Test Residency 2

Our second residency is fast approaching and we're really looking forward to having Finnish photographer Anna Lukala coming to stay. Anna will be staying with us for a week from Sunday June 26th until Sunday July 3rd when she will be giving a talk on her experiences here - save the date, we'll also be serving tea, coffee and cake for the event. 

Anna is a freelance photographer and visual artist. Originally from Finland, she is now based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK. Anna received a BA (Hons) in Photography from University of Wolverhampton in 1997. The central themes of Anna's practice are sustainability, the commons, material culture, women’s labour and endangered folk traditions. Her practice-based research has challenged her to look at the environmental footprint of her own creative work which has led to her investigating the role that plants and minerals can play in analogue photography as well as experimenting with historic recipes for inks, pigments and dyes, using natural materials. To achieve this she regularly forages and grows her own pigment garden, with the aim to embody a more sustainable and reciprocal practice.

Anna says 'During ​my stay at Braybrooks I am going to be researching the history of the common land of the water meadows and the ancient traditions attached to managing these. I am particularly interested in any historic records surrounding women’s roles here, if any, and how those records are kept and archived. I am keen to meet local folk and collect any oral histories attached to the working on the meadows and learn about the plants specific to the site. I will be experimenting with various alternative analogue photographic techniques and using plant matter and water found in the meadows in my processes. I will be looking at local soils and other natural plant and mineral colours that can be utilised during my residency. To work sustainably and in reciprocity with the land and the environment, it will be influencing the direction of my methods. However I am not expecting a specific outcome but to have the time and space to get inspired by a place that is completely new to me.'