A Fine Thursday at Goldsmiths

By Moatter Gulfam

Hey, I am Moatter Gulfam and I am from Pakistan. I am studying MA Political Communication at Goldsmiths, University of London and I love photography and doing arts and crafts. In my country I devote some time to educating the younger generations of Pakistan.

My photographs capture the essence of Goldsmiths, University of London where learning, creativity, and community thrive. Together, these images embody the vibrant, intellectual, and ever-evolving atmosphere of university life where tradition meets innovation and every space holds the potential for learning and inspiration. The classic architecture reflects both the institution’s history and the journey of students moving toward knowledge and growth.

Instagram - @moatter_gulfam

Edited by Louis Chapman

cba

By Mathias Obrzut

A girl on the underground is watching videos on her phone. Engrossed in her passive scrolling, she misses her stop. Gripped by panic, she becomes lost in a labyrinth of underground passageways. When she encounters a dense wave of commuters, she witnesses a theft. Now she faces a dilemma: must she intervene, or can she remain a passive observer?

Mathias Obrzut is a multidisciplinary visual artist from Luxembourg working across still and moving image, sound, and graphic design. His work explores our interaction with natural and artificial environments, focusing on overlooked details and playing with unusual perspectives. His background in physics motivates the goal of bringing the subjects of art and science closer together, aiming to uncover new possibilities of representation.

Website: mathiasobrzut.com

Instagram: @mathiasobrzut

Editors Note

The narrative that unfolds within Mathias’ photo story is completely compelling, imbued with a deep sense of mystery that feels unsettling, and invokes a very relevant conversation. I really enjoy the monotony of colours that he incorporates into this series, splashed with bright and alarming yellows and reds, filling the piece with a sense of urgency and fear, and looming dark figures make the whole plot feel very uncanny. I especially love the photograph showing ‘Next Station’ reflected in the eyes of the girl full of panic. I look forward to seeing any future projects from Mathias!

Edited by Louis Chapman

NASCONDINO (In Tension), 2024

By Alessandro Paiano

NASCONDINO (In Tension), 2024

Digital print of a 35 mm film negative

4 1/8 x 1 1/8 in. (10.48 x 2.86 cm)

The ID-sized self-portraits in Nascondino (In Tension) feature my head wrapped in wrapping paper, symbolizing the tension between visibility and concealment. This work probes the instinct to hide from external pressures and reflects my exploration of identity in relation to state authority, control, and personal freedom. By employing ID-sized imagery, the piece evokes the physical and metaphorical constraints of identification systems and the bureaucratic oversight that can limit personal agency. Through these portraits, I examine the dynamics of how individuals navigate their identities within structures that often restrict autonomy and demand compliance.

Alessandro Paiano began his academic journey studying the chemistry of fabrics and colors at the undergraduate level, later advancing to complete a degree in business and marketing. He co-founded a chocolate company and served as its export manager for a decade. During this time, Alessandro also dedicated himself to the study of acting, music, and art. In 2019, he earned a Graduate Diploma in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art in London, and in July 2021, he graduated from the Stella Adler Acting Conservatoire in New York City. In his artistic practice, Alessandro works with video, performance, photography, and sound. He is drawn to elements of order, disorder, colors, performance, movements, energy, lights, surprises, bodies, words, textures, and shapes. Time, memory, change, rhythm, and sound are central themes in his work. Alessandro is currently pursuing an MFA at Goldsmiths. He can be found on instagram @alexpbickel

“Midway upon the journey of our life

I found myself within a forest dark,

For the straightforward pathway had been lost.”

— Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, The Inferno, Canto I.

Edited by Louis Chapman

Murmur of the Waves

by Peijia Hu

Born and raised in a seaside city, I have always had a special affinity with the sea. During my travels and study abroad, I realised that no sea can be exactly the same or replace each other: Each has its own story and conveys a unique emotion, yet sharing a deep connection in a certain way. Murmur of the waves includes images of the seas in the UK, Portugal and China, resonating with each other and hoping to capture the salty breeze, everything it embraces and all the memories lying within it.

