Victoria Smith
CV
About Photography
Darkroom ObjectsTo Hold a Photograph
Dust from the Darkroom
Gifts from the Darkroom
The Fall of the Family Album Photography in the Fire Service
Collaboration
Coastal Visions
Social Structures
The Big Picture Show
Red Light: The Story of Photography in the Fire Service
Victoria spent 10 weeks exploring Fireground’s archives and interviewing former firefighters to discover the roles of photography and illustration in the fire service.
From training resources and product advertising, to forensic and investigation work and the recording of personnel or equipment, there has long been a need to photograph events as they happen.
Victoria built a darkroom in the museum which was a starting point of making work, inspired by the the darkrooms in fire stations, and spent some time creating abstract photograms of Fireground’s collections, a selection of which can be seen at the exhibition.
A wealth of original material at Fireground was engaged with, from glass slides, film negatives, photographic prints and moving images covering more than 100 years. Victoria’s project is entitled “Red Light : A Story of Photography in the Fire Service” and explores the links between photography and firefighting over several decades, as well as depicting some of the more unusual objects in new and exciting ways.
To accompany the exhibition which includes a documentary style film, Victoria invited visitors to an artist talk during the 90th Anniversary open day at Fireground on Saturday 29th April 2023. The talk demonstrated how photography was used by fire brigades over time, for training, recording and forensic purposes.