Quinn

Listening to ‘Open Country’ on Radio Four early on Saturday morning, I find myself engrossed by the story of William Henry Quinn, who is walking from the south-west of England to the far north of Scotland in post Second World War Britain.

I’m hearing extracts from his diary, but it is a while before I realise this is fictional; Quinn does not - or did not - exist, but has been created by artist/photographer Lottie Davies. Over six years, she has made and recorded his journey with actor Samuel Weir, recording it in beautiful large-format photographs, moving images and text.  

I’m fascinated by this - as a project, but also as a concept of personal growth and regathering through walking through landscapes, something that many of us will identify with particularly in recent times. As Lottie Davies describes it: 

‘Quinn is a meditation on grief, loss, loneliness, the human search for meaning, and the possibility of redemption through time and landscape.’

And then I realise that ‘Quinn’ is here - literally here in Colwyn Bay, and has been for the whole of October. Somehow the entire Northern Eye Fringe Exhibition has passed me by. Well, I have noticed some photographs on shop or office windows as we’ve passed in the car, but I’m ashamed I haven’t stopped to look. I hardly visit the town now - and here’s my punishment. I’ve all but missed the whole thing. 

A hurried dash around the area means I catch the outdoor exhibitions - or those visible through windows. I love these images of Quinn set in the open of Queen’s Gardens - landscapes in landscapes - but I miss those housed inside, gaining entry to a sadly half-dismantled exhibition. 

So today’s main is one of the images from the gardens, the subject matter and the space harmonising in a way no indoor gallery could offer ( though admittedly it’s a shame the wooden supports are visible!)

In extras there’s a collage of four other Quinn images, one of images from another exhibition - Being Inbetween by Carolyn Mendelssohn, displayed in the library windows, and a further exhibition from the council offices - Fisherwomen by Craig Easton

If you’re interested to learn more of Quinn, you can find Open Country on the  BBC Sounds app, and the link below gives access to more images and film. 

https://lottiedavies.com/PROJECTS/Quinn/1