Peijia is currently a third-year Media and Communications student at Goldsmiths. Using photography and video as main mediums, her work is mainly inspired by people and everything that connects them, exploring topics such as identity and trying to visualise subtle emotions that are often overlooked in our everyday life. In the meantime, she is also passionate about theatre production and is always looking for collaborations to bring new stories to the stage. She loves sunshine, puppies, lemongrass, colorful accessories, and lying down. She can be found on Instagram at @petakesphotos.

Behind the Green Windows at Kew

by Sebastian Kettley

Inspired by the exotic glasshouses of Kew Gardens, Glasshouse: Behind the Green Windows is an ongoing series of photographs using fogged-up glass as a distorted lens to capture the colourful, abstract and at times delicate plant life on the other side. The project is a look at the botanic world of Kew from the outside in.

A Goldsmiths graduate with a BA in journalism, Sebastian works full-time as a Media Officer at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Outside of work, he pursues his interest in photography, capturing snapshots of everyday life on the streets as well as portraiture, through a variety of digital and medium format analog media. His work can be found at www.sebkettley.com/, and on Instagram at @seb.kettley.

Parasocial

Sensitive Content: Abstract homophobic insults, references to suicide

by Sam Rhodehamel

A reflection on the way people communicating online do not view each other as real people. Overlaying a conversation had with ai, feeding it questions + real hate messages I’ve received on the internet over photos of my daily life as a real normal person (taken while testing a new camera) to contrast how I felt I was being treated as a non-feeling non-human entity by strangers.

Sam Rhodehamel is a Los Angeles-born Goldsmiths Sociology Alumni. His artistic interests include digital culture, dream analysis, and his friends and family. He can be found on Instagram at @tvcowboy.

City Container

by Jiayuan Yu

The city is a historical space with a complex context, a concept of collection where time and space come together in one place, containing metaphorical and symbolic meanings. The city is therefore more like an abstract container. China is developing rapidly in terms of urbanization, and there are brand new buildings everywhere, full of rules. In order to emphasize the sense of order, I use black and white film cameras with telephoto lenses to photograph the city and magnify the details of the city. Black and white film enhances the gaze effect, and the city with the colors removed has a sense of deviation, stripping away the everyday environment. But in the process of photographing I found that if the city is seen as a huge container, what really attracts people is not the tall buildings, but the unique cultural temperament of that city.

Jiayuan’s work combines photography, installation art, digital art and video documentary. With two elders in her family being Chinese teachers, the creator has been influenced by literature since childhood, making her visual works have a strong literary narrative. The creator is concerned with the self-perception of identity in a fluid and changing society and the construction of human beings in a local context.

Her work can be found on her Instagram at @jarin_jiayuanyu, or at https://www.yujiayuan.net.

edited by Judith Toh

Şile, Türkiye

by Zeinab Ashraf Abulkhair

Şile is located on the Asian side of Istanbul, Türkiye. It is the destination of the Ottoman sultans and princes over the years, for its beauty. Şile is charm of nature and its high mountains, and its exposure to the Black Sea and Ağva river, making it the number one destination currently for tourists, taking away hearts by the variety of their activities and the splendour of their coasts. One of the best ways to enjoy the weather and the spectacular views there, is by having a mouthwatering Turkish breakfast (which includes fried eggs, jam, cheese, tea, olives, cream, honey, etc) by the Ağva river. 

Zeinab has had a passion for photography since a very young age. Photography to her plays a massive role as she believes that photos are a universal, powerful language. Zeinab holds a Master’s degree from Goldsmiths, University of London in Media,  Communications and Cultural Studies. She is an artist who produces a variety of mediums including photography, videos, interviews, documentaries, adverts, stop motions but specializes in photography.  She further learned more about photography and once gave a lecture as a guest speaker (at one of the universities in Kuwait) about ‘The fundamentals and basics of Photography’. She is an aspiring photographer and photojournalist.

She can be found on Instagram at @zainabashraf___.

edited by Judith Toh

Ezzain Arabians

by Zeinab Ashraf Abulkhair

Ezzain Arabians is a farm located in Wafra, Kuwait. It is the home to the 40 exquisite, rare Egyptian Arabians (one of the world’s oldest and most expensive horse breeds). Ezzain Arabians Farm is the dream project of the horse breeder Osama Al-Kazemi. The stunning oasis has waterfalls, many types of flowers, various types of trees including palm trees. It is designed to look as if it is out of Arabian knights from the sumptuous stables down the bridge to the rainbow patterns on the paving stones. It is one of Kuwait’s astonishing landmarks.

