Exhibition:Ffasiwn

Ffasiwn is an exhibition drawn from It’s Called Ffasiwn, a socially engaged, anti fashion photography project shaped through long term collaboration between artists Clémentine Schneidermann and Charlotte James and young people across the south Wales Valleys.

Developed over more than a decade, It’s Called Ffasiwn sits between style led image making and documentary practice, challenging assumptions about who fashion is for and who gets to shape the way communities are seen. Rather than observing from a distance, the work is created through sustained relationships, shared making and collaboration, with young people acting as creative partners throughout the process.

At its core, the project is about authorship and agency. Photography, styling and performance become tools for experimentation, expression and confidence - not markers of status or industry belonging. The images are shaped collaboratively, rooted in familiar places and everyday experience, and informed by the perspectives of those directly involved.

The exhibition avoids nostalgic or simplified portrayals of the Valleys. Instead, it foregrounds contemporary creativity, humour and ambition, reflecting the energy and imagination already present within local communities. The work does not seek to transform places, but to show how creativity is authored from within them.

By blending style led sensibilities with documentary approaches, Ffasiwn offers a contemporary, community led way of seeing Wales. It invites audiences to engage with photography and fashion as living, collaborative practices - shaped by real people, in real places, on their own terms. 
 

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