An Irish born photographer who is now based in London. Her early years were spent travelling around the world with her parents and this she claims influences her work. Her project work between art photography and documentary and according to her website the ‘subject matter is often focused on narratives relating to myth, loneliness, and the passage of time’.
Through the support of the BBC and the Royal Geographical Society Adam was able to travel to the remote island of Pitcairn. This two mile by one mile sized island is located in the South Pacific and is the home for just 42 British residents, who are claimed to be all descendants from the Mutiny on the Bounty.
Due to high profile legal case that occurred over ten years ago the residents are a little reluctant to allowing strangers in, but as the cargo ship only arrived every three months Adam was stuck and had to make the most of her time there. Her project was the first made on the island and was published in 2018 ‘Big fence / Pitcairn Island’.
The project consists of portraits and landscapes showing the many layers of history and conflict (legal case) on the island. In an article by BJP in October 2019 Adam states ‘Even the most innocuous sights on Pitcairn seem to allude to its dark past. The filth and squalor apparent at every corner, as though the islanders have given up’. She goes on to explain that they knew she was stuck for at least three months and so they decided to treat her badly.
The project revolved around portraits and these were not easy to obtain. In one example it took her over six weeks for one resident to even speak to her and that was following the delivery of fish every day. The images are shot with restrictions, with the residents not wanting to be seen with her. ‘It was all very secretive, and I wanted to convey that in the pictures,’ she says (BJP 2019).
The images reflect a strange feeling of isolation, not just the residents but those of the photographer as well. Adam uses captions which introduce the subject, and their link to the court case. ‘In the end, the project became one about loneliness,’ says Adam, ‘my own isolation and my own experiences on the island helped me to understand so much more about the mindset of the Pitcairners.’ (BJP 2019). According to the article Adam became a victim of the island herself. It seems that this extreme isolation results in the human loss of respect and decency.
Bibliography
Accessed 15/09/2020
https://www.bjp-online.com/tag/rhiannon-adam/
https://www.bjp-online.com/2019/10/rhiannon-adam-pitcairn/
https://www.rhiannonadam.com/big-fence-pitcairn-island/y3t9augsflfltjsug38oprzipqz5nd
Michele Usher 