Zeinab has had a passion for photography since a very young age. Photography to her plays a massive role as she believes that photos are a universal, powerful language. Zeinab is currently a Master’s student in Media Communications. She is an artist who produces a variety of mediums including photography, videos, interviews, documentaries, adverts, stop motions but specializes in photography.  She further learned more about photography and once gave a lecture as a guest speaker (at one of the universities in the Middle East) about the fundamentals and basics of photography. She is an aspiring photographer and photojournalist.

She can be found on Instagram at @zainabashraf___

Braking gender stereotypes

by Stavri Georgiou

This series of work was created to challenge the norms of women in fashion wearing dresses. The models are portrayed in suits, elegant and simple. The aim of the project was to exhibit that fashion has no gender, portrayed in an old, poetic era.

Stavri Georgiou is currently a Master’s student in Digital Media. She is an artist who produces work in a variety of mediums including photography, digital design, video and drawing. Her work does not follow a specific style as it’s influenced by her world around her. She competed in a variety of competitions in the medium of photography and has successfully gained a following of 13k on Instagram (@stavri_1999) showcasing her work.

What’s In Your Pocket 2022?

by Ashlea Abbs

This work was inspired by the world around me. I got the idea after finding my sisters school blazer and just seeing the absolute amount of papers, masks and rubbish she had just stashed in there. It made me think how personal pockets are and how they change with what we want to fill them with. 

I decided to shoot the project using ‘Scanography’. Something different. I wanted to capture such a 3D topic into a 2D image.

Ashlea Abbs is a 2nd-year student at Goldsmiths University studying Media Communications. She currently writes freelance articles under the tag ‘Knilafiable’ on Medium and has a photography portfolio on Behance under the tag ‘Ashlea Abbs’.

Eros

by Stavri Georgiou

“This series of work was inspired by Greek mythology, working in collaboration with the model to produce the final result. An enchanting face portraying peacefulness and freedom. The model represents the heroes of Greek mythology, it travels the viewer to that old era. This series of work was created to make the viewer feel vulnerability and calmness, maybe even explore more about Greek mythology after looking at the images.”

Stavri Georgiou is currently a Master’s student in Digital Media. She is an artist who produces work in a variety of mediums including photography, digital design, video and drawing. Her work does not follow a specific style as it’s influenced by her world around her. She competed in a variety of competitions in the medium of photography and has successfully gained a following of 13k on Instagram (@stavri_1999) showcasing her work.

Bocketts Farm Park

by Zeinab Abulkhair

‘The series of images were taken at Bocketts Farm Park. The Park has a lot of activities for the family to enjoy such as animal feeding, train tour etc. The farm is the home to various species of animals, which includes lambs, ducks, chicks, rabbits, lambs, goats, etc. It is indeed a great place for the family to enjoy and explore away from the business of the cities.’ 

Zeinab Abulkhair has had a passion for photography since a very young age. Photography to her plays a massive role as she believes that photos are a universal, powerful language. Zeinab is currently a Master’s student in Media Communications. She is an artist who produces a variety of mediums including photography, videos, interviews, documentaries, adverts, stop motions but specializes in photography.  She further learned more about photography and once gave a lecture as a guest speaker (at the "Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait, Middle East) about the fundamentals and basics of photography. She is an aspiring photographer and photojournalist.

You can view more of Zeinab’s work at: https://www.instagram.com/zainabashraf___/

If the Beach Were a Character

by Kayla Raquel Middleton

“This is one collection of black and white shots taken on Brighton’s shorefront. The photographs selected contain a story of their own, and together they make up the puzzle of a day at the beach:windy, rainy and idiosyncratic.”

