Katrina Whitehead

Drawing on her practice in printmaking and photography, Katrina Whitehead specialises in creating artists’ books and photo books.  

Inspired by research into her family tree during lockdown, Katrina uses family photographs, letters, diaries, vintage ephemera and artefacts, to create limited edition books which weave together fact and fiction, nostalgia and melancholy.

“I have always considered myself to be a multi-disciplinary artist due to my interest in experimenting with a variety of media in 3D and 2D, yet photography has always been at the core of my research and practice for over 30 years, from studying it at night school, converting my bedroom into a darkroom and spending long hours developing negatives.

“I studied Fine Art, graduating in 2004 with a BA (Hons.) in Fine Art (Sculpture) at Bretton Hall College which became incorporated into the University of Leeds. News stories relating to missing people and unsolved local murders, inspired much of my undergraduate show installation ‘Frozen in Time’, exhibited at the Longside Gallery situated in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

“For the Masters in Printmaking at Bradford College of Art, my practice combined hand-drawn etchings, photographic etchings and photographic silk screen prints reflecting key stories in the news from environmental issues to celebrity culture. After being introduced to the work of writer and artist Graham Rawle, I became interested in text and image, specialising in the practice of making limited edition artists’ books, collaborative books and photo books, exhibiting internationally.

“In 2007 I went on to gain a PGCE and Fellowship in the Higher Education Academy and have been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Huddersfield and Open College of the Arts. I am a qualified Licentiate member of the British Institute of Professional Photography and former Chair. of BIPP (Yorkshire).

“I am currently studying a PhD in crime photo novels. This practice-based research crosses interdisciplinary fields of study within three areas of interest: crime, photography and creative non-fiction writing. Whilst much has been written about these three separate disciplines in their own right, little has been researched regarding contemporary crime photo novels and this is the overall focus of the enquiry. This research has identified and analysed a selection of seminal works including fiction, creative non-fiction novels and photo books, which all focus on the subject of crime and my practice is influenced by Edgar Allan Poe’s theory of ratiocination.” 

Feminism and Post-Feminism, especially in relation to fashion and photography