Media Studies at Greenwich

Sophia Evans is our winner of the Contra Innovation Prize for her project, “The Washing Line.” Of her work, Sophia says: “The Washing Line” is a photographic journal centred on the workings of contemporary British homes. It looks at the everyday act of washing clothes and asks how people’s identities are expressed through the way they carry out this task.”

Of Sophia’s project, Ruth Kent, client partner at Contra, says:

Humans emit signs/clues about who they are and how they live their lives in many, many ways. Designers often observe those they are designing for, as a starting point for their design process. In ‘The Washing Line’, Sophia Evans has created a photographic journal – featuring a number of subjects – that brought both of the above statements to mind. By examining the simple act of getting the laundry done, Sophia collects intelligence on their respective identities. The viewer is presented with detailed and varied information on each subject.

Contra were impressed not only with the way in which this project was approached by Sophia, but also with its professional and polished presentation. The images selected by Sophia were all strong. (Additionally, little touches such as the colour of the title text complementing the ‘hero’ colour from each image, did not go unnoticed!). Overall, it was Contra’s observation that this was a project put together by someone ready to make a positive contribution to the creative industries.

We congratulate Sophia on her achievement, and wish her all the best for the future.

Three projects were shortlisted for the prize, and everyone involved had great difficulty deciding on just one entry. The other two projects shortlisted were:

Nicole Fernandez, “The Perfection of Imperfection.”

Nicole’s project investigates “bad” photography, mishaps and mistakes. “Should we throw out a photograph or delete it, just because the lighting in the shot was too dull; it came out blurry; or because the dog magically gained red eyes?”

Of Nicole’s project, Ruth Kent says:

This series of ‘happy accidents’ made me feel nostalgic for the days before digital photography. The ‘hit and miss’ nature of taking snaps, waiting for them to be processed and eagerly opening the wallet of prints, once they’d been collected.

Today, we all edit our photographs so much (manipulation and deletion) that the kinds of snaps in Nicole Fernandez’s piece are increasingly rare.

Oscar Lacey “Disturbing Desolate”

Oscar’s project is a short video that “aims to reproduce a dreamlike state, allowing audiences to consciously experience the common unconscious.”

This short film is clearly the product of a painstaking production process – a real labour of love! I came away with a deep respect for the filmmaking/editing approach. As a viewer, I was swiftly transported to a collection of memories of my own dreamscapes – nightmares especially! The imagery and montage conspired beautifully – leaving me feeling distinctly rattled. A great project.