Gina Soden

At the heart of Gina Soden’s photography is a preoccupation with abandoned locations. Based in Reading, she travels widely to undisclosed sites throughout Europe and explores the boundaries of beauty, decay, nostalgia and neglect. The genesis of each piece is often the unique architectural character of each location, heightened by their slow transformation after years of abandonment. Rather than taking a documentary approach, Soden breathes life into the scenes, hinting at narrative with studied compositions. Characteristically, each image has a distinctly painterly aesthetic, side-stepping the tendency photography has for observational and distanced looking.

Soden’s approach is lyrical and directs the viewer to explore the concepts of time and memory. The compositions feature derelict asylums, long-since-closed schools and abandoned villas in various stages of decay. The results are striking and poignant, at once both edgy in their contemporary aesthetic and nostalgic in their ruinous beauty.

The work is underscored by the potential controversy of gaining unlicensed access to out-of-bounds areas. Every image is a product of a journey, referring both to the physical demands of entry and to the passing of time which is evident in the abandoned locations. Like the Romantic poets before her, Soden offers room to reflect on romantic notions of beauty and a sense of calmness despite collapse and structural devastation.

One such piece, Terrazzo Affresco, which has been selected for the Royal Scottish Academy Annual Open Exhibition, depicts a beautiful abandoned villa in Italy with a stunning trompe-l'œil fresco. Brambles threaten to break through a delicate window while the fading frescoes tremble at the prospect. Originally built as a summer seminary for a religious figure, the villa later became a residential manor, hosting many noble families. The last person to occupy it was a science teacher in the 1970s, and it has remained vacant ever since.