On a rainy day in November 2015, equipped with a handful of costumes and a mutual love of performance and play, Charlotte James and Clémentine Schneidermann captured their first photographs of Coed Cae youth group. Little did they know it was the first step towards a collaborative project they would be working on together for the next ten years.
‘It was unbelievable how many kids came,’ says Clémentine. The photographer, originally from Paris, was based in South Wales for a residency with a local organisation. ‘And the rain, it was so bad. I could barely take photos, my lens was so foggy.’
‘We didn’t have a vision or plan back then,’ says Charlotte, an art director and film maker from Merthyr Tydfil. ‘We had a shared interest in working within the valleys community but that was it. But as soon as we met the kids, we knew they were amazing. Typical valleys kids, cheeky and they had so much sass.’
That shoot was the beginning of their decade-long project It’s Called Ffasiwn, where young people learn creative skills and collaborate with professional artists to co-create images. The project has been exhibited at the Martin Parr Foundation and Amgueddfa Cymru (the National Museum of Wales), and led to a collaboration with Alexander McQueen in 2020.
But the social outcomes of Ffasiwn are as important as the creative ones. The workshops that take place connect young people with professional creatives to give working class youngsters confidence to pursue careers in the arts.
Between their co-creation model, social aims and the reaction their early photographs from Ffasiwn got, it was clear they were doing something very special.
‘The kids are what make the photos,’ says Charlotte. ‘It’s the energy they bring. The attitude the girls bring to the photos isn’t constructed by us. It’s all theirs.’
While there’ve been many projects on post-industrial Britain, none have sought to highlight the colour, character and vivacity of the people living in these communities in the way Ffasiwn has.
‘It’s never been about poverty and deprivation to us,’ says Clémentine. ‘We aren’t trying to deny reality but we also want to have a positive view of the community and portray hope.’
The growth of their project has been organic and led to the duo setting up photography-based studio Bleak Fabulous. An extension of their unique co-creation model, workshops, film, exhibitions and images are created through the studio.
The studio takes commissions alongside their ongoing youth project work and their most recent project was documenting the 2024 Eisteddfod in Pontypridd.
‘Our work shows Wales in all its glory, in dark winter days, or at dusk during the summer evenings,’ says Clémentine. ‘We've been embracing all the different beauties Wales can offer, and so it was a real joy to work for the Cymru Wales Nation Brand.’
The pair wanted to play with different types of Welshness and place traditional artists alongside contemporary ones. They photographed inside the festival and at locations around Pontypridd like Ponty Market and local institution Prince’s Café.
‘Uniform and costume were extremely important to us when we were choosing who to photograph,’ says Charlotte. ‘Like Catrin Feelings. We chose her because she was wearing her interpretation of Welsh National Dress.’
Romantic notions of Wales as the land of stunning coastline and landscape were off the table. They wanted to foreground the people that are the heart and soul of Wales.
‘I guess it’s been about real Wales and showing it’s not just this idealised vision of a beautiful country,’ says Clémentine. ‘It’s about these communities. We’re not trying to paint Wales as anything but what it is.’
One of the groups they photographed is Dare to Sing. They’re an all-female choir based in Cwmdare and are the epitome of what they wanted the photos to embody.
‘They were the brilliant,’ says Charlotte. ‘We asked them all to wear sunglasses. When they arrived, loads of them coming out of their cars all dressed in black wearing their shades on a gloomy day. They were all having banter with each other. They were giving it. Perfect Valley’s women.’
Charlotte and Clémentine have come a long way from that cold, autumn day in Gellideg a decade ago. Starting out with no budget, resources or plan, they hope their project shows you don’t need any of these things to create.
‘You don’t need to wait for anyone to tell you what to do. Or to get a commission. You don’t need to wait for the phone to ring to start your passion project. You don’t need to wait to be given an opportunity,’ says Clementine.
Over the course of their work together, they’ve collaborated extensively with Welsh artists and in doing so have created a network of Welsh talent. It’s an outcome they’re proud of.
‘We’ve always wanted to challenge the perception of what Wales can be,’ says Charlotte. ‘We want to show people you don’t have to be in a big city to create. You can create here, where you are, in Wales.’
Clémentine and Charlotte have recently secured a grant from UNFUND to make a book and exhibition on the Ffasiwn project.
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