Fay Godwin: Under a turbulent sky

9 Sep-28 Oct 2023

Overview

Under a turbulent sky is an exhibition of prints by Fay Godwin, one of the most respected and significant British photographers of the 20th century. Zelda Cheatle, a gallery owner and friend of Fay Godwin, describes her as having been ‘an independent, intelligent and courageous photographer’ and Roger Taylor, in his essay for the retrospective publication Landmarks (2002), referred to her ‘mastery of the elusive grammar of greys.’

The original exhibition opened in February 2017 at MoMA Machynlleth, in mid-Wales. It was curated by Diane Bailey and Geoff Young, both exhibition curators and co-owners of Penrallt Gallery Bookshop (est. 2011) and Ffotogaleri Y Gofeb (est. 2017), Machynlleth. In addition to twenty-seven archive prints loaned by the National Library of Wales, there were eighteen new prints, made in late 2016 from the original negatives held in The British Library archive, by Peter Cattrell, landscape photographer, teacher and fine printer, who printed for Fay Godwin’s books and exhibitions throughout the 1980s.

This exhibition represents a selection from what photo-historian Ian Jeffrey has described as a unique photographic ‘survey’ of the landscape of Britain, carried out by Fay Godwin for exhibitions and books between 1972 – 1994 and particularly celebrates her pioneering attention to environmental issues.

Today, as landscape continues to be subject photographers turn to when contemplating the ways we relate to where we live and the impact humans have on the land, Fay Godwin’s work continues to influence.

The prints have been personally selected by people who know or worked with and were influenced by Fay Godwin; by curators, collectors and historians of photography as well as by close friends and members of her family who were invited by Diane Bailey and Geoff Young to make their selection.

Kestle Barton is very pleased to have this exhibition of Fay Godwin’s photographs on show in the gallery this autumn, along with the captions written by the contributors about their respective selections.

Artists