Eva Watkins

We recently called for work from both BA and MA photographers who are graduating from a UK university course this year. You can find our final selections and see interviews here.

We selected University of the West of England 2020 graduate Eva Watkins to interview about her university experience, final body of work, and future plans.

Synchronised Swimming

The unique synchronised swimming group initially formed to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of Henleaze Swimming Lake, Bristol. Consisting of 80 people aged between 11-76, and of mixed genders, who were once strangers. Over time this group has created a space where strong friendships have formed, enabling them to share significant life moments with one another.

This work recognises their relationships; with one another and to the challenging environment, both as individuals and as a group. Working as a team and within the water has substantial benefits for mental and physical wellbeing. Water immersion naturally releases Oxytocin providing a feeling of calm and positivity, which allows bonds to form at a deeper level.

Tell us about your university experience. What did you enjoy the most and what do you think you will miss now you’re a new graduate? My university experience was great with the University of the West of England, the course was incredible. My tutors were unbelievably supportive throughout the whole of the process; helping me develop, providing opportunities and just being amazing people. I enjoyed the chance to experiment, work to briefs to then find my voice in photography. I will miss the support given by all the staff, having group critiques and Wednesdays when we had photographers come in to talk and conduct portfolio reviews. My university provided so many resources and help, I can’t thank them enough. 

What were your degree show plans and how did these change? Our degree show was called Cave which consisted of 40 people from the course. We had planned to exhibit our work with Free Range Shows and create a catalogue. I was very excited to show my Synchronised Swimming project and have the team come along to the exhibition. However, it’s very uncertain whether this will happen, we hope to have it sometime at the end of the year. We have our fingers crossed! If this doesn’t go to plan, I hope to organise an exhibition for the work at some point in the near future. 

Would you say that the pandemic has affected your work? If so, what are your plans for the next year? The pandemic has definitely affected my work, I was unable to complete my Synchronised Swimming project but I’m still very much in contact with the team and will be completing it in the near future. I would like to swim with the team to deepen our friendships and my understanding. I would love to be able to exhibit this project and invite the team. They were very excited about the degree show but as that may not go ahead, I hope I can put another exhibition together for them to look forward to.

Lockdown did allow me the time to push my project out there, concentrate on features, competitions and other opportunities. It also allowed me the time to deepen my understanding of the history of synchronised swimming, the benefits and how I can further develop my work.

Typically, what sort of work do you like to make and why? I am predominantly an analogue portrait photographer who photographs groups of people who take a more different approach to life. In second year, we were given an assignment to work with a group of people we were interested in but didn’t know much about. This was a very intimidating project for me as I was a very shy person. From this brief, I created my project Circus. Circus was based on students who were studying/studied at the Circomedia University. Through emailing and using social media, I was able to meet these incredible individuals who I then photographed. This is where I really started to enjoy making projects.

I enjoyed working with new people, getting to know them, building a relationship and producing work that they like. This then inspired me to work with a group of strangers again which is the result of Synchronised Swimming. My projects reminds me of the shyness I’ve overcome, the incredible people I’ve met and the future projects I want to create. 

Who or what inspires you the most and motivates you to make work? The people I’ve met through my projects motivate me to carry on making work, I’ve met so many incredible people through photography and can’t wait to meet even more. Photographer Clare Hewitt has inspired me throughout my work, listening to her photography talk about how she approaches people, her ethics and ways to approaches photography really resonated with me. I also received an incredibly informative and detailed portfolio review from her during my time at UWE and I’m still in contact with her.

My tutors and the technicians from UWE have been very supportive despite my time at university ending, allowing me to contact them for advice and feedback. The staff at UWE helped me gain confidence in my work. My family and friends always motivate me and give me confidence in projects. I’m very lucky to have so many supportive people around me, which gives me a big boost of motivation. 

What initially drew you to this synchronised swimming group? Is it a place where you’ve previously formed friendships yourself? A little while ago I dreamt that I was a synchronised swimmer and ever since, I wanted to create this project. I began to research teams in the UK to potentially contact them about the project. Amazingly, my tutor Liz posted a photograph of her performing in an outdoor synchronised swimming team at Henleaze Lake. I contacted her immediately to find out more about the team, the more she told me, the more excited and invested in the project I became. Without Liz, this project would never have happened, I’m hugely grateful to her.

What also drew me to the team and the location is my love for outdoor swimming. I live in a seaside village in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Swimming outdoors has always been a normality, whether it be a nice sunny day or a rainy day so this played a big part in my enthusiasm for the project.

What did you use to shoot your images? Were your choices important to your way of working around the water and the swimmers? I used a Hasselblad 6×6 medium format camera for this work, this is my favourite camera to use. However, it was tricky when trying to take photographs of the team in the water. When I photographed the team performing I used a prism hasselfinder to make it easier. I soon realised that the water performance photographs weren’t quite working. The project then developed to taking photographs mainly out of the water, in the environment, in poses that suggested synchronised swimming. For example, in the ladder photograph, they are in formation, they are creating a shape with the reflection. The lake was often flooded when I was there due to the time of year, I was sometimes up to my knees in water when photographing which was terrifying with the camera!

Was this group intentionally created as a way for people to form friendships and benefit their mental and physical wellbeing, or is this something that has naturally formed amongst members? Everyone in the team is a member of the Henleaze Lake Swimming Club. In 2019, it was Henleaze Lake Swimming Club’s 100th year anniversary. To celebrate the day, Allison, the leader, thought of putting together a synchronised swimming team to perform on the day. Around 80 people performed, some knew each other, some didn’t. Lots of friendships have been made due to the team coming together. Everyone had different reasons for swimming, whether it was for fun, for health, for the community. Each person has their own story and reason for being there which makes the group even more fascinating.

You’ve included one male swimmer in your series. Why is that? Do females generally make up the majority of the group? It is mainly females within the team but it is open to all genders. There’s only one man in the series because it was only women who wanted to be photographed for the project. It was just unlucky for Jim that he was there on one of the days I was shooting. Jim’s wife Julie got him to have his photograph taken! I’m hoping to continue this project and encourage more people to join in.

Tell us about your research for this series. This work was heavily researched based. I find research very inspiring and helpful in the development of a project. I conducted lots of artist research such as Clare Richardson, Nicholas Fols, Min Hyunwoo, Alice Mann and many more. It was interesting to see how these photographers approached similar subjects.

My time during lockdown allowed me to read more around the history of synchronised swimming and how it had developed from performance to sport. Studying the mental and physical health benefits of water was really important to me to further my understanding too. I read segments of a book called The Mindful Art of Wild Swimming by Tessa Wardley which was a really nice read and hugely informative about how friendships are built in the water, how the mind and body reacts, and the environment. This book made me realise the importance of the more detailed up close photographs of the body in the water. These were made during lockdown from previously rejected photographs by cropping in. 

In an ideal world, what are your future plans? I’ve just recently moved to London and am starting a mentorship which I’m so excited about. After that, I would love to start assisting more photographers, take on commissions and hopefully carry on with personal projects. An exhibition is definitely on my mind and a potential zine publication. I would love to work with a group of photographers for group exhibitions and group publications too.