Conventional fashion photography may be synonymous with catwalks and glitzy beach backdrops, but an upcoming exhibition at the National Museum Cardiff aims to cast the genre in a whole new light.
Over a decade ago, photographers Clémentine Schneidermann and Charlotte James – together known as Bleak Fabulous – started the project It's Called Ffasiwn. It was a creative endeavor harbouring wider social ambitions that saw the two photographers collaborate with young people from the South Wales Valleys to create shots that mixed fashion and performance.
The works aimed to highlight the character and colour of post-industrial communities like those found in parts of the South Wales Valleys, while connecting working class children with professional creatives, showcasing to them the possibilities of a career in the arts.
The results were quite spectacular: a collection of fun and cheeky shots starring local young people, often in extravagant costumes they’d contributed to creating, set against striking industrial scenes or sweeping Welsh landscapes. Images from the initiative were picked up by The British Journal of Photography and the project was profiled in The New Yorker magazine.
Now, a new exhibition at National Museum Cardiff, entitled Ffasiwn, brings a huge swathe of the work from the project together in one space, documenting its evolution from the very first shoot with the Coed Cae youth group, to more recent shoots set in pubs, cemeteries and sportsgrounds.
Speaking about the upcoming exhibition, which opens on 23 May 2026 and runs until April 2027, photographer Clémentine Schneidermann said, ‘It is very special for us to have our project celebrated at the National Museum Cardiff, which started as a grassroot project and developed as an epic collaboration.’
‘As the project reaches this [ten year] milestone anniversary, we are thrilled to exhibit it in Wales for the first time in its entirety, featuring nearly sixty prints, films, and publications,’ added Clémentine.
Learn more about the upcoming exhibition, and book your tickets, on the National Museum Cardiff website.
Alternatively, delve further into the story behind the Bleak Fabulous studio, or check out some of the portrait shots the two photographers produced for us during a recent collaboration.