Photography student Morgan Wyper has presented her first solo exhibition at The Grain Exchange in Ayr.
The exhibition titled ‘Soul Self’ showcased an ongoing project Morgan, 22, is working on, with every photo being a self-portrait.
Morgan, from Galston, started her project around two years ago while studying for her HND in photography and is now waiting to start her studies at Napier University in Edinburgh to further her photography education.
Morgan said: “The exhibition showcased an ongoing project that I am working on. The overall theme being about me as a person and my lived life experiences through raw expression. The photos displayed range from abstract to more classical inspired but every photo is a self-portrait.
“I didn’t really have much inspiration in the traditional sense. I didn’t look at any photographers or even any photos or paintings when I came up with the concepts of each shoot.
“What I did instead was sit down and think about different experiences I’ve had and then think about how to portray that but in a way that wasn’t literal and was more metaphorical. I wanted to draw people in but not give a clear answer; I wanted to make people stop and think.”
She continued: “I started this project around two years ago when I was studying for my HND in photography. However, I’ve had the idea to start this project a few years before but didn’t think I was skilled enough or ready to pour my soul out in a way that demanded a level of quality to do it justice. But when I finally started shooting for the project, it felt like therapy, that I needed to do it.
“Since I started the project, I have done a little over 20 different shoots, but I still have many more planned.”
Morgan is starting her studies in Napier for her BA (Hons) in photography this September.
She said: “I think it’s a great opportunity for me to learn more and become even better and experiment more since I’ll have access to resources and like minded people.
“Hopefully I’ll learn new things that I’d never even heard of and I’d like to network more to open more doors for new opportunities in the future.”
Morgan’s love for photography didn’t begin until she was in S5. At the time she didn’t know what she wanted to do career wise but she always liked the creative side of things.
She said: “The only reason my interest had ever been sparked in the first place was because as I was picking my classes for that year that column was empty and the only class that looked decent was photography.
“I only picked it at the time because I thought it would be easy and there would be hardly any work. Within the first few classes I quickly picked up the basics, something inside of me clicked and everything just made sense and I just knew that this was the only thing I’d ever want to do, that I’d never settle for anything else.
“After that I went on to college and studied from NQ up to HND and now I am onto my BA (Hons).”
Morgan is now planning to focus on her university degree and hopes to plan another exhibition next year to showcase even more work.
