Artist name: Billy Barraclough

Nominated by: Aaron Schuman, Jack Latham, Alejandro Acin (award-winning photographers)

Country: United Kingdom

Edition: 1 of 1

Collection

Introducing 'Ones To Watch 2021' - the first drop from Art3.io, a brand new platform bringing the best lens-based art to the metaverse. For the first time, exclusively on OpenSea, Art3 presents a curated selection of 80 works from 16 emerging artists tipped to be among the greatest fine art photographers of tomorrow. The works will be sold as unique NFT editions of one, with exclusive unlockable content for collectors.

Unlockable content with purchase of this NFT

High resolution file

[First time buyer only] Single-use right to archive quality physical print (printed & delivered free of charge)

Invitation to exclusive virtual meeting with the artist

Project statement

'Murmurations' is a study of the shape, form and scale of starling murmurations but is also a personal reflection on the current global crises, the heightened connection to nature during this period, and the act of coming together and converging as a group, or crowd. The project is presented alongside newly commissioned poetry by poet Lue Mac. As the winter lockdown hit, I began visiting a local murmuration as an almost daily ritual to reconnect with nature the long walk to the wetlands serving as a moment to reflect on the surreal situation imposed by the pandemic. At this time of worldwide crisis - when individuals are asked to sacrifice their freedoms for the sake of something larger - murmurations can be seen as an apt metaphor.

The project has been taken forward by a newly formed photobook publishers called Besides Press and is launching on 1 October 2021.

Artist statement

Billy Barraclough (b. 1994) is a photographic artist based in London. Directed by his curiosity in the relationship between people and their environment, his work to date has explored ideas around identity, emotion and personal history. Barraclough is interested in weaving together loose narratives that play on the metaphorical potential of photographs. He is a recent graduate of the MA Photography programme at Bristol UWE and was recently selected as one of the British Journal of Photography's 'Ones to Watch' as well as being nominated as a FUTURES Photography Talent of 2021.

Barraclough's debut photobook Murmurations, published by besides press, is being released in October 2021.

https://www.billybarraclough.com