELSE DO YOU LIKE DOING IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
Not as often as I’d like – so when I do I love to be challenged and taken far away from my life to see a new perspective – very much what I hope we achieve with Love Lived. To be completely honest, I’m a total geek, and I love what i do. So I spend my spare time working on my photography and projects such as this. My work doesn’t feel like work so my spare time and work seem to merge together. But on the occasions I’m not wielding a camera I’m probably spending time with my friends, doing Bikram yoga, visiting the theatre or hanging out with my sausage dog Marvin!
8. APART FROM LOVE LIVED, WHERE WILL PEOPLE BE ABLE TO SEE YOU? HAVE YOU GOT ANY MORE PROJECTS WHICH YOU WILL BE EXHIBITING IN THE PIPE LINE?
I don’t think I ever don’t have new ideas, I have two right now that I’m working up, and hopefully one of those will make a great exhibition. I want to use my exhibitions to help people relate and reach causes that don’t have the budgets for big campaigns. Photographs can really give a window into the lives of people they perhaps don’t meet every day. So I suppose the real answer is “watch this space” and follow me on social media or through my website and blog at HollyWren.com!
Oh, and I should also mention that Love Lived is also exhibited outside in Regents Place, near Warren street station, from Mid March. The structures that will house this are just spectacular and it will be really exciting to see the images brought to life in that way – and of course it will make it accessible to even more people – so please stop by and take a few minutes to find out about Contact the Elderly – they are always raising money and looking for more volunteers, too, if you’re inspired!
FOLLOW HOLLY WREN ON:
Website: www.hollywren.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/holly_wren
Instagram: www.instagram.com/hollywrenphoto
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hollywrenphotography
Portrait taken by Nyla Sammons
