Niamh Grimes
Animals of the Mind
Like most things in this world, our relationship with animals is a symbolic, unreal one. This relationship begins in childhood; surrounded by images of cute, humanized animals on television, in magazines etc, we are taught to think of animals as something which they are not. In adulthood our relationship with animals continues to be one of distance, images of animals reach us through the print or screen media - stories of animals whose status is elevated above the others by some means. They are cuter, in more danger, smarter. When one animal is mythologized, others become forgotten. The polar bear is just one example of an animal who has been mythologized to the extent that any truth is obscured. The polar bear in our minds is a construct of many things and many truths. It is an unreal construction. For this work then I have reworked once familiar media images of polar bears. The bears in my photographs are fragmented sculptures, hyperreal yet their shape and pose is familiar to the viewer. The settings are landscaped parks, constructed to appear natural. The photographs should evoke a sense of de-ja-vu in the viewer, a sense of having seen it somewhere before. The distance between the human/animal remains as does the distance between truth/fiction.
Lee Costello • Amanda Gourley • Daniel Graham • Niamh Grimes • David McClean • George McManus • Ruth Medjber • Darran Murray • Philip Murray • Louise Phipps •
The Arts Institute at Bournemouth
BA (Hons) Photography
University of Brighton
BA (Hons) Editorial Photography
Camberwell College of Arts
BA (Hons) Photography
University of Chester
BA (Hons) Photography
Cleveland College of Art and Design
BA (Hons) Photography
Dublin Institute of Technology
BA (Hons) Photography
IADT Dun Laoghaire
BA (Hons) Photography
Edinburgh College of Art
BA (Hons) Visual Communication - Photography
University College Falmouth
BA (Hons) Photography
University College Falmouth
MA Photography
Glasgow School of Art
BA (Hons) Fine Art Photography
University of Gloucestershire Cheltenham
BA (Hons) Photography
London College of Communication
Graduate Diploma Digital Lens Based Image-Making
London College of Communication
MA Photography
University of Wales, Newport
BA (Hons) Photographic Arts
University of Wales, Newport
BA (Hons) Documentary Photography
University of Portsmouth
BA (Hons) Photography
Central Saint Martins
MA Communication Design - Photography Route
Swansea Metropolitan University
BA (Hons) Photography in the Arts / Photojournalism