Finding fashion in the Welsh Valleys

A collaboration between photographers Clémentine Schneidermann and Charlotte James, It’s Called Ffasiwn is on show at the Martin Parr Foundation, Paintworks until May 25, 2019.

Set against the muted scenery of the deindustrialised South Wales Valleys, the photographs show local children in fashion costumes in an engaging hybrid of social documentary, fashion, portraiture, performance and landscape photography.

Clémentine and Charlotte met in the Valleys town of Abertillery in 2015. Realising their common interest, they began hosting fashion-themed workshops for young people in two youth groups. Drawing on their own industry experience, they have taught the young people skills such as sewing, customising clothes and styling. The children helped put together the outfits in the photographs, which were taken by Clémentine.

‘Ghosts, Merthyr’ (2018)

The photographs show local children in costume – often in surreal situations and incongruous with their surroundings.” Tell us about the thinking behind this particular presentation.
Clémentine: The iconography of these type of landscapes in Wales but also in the UK can be very familiar and overlooked. I wanted people to look at these communities and small towns in a different way, surprise them and hopefully excite them too. Charlotte and I are both really interested in costumes and how people present themselves so we also wanted to reference this.

Why did you choose the Welsh Valleys in particular as the backdrop for this collection?
Clémentine: Charlotte is from Merthyr Tydfil, which is the largest town of the Valleys and although I am originally from France, I was living in Abertillery, a small town in the Valleys for two years. We both felt very inspired by the region, and this is why we decided to focus our work here.

‘Demi, Bryn Farm’ (2018)

Tell us about the workshops that led up to these photographs.
Charlotte: The first time working with Clémentine and the young people, I brought along costumes and graduate collections. I knew that working with so many kids and doing a styled shoot would be a challenge so I went in with an open mind.

‘Summer Street Party, Merthyr Vale’ (2018)

There were around 18 kids on that first shoot. It was a completely new experience for them too and on the day they were working in pairs and suggesting outfits for each other, so I let them have a rummage to choose clothing that they wanted to wear.
After seeing the way the kids responded to the costumes, we decided to make it a collaborative experience and to host workshops, so the young people could be a part of the styling and costume making. The second time we worked together we hosted a workshop first – and it has grown from there.

‘Spring, Gurnos’ (2017)

You want to subvert stereotypes of working-class Valleys towns and their residents. What are these stereotypes, and how do you hope to subvert them (or replace them with)?
Charlotte: Stereotypes of working-class Valleys is the usual iconography associated with poverty you often find in the media.
Without denying the reality, the playfulness of the photographs break with the traditional distance that you often see between the people behind the cameras and their subjects. We hope that people can appreciate the different layers of beauty in this region.

It’s Called Ffasiwn is on show at the Martin Parr Foundation, Paintworks until May 25 (Wed-Sat 11am-6pm, free). For more info, visit www.martinparrfoundation.org/exhibitions/its-called-ffasiwn

Top pic: ‘It’s Called Fashion (Look it Up)’, Merthyr Tydfil, 2016
All photos © Clémentine Schneidermann and Charlotte James

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