MORGAN
WILLIAMS
Morgan Williams is a London based contemporary documentary photographer interested in storytelling through staged performance. A recurring emphasis throughout her work has focused on our daily environments impact on physical well-being. This is explored through investigating the amount of toxic plastic we are routinely exposed to. She incorporates this understanding of toxic environments into a conceptual and representational response in image making, and composes scenes embodying acts of mundane life whilst incorporating visual elements of fantasy. Morgan has recently completed her BA in Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales.
Plastics surround us. We use them, consume them and wear them. In fact, clothing made from plastic material, also known as synthetic fabric, has become extremely popular due to its affordability and cheap production costs. Not only do we wear these plastics, we also live in environments overcrowded with plastic materials which emit chemicals and toxins that have not been rigorously tested for human safety. Recent studies have shown that the chemical properties of plastics in clothing and our daily environments can worsen health conditions and cause skin irritation, respiratory issues, and nausea, to name a few. Whilst widely used synthetic chemicals such as pesticides and flame retardants have been linked to cancer.
100% Plastic explores the toxic impact synthetic materials have on our health within our own homes. Through staged performances the ‘plastic family’ is represented; using clothes and props that have toxic qualities (such as perfume, cars and electronic devices) as well as combining acts of mundanity within fabricated settings to focus on the plastic within our environment. This approach is intended to suggest a collective blindness towards the synthetic toxins we are surrounded by in our daily lives and to highlight the possible consequences of our dependence on plastic.