Kayla Raquel Middleton is a current undergraduate in Media and Communications. She dreams of moving into the world of documentary/fiction films, meanwhile she has always had a passion for photography. Most prominently her focus is on exploring the streets through the medium of analogue photography. Originally from South Africa, but having moved to Italy at the age of 12 and frequently visiting Switzerland, she is fascinated with culture and humanity in its multifaceted nature. Her inspiration is to capture the essence of the streets, from the individuals who roam to the street as a character of its own.

Thoughts

TW: Sexual Assault

by Mekdes Kabeto

“I use photography almost like therapy, the act of taking photographic images gives me peace and grounds me which gives me space to figure out my thoughts and feelings, which I put into a sentence that I use alongside my images to create a story. This style of storytelling was inspired by Sarah Bahbah. I like to portray real emotions and vulnerability in my work. I think this piece came about from the open conversations I had with my friend that models for me.”

Mekdes Kabeto is a first-year journalism student. She loves storytelling in all forms, her personal medium is photography. She likes to explore different styles of photography and play with light and angles. Her biggest inspirations are Sarah Bahbah, Sam Dameshek, people in her life, and conversations she has as well as movies and music.

Guns?

by Saqib Iqbal

In response to the constant shootings in the U.S.A, this photography series touches on the idea of gun violence. The images are a representation of how I view the relationship between gun owners and guns. Gun owners do not acknowledge the seriousness of the easy accessibility of guns nor the dangers of owning one. They simply see it as bananas.

Saqib Iqbal is a student currently in his second year of studying Anthropology and Media. He is an artist who produces work in a variety of mediums such as photography, video, drawing and painting, to name a few. His work does not follow a strict style or focus but is constantly evolving as he is gains inspiration from the world around him.

Threat Rehearsal

by Samuel Shaw

“Threat rehearsal: the theory of dreaming which posits dreams as a kind of threat simulation, one in which we stage and ‘rehearse’ our response to perceptions of danger.

Terrorism, home invasions, incarceration, threats to masculinity; the social imagination also dreams of danger, but its rehearsal is material. Shot over the course of three years in the United States, this photo series probes the American unconscious through its lurid artifacts.”

Samuel Shaw is a multi-media artist and writer from Denver, Colorado. From satellite imagery of Colorado’s prison system to docu-collages of corporate surveillance advertisements, his work looks to expose political fault lines, collective anxieties, and violence poking through the banalities of the everyday. 

Portfolio: https://www.samuelrshaw.com/

Été 2019

by Anna Prudhomme

My work was taken during a music festival in Portugal named Waking Life in 2019, when parties and social contact were still possible. The clichés were made using the double exposure technique on an analogical film of 35mm.

Anna is a French girl doing a Journalism MA at Goldsmiths University. She was born in Paris, half raised in Barcelona, deeply in love with her analogical cameras. Check out her Instagram: @annaprudhomme.

Nevoeiro

by Catarina de Oliveira Simão

“In Portugal, a living riddle predicts the return of a long-lost king, gone missing after being injured in a battle. It is said that, on nebulous days, you can almost see him through the thick air, adrift in the fog of a forgetful country. This piece is about the battles of ordinary people.

I see the woman in the photo as a representation of what it is to stand at the border between the known and the unknown, the remembered and the forgotten, the “here” and the “there”. The image of the long-lost king is useful as I consider this piece to be very representative of the Portuguese collective identity, one that has a strong emphasis on nostalgia and the past. I tried to extend this riddle to ordinary people and their invisible struggles.

 I don’t know who this woman is. And that is what drove me to this idea of the unknown, the mysterious and the “hard to grasp” concept that the fog represents. In a way, she’s there but she’s not really there. Is she a mirage? Regardless of all that, there’s this intense sense of peace.

Looking back, this was a time in my life filled with uncertainty. I had just taken a leap into the unknown, I was hesitant and apprehensive about the future and found it hard to visualize what would come out of my decisions. I was adrift, but I embraced it and stepped into the fog.”

Catarina has loved photography since she can remember and could be frequently caught stealing her mom’s camera as a kid and use it to capture everyday snippets of their country-side life. More recently, she has started exploring film photography and has fallen in love with the grains and the textures it produces.  She is undoubtedly an amateur but one with a wandering eye. 

