Big Fence / Pitcairn Island
RHIANNON ADAM
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At 7 years old, Rhiannon Adam’s father bought a boat from a pub noticeboard in Ireland and uprooted his family. To inspire a sense of adventure, her father gifted her a copy of the Mutiny on the Bounty.
The journey that resulted was deeply problematic – as a young girl in a drifter community, Adam found herself growing up in fear of what could, and did, happen. Years later, in an attempt to quantify and explore these experiences, she found herself making the long journey to Pitcairn, the place that indirectly influenced it all.
While on island, Adam became known as “the only woman of breeding age” – a moniker that alluded to her own personal struggles on Pitcairn, culminating in a police complaint against a local man.
Her experiences echoing the women’s own, giving a unique insight into the psychological struggles of codependency.
Due to the infrequent supply ship schedule, she was trapped on the island for three months, spending two living at Big Fence, hosted by Steve Christian, one of the convicted men.
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Cushana, Pitcairn’s only child, waits for the frigatebirds that circle the landing with detritus from the day’s catch, feeding the giant birds by hand. When they swoop down, they appear bigger than her. More like pterodactyls than birds… READ MORE
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The Pitcairn Islands are the last British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific. Pitcairn was permanently settled by the infamous Bounty mutineers and their Polynesian captives in 1790, and their descendents, now numbering fewer than 40, still live there today.
The tiny, isolated, volcanic island measures just two by one miles, is 400 nautical miles away from its nearest neighbour, and is the least populated jurisdiction in the world. Due to the infrequent supply ship schedule (the island’s only direct access), Rhiannon Adam was trapped on Pitcairn for three months, spending two of those living at Big Fence.
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“Vanishing as quickly as it had appeared, the impenetrable island seemed – almost instantly – to become a dream. Already my experience had been relegated to the status of a story. One I would retell, but would not relive. I knew that I could never go back…” – Rhiannon Adam, 2022
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Despite its inaccessibility, lack of beach, and geographical inhospitality, to outside dreamers, Pitcairn has historically been perceived as an exotic Utopia; a land of milk and honey. This vision has been further cultivated by Hollywood’s romanticised adaptations of the Bounty story – a white male fantasy of machismo and sexual freedom set against a beguiling South Seas backdrop.
In 2004 this romantic façade slipped, when a series of child sexual abuse allegations emerged and were tried under British law. By 2007, eight Pitcairn men – half the adult male population – stood convicted. Their sentences, served in a prison that they built themselves, were lenient and “Pitcairn appropriate” – the longest sentence being six and a half years for a series of attacks on girls aged 7 to 15. The truth could not be further from fiction.
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This found photograph shows a Pitcairn family during Bounty Day celebrations. Bounty Day is celebrated on the 23rd of January each year, marking the occasion of the burning of the Bounty at Pitcairn Island. In it, the women are obscured, their faces hidden – made to be invisible – while the group’s lone male looks out, holding court, in discernible Bounty-era dress.
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The book – seven years in the making, published by Blow Up Press – presents this complex story through a broad range of photographs, archival material, court documents, and over 45,000 words of text (over 400 hours of audio material and drone footage also exists), creating a powerful and unsettling exploration of a ‘Paradise Lost’ – a broken society shrouded in mistrust.
Big Fence explores the notions of collective culpability, wilful blindness, revisionist history, colonialism, female subjugation, and the dangers of romanticism.
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Installation image from The Photographers’ Gallery New Talent Award exhibition
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Kraszna Krausz longlist, winner of the Photographers’ Gallery New Talent Award, winner of the Meitar Award for Excellence in Photography. Project funding: BBC Radio 4 / RGS.
To listen to an audio sample from interview collected on Pitcairn Island:
Listen Here
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SELECTED PRESS
BBC Radio 4 | The Journey of a Lifetime
The Telegraph | Secrets of Pitcairn
BJP | A Revealing Portrait of Pitcairn Island
HUCK | The Dark Secrets of Britain’s Smallest Overseas Territory
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PRINT INFORMATION
Prices range from £300–3,000 and are available in sizes dependent on the film stock used and the artists intuition.
There are many more images from this series to see. Below is a collection of some of the key images and stories related to this project. To see more please reach out for more information.
This rich and detailed depiction of Picairn Island and it’s inhabitants continues beneath each image in the captions the artist has prepared for us. Please enjoy immersing yourself in this fascinating tale.
Follow Rhiannon on Artsy
All print sales enquiries: tom@opendoors.gallery
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Rhiannon Adam: Burning, Up Tibi, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Cushana and the Frigates, Down Landing, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Christian’s Cave, The Omniscient Eye, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Olive Christian, Public Works, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: The Devil Makes Work For Idle Hands (Irma Christian), 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Steve Christian’s Fishing Rod, Down Landing, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Brenda Christian, Pommy Ridge, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Kevin Young, Up Tibi, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Mike Warren, Taro Ground Radio Station, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: St Paul’s Pool, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: The Loneliest Child In The World (Cushana), 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Man and Baby, Pitcairn, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Ship’s Landing, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Aute Valley, Pitcairn, 2022
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Rhiannon Adam: Banyan Trees, Jack Williams Valley, 2022
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