An talking portrait gallery for Glamorgan Archives and the National Archives
From May to Etta with Love is a new permanent display of canvas prints at Glamorgan Archives, each with an embedded QR code linking to a short audio drama inspired by the sitter.The pictures are from the studio of Fred Petersen, an early portrait photographer who had a business at 232 Bute Street, Cardiff from 1910-1920.
Fred’s beautifully intimate and intriguing pictures are notable for portraying black and mixed heritage children and families from Cardiff’s historically diverse docks community in Butetown.The collection was acquired by Glamorgan Archives in the 1970s with no contextual detail. Despite numerous public appeals over the years, almost all the subjects of the photos remain unidentified.In 2023, The National Archives in London commissioned Applied Stories to visit Cardiff and meet with Glamorgan Archives specialists, to see what could be done to bring these images to life.
Applied Stories worked with two professional writers with Butetown links, Danielle Fahiya and Kyle Lima, to script six imagined scenes from the moment the photo was taken. Each minidrama has been embedded in each image as a QR code.
From May to Etta with Love is the extraordinary result. Each play sends listeners back in time, to eavesdrop on the conversation between Fred Petersen and his subjects. The scripts were recorded with a mixed cast of professional actors and contemporary young people from the Butetown area, in partnership with local company Fio.
Visitors to Glamorgan Archives can browse the pictures and scan the QR codes for a time travel experience on their phones, taking them back to some audio from the moment the photo was taken.
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