Nicola Muirhead - Visual Poems of North America

This project by the British-Bermudian documentary photographer Nicola Muirhead explores the isolated, timeless countryside of New Hampshire and Vermont. She does this by combining photography with text from Robert Frost's poetry collection, "New Hampshire".

The photos are cool toned and crisp, with a wide aperture, and usually have central composition or rule of thirds. They capture Americana in an oddly personal and relatable way, detailing the subjects' regular lives and the spaces they occupy. I like the not quite posed, but not quite candid, style that is present in these portraits, as it allows for the personality of each individual to show. They're mostly taken from eye-level or below, which creates an interesting dynamic between the subject and the viewer.

I really love the way Muirhead has combined photography with portraiture, as the text adds another dimension to the work. They're matched up so well that it seems as though the poems were written about the photographs, despite the creators being born around 100 years apart. I think the portrait and poem below is a perfect example of this. As a viewer, it seems like you get to know the subject better after reading the poem, as if it was written after meeting him. I think this is really powerful, and definitely something I'm going to aim to replicate in my own work.

There is a huge range of people captured in Muirhead's collection, from young city folk to republicans living out their retirement in the countryside. With every new portrait, it feels as though you are being introduced to a new character and lifestyle. However, Muirhead has included landscape photography alongside these honest portraits, and I think this really adds to the atmosphere of the project as a whole. The landscapes often show the character's surroundings, and let the viewer in on more of their lives. There's a lot to be seen about a person in the way that they dress, how they hold themselves, and their expressions. I think Muirhead has used these elements to capture each person in their wholeness, and she has done this beautifully.

How am I taking this artist into consideration for my own work?

I really want to play with the idea of text alongside images, and work on them effecting the way the reader perceives the work. I quite like the idea of using 'found text', and I'd do this in my own work by incorporating letters from my grandparents into a photo zine, along with personal writing about them. I also love the idea of using landscapes to describe a person, and I think I could link this easily to my work because my grandparents live in pretty scenic locations (Dorset and Cornwall), and have very interesting homes.