Staff and pupils at Bath Spa University are already looking forward to the summer of 2025. It’s when this academic body will be celebrating its 20th anniversary as a university.
With that in mind, a brand-new exhibition has opened celebrating the BSU community in one hundred portraits.
Over the past 12 months, a collaboration between BSU’s Communications and Brand Development team, with colleagues and students from the BA Photography team – based at the Locksbrook Campus – has captured a unique snapshot of the people who live, work and study at BSU.
‘BSU One Hundred Portraits’ is a creative project to make images and collect stories of the people across Bath Spa University in 2024, with the exhibition featuring all 100 images now displayed in the Michael Pennie Gallery at BSU’s Locksbrook Campus, through to Friday 6 January. The gallery is open from 10am-4pm (closed Christmas Eve to 2 January).
One unique aspect of the project is that the photographer has used traditional film and processes to produce large format photography, with all images taken with a large format 5×4 camera, owned by the University.
James Arthur Allen, Senior Lecturer in Photography, and ‘BSU One Hundred Portraits’ project lead said:
“In a fast-paced digital world, where we can take a hundred photos in an instant, there is something unique and special about the experience of sitting for a portrait photograph using traditional methods, where each image takes time to set up, craft, position and capture. The role of the photographer is to make the portrait sitter feel at ease and to photograph them in their true and authentic self.
“For each of the one hundred portraits, we’ve documented the person but also captured the story of who they are. We have curated a comprehensive photographic body of work which records our staff and student communities across the campuses and schools of the University.”
Lucy Stone, Head of Communications and Brand Development at BSU said:
“As BSU approaches its 20th anniversary as a university in 2025, we wanted to mark the occasion and celebrate this milestone in our university’s history in a way which really captures who we are as a community and institution today. Each of the beautiful portrait images tells a unique story of a person who is a part of the fabric of BSU. ”
After the exhibition there are plans to take the portraits and stories on tour to BSU’s other campuses and sites during 2025, and there will be a publication of a ‘One Hundred Portraits’ coffee table book to celebrate BSU’s 20th anniversary as a university.
The exhibition is free to enter, and as well as all 100 portraits on display, it also features a short ‘behind the scenes’ film about the project.
