Meet Cleo Amissah: storytelling through personal narrative and sense of place
- Written byStudent Communications
- Published date 10 October 2023
As part of Black History Month this year, we selected 4 of our graduates to feature their work as part of the UAL campaign.
One of these was Cleo Amissah, a London College of Communication graduate working in documentary photography. Here, we chat to Cleo about storytelling, inspirations and what's coming next...
Hi Cleo! Please can you introduce yourself in your own words?
My name is Cleo Amissah, and I am a research led documentary photographer, who uses themes like identity, home and belonging to inspire my creative practice. I recently graduated from BA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at LCC.
Why do you make art?
I am drawn to storytelling through personal narrative and sense of place. My interests also lie in working with materials from archives and special collections, because they intersect with memory and documentation. Photography is a way that I communicate thoughts and feelings. As an image maker, I am attracted to stories that emerge as multi-layered, where imagery can act as a vehicle to seeing in a different way.
What is your work about, and what messages do you convey through it?
Richmond Court is a documentary series that follows my first journey to Accra, Ghana. The project represents my evolving identity, and is a visual record of my heritage, relationships and the idea of returning that exists in diasporic communities. I began a project that explores my own identity politics, but is also a visual response to a relevant wider social issue of displacement.
What are your primary inspirations?
Heritage and belonging are key themes that mould my practice, so I naturally look for stories that sit within the personal, and illuminate on issues regarding identity, space and connection.
What piece of yours stands out the most to you? Why?
I recognise 'Is this what I dreamt?’ as a core image because it alludes to my imagined fantasy of motherland. The image depicts Black joy on Independence Day 2023 in Accra, Ghana, and explores the relationship between Blackness and water.
After graduating this summer (congratulations!), what are you planning to do next?
I am currently studying my Masters degree in Race, Ethnicity and Post colonial studies at University College London. I aim to use this study of racism and racialisation to develop my critical theory, which I can then apply to my creative practice which deals with themes of identity politics and specifically the Black British experience.
You’ve been selected as part of the Black History Month campaign for UAL - what does the month mean to you?
Black History Month brings up an inner conflict for me. I don’t agree with confining a wealth of history to 31 days, that usually accentuates a selective piece of history of pain and suffering. I do however appreciate that UAL as a leading British institution, is using their platform to spotlight works from the Black and Brown community, and celebrate creatively remembering the past and shaping the future. So whilst I am grateful to be selected as part of this years campaign, I encourage the audience to look beyond my work to be reminded that Black History Month is every month.
More
See more of Cleo's work on UAL Showcase
Find out more about Black History Month 2023 at UAL