Plas Bodfa
As published as a foreword in Anthony Harrisons photo book ‘Plas Bodfa’ in 2022
This is a story of a house, a structure built for living, for life to unfold. But this particular story is devoid of people; no motion, no action, barely a suggestion of movement at all. It is left for us to imagine evidence of life. It didn’t begin this way. Once upon a time this house was a house, in the traditional manor of a manor house – industrialists and their families aided by a variety of different staff members. In the 70s, everything changed. The house was open to the public as a steakhouse, a curious novelty at the time. The 80s brought new purpose and a significant addition, the house became a residential care home. Another decade passes and it changes face again, becoming the headquarters to a tapestry kit company, quickly spawning a giftshop, tearoom and a menagerie of ponies, pets and fowl. Then quiet. Years of waiting. Ivy ascended and bats made themselves at home.
Through Harrison’s lens, objects occupy space to form graceful compositions, a snapshot of a moment of a place. They stand alone, upright, telling their story of material, form, colour and light. There is honesty in these photographs, for these are moments that simply cannot be staged. Compositions are found not created; these are incidental arrangements. The sun filters in, a reminder of time, the inevitable cycles of day and night, life and decay. The images do not point to the future, nor to the past, but settle in the hazy space that is ‘now’, perpetually inching forward, day by day.
Stuff ends up places for any number of different reasons – convenience, necessity, aesthetics, chaos or neglect. Seen at face value, there is rarely clear evidence of any such intent. There is an equal chance that an origin story is truly miraculous or would be utterly mundane. This collection of photos was taken on ‘a day’. The space was not prepared for a guest, there wasn’t an exhibition, an event, a project, or a party. The scattering of objects in these images reflect an eclectic and continuous occupation of this space. Some things were left here a few days ago, others last month, and others were abandoned thirty or forty years ago. As someone overly familiar with the spaces and objects within Plas Bodfa, I can read into these images and be prompted to tell a certain tale, informed by what I know of the history of the house, supplemented by first-hand knowledge. But this would be one of many possible stories, one of many truths.
Now these spaces have shifted again, the moment has passed. The furniture has migrated, the rooms used differently. No matter. These photographs remain as part of the fabric of the house from which they came. A slice of sun. An extended shadow. A tangle of wires. A gaze out the window at a cloud, gently floating by.
As published in Anthony Harrisons photo book ‘Plas Bodfa’ in 2022, which can be ordered at his website : https://www.anthonyharrison.co.uk/