Unseen Narratives: Through the Lens of Contemporary Photography

Unseen Narratives explores the hidden, the subconscious, and the forgotten, tracing their imprints through contemporary photography. This exhibition unfolds as a journey into the most remote corners of human psychology, exposing social and historical issues, themes of identity, and the unseen layers of everyday life. Bringing together three artists from different generations and diverse practices, the show unravels the psychological intricacies of human nature, revealing images that linger beneath the surface of collective memory.

Laura Chen (b. 1997) reinterprets personal and ancestral histories, capturing the ephemeral nature of memory and the emotional undercurrents that define human connection and identity through a distinctive practice that merges photography, collage, and installation. Her series Words from Dad reconstructs the fragmented image of a grandfather she never met, Tek Suan Chen, a Chinese dignitary who fled political persecution during the Mao Revolution and eventually settled in The Netherlands, where he met Laura's grandmother. Drawing from family archives and stories passed down by her father, the artist assembles antique photographs to weave a visual narrative that merges both her Chinese and Dutch origins and underscores how inherited memories shape our identities. Her meticulous practice reveals the enduring impact of familial history, even when it exists beyond our direct experience.


Central to this exhibition is the work of Eve Arnold (1912-2012), a pioneering documentary photographer renowned for capturing both the intimacy of iconic figures and the resilience of marginalised communities. The show focuses on her Social Justice collection, an often-overlooked body of work that captures crucial moments of global history. Through candid realism, Arnold’s images transcend individual narratives, instead offering a profound meditation on the invisible forces of political and social realities. Her lens not only documented civil rights movements but also shed light on the deeply personal stories of activists and the conditions within psychiatric institutions. In doing so, her work serves as a vital reminder of the histories that persist and the injustices that continue to shape our world.


Brothtarn (Sean O’Connell, b.1991) Sean O’Connell is an artist based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, where he lives and works. His multidisciplinary practice spans photography, sculpture, and collage, with a particular focus on traditional, process-based black and white film photography. Drawing inspiration from local communities and the surrounding landscape, Brothtarn creates work rooted in lived experience, often exploring themes of youth culture and identity. His intimate connection to the community he documents allows him to capture it with clarity, raw honesty, and sensitivity. ‘My work over the past few years has been influenced by the sentiment of doing away with an old stereotype, allowing myself to be more vulnerable. Showing gratitude for love, friendships, community, and questioning masculinity in a working-class environment.’

United by a commitment to storytelling and the excavation of what lies hidden within history, the subconscious, and collective experience, these artists challenge us to engage with what is often left unspoken, revealing the profound depths of human existence. They invite us to reflect on what remains in our collective consciousness and what is at risk of being forgotten. In a time when violence and marginalisation continue to define global relationships, these works challenge us to confront the unseen and reclaim the narratives that shape our understanding of the past and present.


LAURA CHEN
A multi-disciplinary photographer blending photography with collage and text. Her work is deeply personal yet universally resonant, exploring memory, impermanence, and the subconscious through an experimental lens. Laura is based in London and has Chinese heritage.

An ongoing project that provides an experimental exploration of my Dutch-Chinese heritage, as it retells the story of my grandfather whom I never knew. With the use of archival images from my personal family albums, I trace back my mixed roots through my grandfather’s life stories, as passed on to me by my dad, told in his own words.

Reworking my family portraits using analogue photomontage techniques such as weaving, I manually cut and stitch multiple images together. I use this technique to metaphorically depict the fragmentation of my family memory and to portray my grandfather's experience of having to adapt to a new (Western) culture, as well as the multicultural upbringing he gave my dad. Through weaving, I literally intertwine the different cultures and lived experiences, creating a fusion of their Chinese and Dutch identities. With each fold the image becomes more abstracted - like the family stories that are gradually becoming further removed from the original, each time they are retold and passed around from one generation to the next. The truth becomes distorted in the process, like a Chinese whisper.
www.laura-chen.com
@lauramchen

EVE ARNOLD
A pioneering documentary photographer, Arnold captured intimate portraits of some of the most iconic figures of the 20th century while also shedding light on marginalised communities. Her work humanises subjects through raw, observational storytelling. She was one of the first Western Photographers to enter China.

From McCarthyism to the civil rights movement to apartheid, Eve was constantly looking for ways to document the injustices of our world.

“I realise that I had the best of serious picture journalism. There was an innocence in our approach, especially in the 1950s and 1960s when we naively believed that by holding a mirror up to the world we could help - no matter how little - to make people aware of the human condition.”

The issues she photographed - racial equality, religion, sexuality, human rights, abuse of power, fame and personality couldn’t me more relevant to today’s world. By understanding our past, current events can be seen clearly in context.
www.evearnold.com
@evearnoldphotographer



SEAN O’ CONNELL
Brothtarn (Sean O’Connell, b.1991) Sean O’Connell is an artist based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, where he lives and works. His multidisciplinary practice spans photography, sculpture, and collage, with a particular focus on traditional, process-based black and white film photography. Drawing inspiration from local communities and the surrounding landscape, Brothtarn creates work rooted in lived experience, often exploring themes of youth culture and identity. His intimate connection to the community he documents allows him to capture it with clarity, raw honesty, and sensitivity. ‘My work over the past few years has been influenced by the sentiment of doing away with an old stereotype, allowing myself to be more vulnerable. Showing gratitude for love, friendships, community, and questioning masculinity in a workingclass environment.’
@brothtarn