Testament and Q&A

by Kateryna Pavlyuk

“This photo series documents a surreal summer in Ukraine, in a year when Christenings were conducted in masks and affection was necessarily expressed through distance, rather than proximity. Although unpopulated, these photos carry the imprint of people on the homes they are confined to and testify to the solace that religion offers to many in dark times.”

A self-taught photographer and Goldsmiths-taught filmmaker, Kateryna’s work focus on reframing the quotidian and is underpinned by a fascination with composition and how the camera lens can see in ways our eyes cannot. Kateryna’s photography has previously featured in various student magazines, journals, and exhibitions, and has been shortlisted in London Photo Festival competitions.

Q&A with contributor by Dimitar Dimitrov

From my understanding, you're from Ukraine. Did you grow up there, and if yes, can you describe your experience and your religious background?

I was born in Ukraine but was actually raised in the UK. We moved when I was three and I wish I could say I remember my early years in Ukraine, but I’d be lying. My ‘memory’ of my first years in Ukraine is informed pretty much entirely by a single cassette of film, and even then it only fills in one day; my parents borrowed a camcorder from a relative for a single day and filmed me voraciously for 24 hours. I think my mum wanted to showcase my entire wardrobe in this single day, so the film features an absurd number of outfit changes. Even though I do very little, it means a lot to have these select, grainy snippets to fill the gaps in my early memory.

Although I grew up in the UK, in South London specifically, I was raised in a deeply Ukrainian home, so even on the opposite end of Europe, I was still surrounded by the language, food and culture of Ukraine. With regards to religion, I’m not religious myself. I was raised Catholic but disconnected with religion in my teens. That said, my parents remain religious and I’m deeply appreciative of and fascinated by faith.

What was your inspiration behind this photo series?

Every summer I visit my extended family in Ukraine and I always document these summers, through film and photography. It goes without saying that this summer was different. We didn’t think we would make the trip this year, but a number of important family events were planned – weddings, christenings – that we didn’t want to miss. These summer reunions are always saturated with affection, almost as if to make up for the entire year we’re all apart. This summer – just like everyone the world over – we had to try and express this affection over two metre distances and in masks. This series tries to capture that experience without actually photographing any masks, distanced crowds or, indeed, any people at all.

How has growing up in your environment affected your photographic vision and perhaps this series in particular?

I think the very fact that I haven’t grown up in Ukraine is a huge part of why I have this urge to document everything when I’m there. Relatives always raise eyebrows or laugh at me for photographing something deeply mundane in their eyes, but for me everything takes on an uncanny quality, of being familiar but not quite native. In this series especially, I wanted to preserve the additionally surreal quality that every room, event and interaction took on this summer. The hope is that next summer, I won’t be able to recreate any of these photos of unnerving, empty spaces, because every corner of every house will be filled with people and life.

In your submission you explain that 'Christenings were conducted in masks and affection was necessarily expressed through distance, rather than proximity' and that distance and isolation is indeed visible in your photographs. How did COVID affect your photography approach and your perspective when creating this series?

My photos from Ukraine are usually densely and intimately peopled – full of portraits and gatherings. This year I had to take a step back from everyone and so I turned my lens to lived and local spaces instead, which have become the parameters of people’s worlds. It was initially difficult to produce photos which were anything other than run-of-the-mill cityscape shots and flat images of a flat’s interiors, but I then noticed a recurring, albeit unplanned, motif in all my photos: religion. Despite the huge public health risk, many religious services continued and people were spilling out onto the streets outside churches on Sunday mornings. It’s easy to condemn this as reckless behaviour – and I’m certainly no advocate – but this speaks volumes about quite how important religion is to people, and I wanted the series to capture the significant role religion plays there, even and perhaps especially now.

Can you also expand a bit further on the role religion plays in your country and why it appears to be a motif in this series?

Ukraine is a deeply Christian country, and although that might be shifting now with younger generations, faith remains central to so many people’s lives and ways of living. I’m often frustrated by the hypocrisies this sometimes gives rise to, but I know and understand that, for so many, the church offers so much – be that community or hope. As I mentioned above, I didn’t necessarily set out to have religion as one of my motifs, but I soon found I could rarely take a photo in which this theme didn’t feature. Once I then began seeking out these religious elements myself, the series came together pretty organically.