Agnes Lloyd-Platt’s New Exhibition is a Lovely Portrait of Survival

When photographer Agnes Lloyd-Platt went to Menorca to develop a private challenge, she did in order a apply of stripping again the structure of her on a regular basis life, one thing she says felt needed for survival. “I don’t think I was trying to escape. I was trying to find something,” she says, explaining how the journey got here following a interval of postnatal despair. Travelling solo as a mom might need felt controversial to some in her life, however for the photographer it was important “to be able to listen to my own thoughts,” she explains. 

A draw to Menorca was the prospect to see the main retrospective of Cindy Sherman’s work, which was being exhibited at Hauser & Wirth’s house on the Spanish island on the time. “There’s a really amazing film there about how she works as a solo maker, as well as artist, as well as photographer. I loved her perseverance with just trying different things and learning a lot about herself in the process,” says Lloyd-Platt. 

Sherman’s methodology supplied a blueprint to Lloyd-Platt, who adopted a personality she named Cindy for her personal work there. It allowed her to function extra freely: “I did find myself being a bit more open in conversation in my own mind with these characters,” she says. But working as an ‘other’ additionally allowed her to deal with herself with the kindness she won’t in any other case afford – that inside voice saying stuff you’d by no means say to a good friend – and neutralise the guilt of perceived ‘selfishness’ she would possibly really feel on this act of self care. 

“Any kind of choice to put yourself first is seen as really selfish,” Lloyd-Platt explains. “I consoled her in ways I couldn’t for myself, I listened to her and tried not to interrupt, and mostly we were quiet, but her presence was equal and non-judgemental – and that felt radical. The cruelty we lay over ourselves burns and the societal suggestion of manners pacifies that harshness when it’s applied to others – thinking of ourselves as a friend can hush that voice.”

The alternative of black and white, for a photographer who is understood for her vibrant use of color – notably robust reds – in her business work, was part of the method of stripping away. “I always thought [black-and-white photography] was a cop out. And I love colour, I find it really invigorating. But maybe it can also be a distraction. If these photographs were in colour they would make way less sense, and I think be less evocative and give less space for imagination. When you have images like this in colour, they can become retro really quickly. And I think it gives people too much information in some cases.”

Though she spent one evening visiting her sister’s household – the one picture on this physique of labor together with her topic making eye contact is her niece sporting goggles – the remainder of the week-long journey was spent fully solo, with no acquainted folks to behave as buffers on this new atmosphere. Instead, Lloyd-Platt’s gaze turned outward trying, folks watching from snug distances. Even her digicam turned incidental, selecting a small innocuous point-and-shoot held subtly by her physique quite than holding the viewfinder as much as her face.

“I really wanted to see with my own eyes rather than through the camera,” she explains. Her ‘photographer’s eye’ actually got here into play within the modifying and sequencing part. “I found these scenes that I wasn’t watching at the time,” says Lloyd-Platt. “You see loads of joy and you see loads of connection that is kind of everywhere.” The method eliminated any ego from the method, permitting the photographer to simply be on the earth and later discover and uncover once more within the strategy of taking a look at her pictures afterwards. 

It’s a distinctly reverse method to the sort of public images of strangers within the male-dominated discipline of ‘street photography’. Lloyd-Platt’s method, which prioritises presence, shoots from a respectful distance, and feels extra like wistful folks watching than intrusive snapping. “I’m not taking photos to make people uncomfortable or feel watched,” she explains. “But we are all looking at each other all the time.”

Even the landscapes, devoid of individuals altogether, tackle a female presence. Menorca – a female phrase in Spanish – reads as a girl within the work. “There’s a picture of a sun lounger – it’s like a woman on her elbow, leaning up as if she’s at the beach. A lot of people connect with it and describe it as a ‘her’, which I really like,” says Lloyd-Platt. Displayed in her present exhibition, in collaboration with Leyton-based curatorial apply Monument – which specialises in sourcing and styling uncommon archival design items and artworks – that power knowledgeable the number of items proven alongside the work. At one level they thought-about together with a chair titled ‘the thinking man’ however determined in opposition to it: “We just can’t.” explains the photographer, “It’s just completely not welcome.” 

The present Make Me Saline positions photographic work from this challenge alongside furnishings items curated by Monument’s Leah Forsyth-Steel and Victoria Spicer, together with a Tom Dixon piece named the Biorock Chair. It’s a bit that was made in Miami after which quite than transported again to the UK was put on the backside of the ocean. “All the coral and things are masked on the original piece,” explains Lloyd-Platt, “and that felt quite nice to have something that was extra relevant as well.” 

Other objects embody Niall O’Flynn’s uncommon ‘Ruffian’ chaise lounge in chain mail and a bespoke glass room divider from Harrod’s within the 1990’s, while an archival show case homes a collection of discovered relics. And a soundscape by George Day permits additional immersion into the work, capturing Lloyd-Platt’s expertise: “I went looking for space and silence – but what I found was loud, messy, chattering love,” she says.

For Lloyd-Platt, the expertise was transformative, nevertheless it’s no hero’s journey with a satisfyingly neat and triumphant conclusion. Her expertise with post-natal despair is one thing that “still sits in my shadow,” she says. She doesn’t describe it as a visit that ‘healed’ her in six days, however as a substitute a needed and uncomfortable expertise that helped her join with one thing inside that gave her hope. “I had a couple of days where I was really antsy, just cried a bunch, and couldn’t work out where all the hurt was, really,” explains the photographer, including that she “wouldn’t want to be the person that I was before that.” 

The present, with a reputation that gestures to the cleaning energy of salty seawater and of tears, has resonated with guests to the house. The photographer says folks have messaged her saying they’re nonetheless fascinated by it hours later, and tears had been shed in an artist’s discuss held within the house. “We talked about joy and empowerment and stuff like that. And I was like, ‘Yeah, but it’s not that, initially it’s about pain, and the necessity of running away, but also running towards something.’ Someone said to me, ‘Why do I feel stuff?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, but that’s exactly what I hope for.’”

Agnes Lloyd-Platt’s Make Me Saline is on present at Monument gallery, Unit 9, 6 Argall Ave, London E10 7QE, till 28 May 2026.