Custodians is a body of work which explores the role of the individual within large structures. I have used the often grand buildings of Oxford and a selected 'custodian' to reflect on the individual and areas of temperance and permanence.
When I review this work I am struck by the themes of grandeur; the institutions, the epic scale and magnitude of these places. I set out to explore the colleges and buildings of Oxford, behind the closed doors and to meet the ‘Custodians’ who play a role in perpetuating these world renowned institutions.
I was interested in the ‘Custodians’ role within these institutions, seeing it as a metaphor for peoples lives, how we are all largely shaped and influenced by the structures around us - how defined we are by them, how much they form us and exploring the themes of transition and permanence, the sense of being alone but not alone. Within this series I was curious whether the Custodians ‘owned’ the space or if it ‘owned’ them. The notion of the guardian; the conservator, who is responsible for it - whether these portraits would show them as shaped by such places or as a disjunction to them, intrigued me.Â
Betancourt-Nunez said of Bernard Fuchs work: “Humans and their surroundings enjoy equal status in Fuchs formally taut compositionsâ€. With this ‘Custodians’ series; they seem also to belong together yet do not fuse into one. Â
The criteria I set for this work was that it would all be photographed in Oxford and each venue would elect one person, an omnipresent ‘Custodian’ who would be involved.