Photography by Lewis Brymner
Nan
Lewis Brymner
Lewis Brymner is a photographer currently based in South Wales. Lewis’s work aims to explore individuals and the environments that define them, often through a blend of portraiture, objects, place and landscape. Photography has become his tool to connect with the places and people around him, to better understand the world and his connection to it. Nature has become a thematic pattern in Lewis Brymner’s recent work as an investigation into the role the natural world plays in the everyday.
A focus on analogue photography and print has led to some early ventures into creating photo books and zines. Additionally Lewis’s extended projects have focused on design, having performed as a lead designer for two university publications, ‘Wave’ and ‘Sonder’.Following the first lockdown in 2020, I had to make some tough decisions which resulted in me moving back into my family home in Gloucester. I grew up living with my dad and my nan, and since returning home had noticed the lack of photos of us. As a family we aren’t conventional, we’ve never had a family photo. As a photographer this was something strange for me to face with something so personal as family. I decided to take this opportunity to capture a rare photo of my Nan.
Barbara Brymner is originally from the outskirts of Glasgow, represented by the tartan blanket gently wrapped around her shoulders, a gift from myself. There is something deeply personal about taking someones portrait, and especially a close family member. There is a trust, a connection, this was a portrait of my Nan, but it was also a reflection of the time, of home, of recovery, of myself and how I viewed her, even though we may not always see eye to eye.
Creating this connection through photography opened up our relationship in new ways. It captures a piece of my childhood home in Gloucester, my Nan’s native home of Scotland and the home that family represents.
Medium Format Film
33x43cm
Framed