DAVID STEWART
FEATHERSTONE STREET
‘FEATHERSTONE STREET’ BY DAVID STEWART, IS AN ONGOING SERIES OF PORTRAITS OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE COLLABORATED WITH STEWART THROUGHOUT HIS SUCCESSFUL 40 YEAR PHOTOGRAPHIC CAREER.
FORMED OF TWO KEY PARTS, THE PROJECT EXPLORES THE CONCEPT OF ‘RELATIONSHIP’ THROUGH A STORY-DRIVEN APPROACH TO PORTRAITURE THAT INVITES THE VIEWER INTO THE BACKGROUND OF EACH INDIVIDUAL, LEARNING THEIR ROLE IN STEWART’S CAREER, AS WELL AS THE INTRICACIES OF HIS RELATIONSHIP TO EACH SITTER…
THE ONGOING PROJECT COMMENCED WITH STEWART’S FIRST SECTION, TITLED ‘FEATHERSTONE STREET’; A SERIES OF IMAGES SHOT USING ONLY NATURAL LIGHT THAT WERE INSPIRED INTO CREATION WHEN HIS STUDIO BECAME FLOODED WITH NATURAL DAYLIGHT DUE TO THE DEMOLITION OF A BUILDING OPPOSITE THE STUDIO AT THE END OF 2019, TEMPORARILY TRANSFORMING HOW HE WAS ABLE TO WORK IN THE SPACE.
THIS INITIAL STAGE OF ‘FEATHERSTONE STREET’ CONTINUED THROUGHOUT THE PERIODS OF UK LOCKDOWN UNTIL, IN THE AUTUMN OF 2020, THE BUILDING OPPOSITE STARTED TO RISE AGAIN, GRADUALLY TAKING BACK THE NATURAL LIGHT AND, SO, MAKING THE EXPOSURE STEWART REQUIRED FOR THE LARGE FORMAT 8X10 FILM TOO LONG TO FREEZE HIS SUBJECTS…
AS A RESPONSE TO THIS, STEWART’S ‘FEATHERSTONE STREET: DARKSIDE’ WAS CREATED. THE PROJECT WENT UNDERGROUND, SWAPPING OUT THE NATURAL LIGHT FOR ARTIFICIAL AND TAKING A STEP AWAY FROM THE MORE FORMALLY-POSED PORTRAITS OF THE EARLIER SERIES…
THE RESULTING PORTRAITS ARE PHOTOGRAPHED USING A LARGE FORMAT CAMERA ON 4X5 FILM, WITH EACH SUBJECT POSITIONED IN A CONSTRUCTED BOX-SET WHICH IS DESIGNED TO RELECT EACH PERSON’S RELATIONSHIP TO STEWART.
‘FEATHERSTONE STREET: DARKSIDE’ IS STILL ONGOING…
Photographer
@David Stewart