Libby Hiatt
(She/Her)
My work focuses on social documentary, politics, and community. I use photography as a way to communicate and respond to topical issues and the wider political climate.
I’m interested in projects that move between global issues and more personal or local stories. This year, my work has explored political activism and rural community life and community ownership here in Scotland. My approach is often investigative and journalistic, usually involving extended periods spent within the environments I photograph. I like to get to know the people and places around me as I work and learn directly from the communities themselves. Building those relationships is an important part of my process and allows me to create work that feels collaborative and ethically representative.
Over the past year, I’ve been focusing on portraiture and analogue processes such as medium format photography, printmaking and letterpress as a way of taking a more considered approach to my image-making and storytelling.
ACT NOW
ACT NOW is a photographic project documenting pro-Palestinian protesters and protests across the UK, shot in four different locations: Glasgow, Lewes, Brighton and London. This project is a celebration and supports the importance of protesters in the current global political climate, and the crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices and protesters, especially in England, with the proscription of Palestine Action, which saw hundreds of unlawful arrests.
I wanted to create a project that showed support for Palestine and how collective action can make a difference wherever we are in the world, and whoever we are. This project highlights people from all walks of life coming together for one cause, and aims to challenge the narrative of ‘violent protesters’ often exercised in the news, especially at the height of the proscription of Palestine Action and the Filton 24, which led to mass arrests outside Westminster.
Through documentary and portraiture, this project captures the peaceful yet powerful change that can occur through collective action and urges the audience to think about their personal views, as well as serving as a call to action.
ACT NOW Zine
ACT NOW is a photographic zine documenting pro-Palestinian protesters across the UK. Through a collection of images and interviews, this zine celebrates the collective effort of people from all walks of life coming together to fight for a free Palestine.
Through documentary imagery, portraiture, and experimental imagery, this zine visually encompasses the atmosphere of protest, whilst the graphic design elements are drawn from zine and protest aesthetics and processes such as risograph, letter press and screenprinting with bold lettering and quick and easy to reproduce methods.
Woven into the zine are interviews with different protesters I met whilst creating this project, who share their thoughts on the importance of protest, standing with Palestine and what collective action means to them. The people are from all backgrounds: Muslim, Jewish, new and old activists, all there to make a difference.
The aim of this publication was not only to celebrate those who fight for the freedom of others, for humanity, and for Palestine, but also for protesters and activists to connect with a wider audience and show what is involved in protesting for a cause. To show that it is not violent, and to encourage those who are “not political” or on the fence, to take action. And for those who are already involved, to keep up the momentum. At the end of the zine, there are postcards, stickers and a poster included to foster action on a personal scale for the reader.
Knoydart
Knoydart is a collection of photographs taken on the remote Scottish peninsula of Knoydart. Over ten days, I documented the daily lives of those who live and work in this community-owned place. Using medium format analogue photography, the series brings together portraits and landscapes to explore the community and its shared responsibility, labour and community land ownership, whilst navigating issues surrounding remoteness and self-dependency. At the same time, the work reflects the warmth, resilience and continued success of the community and the people who sustain it.
Knoydart, Libby Hiatt, Communication Design
Knoydart: in Conversation
Knoydart: in Conversation is an extension of Knoydart. This publication brings together interview transcripts and further photographs from my time on the peninsula. With a desire to shift my focus from landscape alone to the people who live within it, I present conversations with locals alongside portraits and images of the land to explore, in further depth, what it means to live in a community-owned place, how it functions, and how it differs from elsewhere.
The work was produced over two stays in Knoydart, totalling ten days. During this time, I remained within the community, allowing space for conversations to develop naturally. While interviews were arranged, they were approached informally whilst I was in the village, and unfolded as open conversations. I wanted to learn about the place directly from the people who call it home, and create a body of work to allow the audience to experience residents’ stories in their own words.
Through minimalist graphic design, the publication supplements the primary photographic collection and reflects the intimacy and connection that is felt on the peninsula, between people, and between people and the land itself. Through personal anecdotes, the publication offers insight into community ownership, the significance of local spaces, and the workings and success of collective life in Knoydart.
