Ep.153 Bran Symondson - Ministry of Arts Podcast

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Bran Symondson (@bransymondson)   Bran Symondson is a British photographer, artist, philanthropist entrepreneur, and art collector. He is considered to be one of the most acclaimed reportage photographers of the 21st Century.   In 2004, Bran started the selection process to join the British Army Special Forces Reserves. After completing pre-deployment training in 2007, Bran was deployed to Afghanistan, Helmand Province. During the tour in Afghanistan, Bran continued to capture images of the civilians he met along the way, these significant images culminated in his first show “The Best View of Heaven is from Hell”. The Sunday Times decided to commission Bran to go back to Afghanistan and re-shoot the images as a civilian photographer. After being awarded the 2011 Amnesty International Media Award. Symondson’s unique artworks of contemporary AK47 derive from a simple premise: taking something of fear and loathing and turning it into something of beauty and intrigue. Each AK47 has meticulous craftsmanship of adorning the weapon with various objects which then is enhanced with the placement of bespoke handmade bullets containing different commodities which relate to the narrative of each work.   For more information on the work of Bran Symondson go to http://bransymondson.com   For more information on the work of Battle Boutique go to @battleboutique.co A special thanks to @lisabaker_ltd   To Support this podcast from as little as £3 per month: www.patreon/ministryofarts   For full line up of confirmed artists go to https://www.ministryofarts.org Email: [email protected] Social Media: @ministryofartsorg Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.