Venetia Dearden
I grew up next to the festival site, our house is walking distance from one of the entrances and in the early days the traffic went right past our front door. As a child, I loved the annual caravan of people who came by. They would often come to our house for eggs & cheese or to use the phone. My parents always had the door open and would help anyone. It was thrilling in so many ways. My family love the festival and I haven’t missed a year since I went at 8 months old in 1976. This has been helped by the fact the Eavis’s give tickets to all the locals which is wonderful. For most of the year, the valley is empty and its always incredible to see it fil up and become a huge temporary city.
When I was 17 I started working with friends, the Temperleys, on their legendary cider bus. I think working there is a wonderful way to experience the festival, and I did that for about 6 years. Then I got into the photography and I was inspired by the many interesting people I was serving over the bar, hearing their stories. I wanted to get closer to the individuals and was inspired to photograph them. I approached Michael Eavis with a project idea, inspired by Richard Avedon’s photo book ‘In the American West’, and he offered me a spot in the Avalon field to take photos against a white backdrop. He is really supportive of local artists and initiatives.
The first year I had a tipi, covered the back in white paper and set up some lights. I spent most of the festival taking the lights down and then getting them up again, because the Tipi wasn’t waterproof and it didn’t stop raining! It was a disaster. So the following year I took a tent, and the project grew from there. At first we would approach people, then after a couple of years, people were queueing up to have their picture taken ( I made all the pictures available to the sitters). I worked on the project for seven years, starting in 2003. I had an amazing team of friends who helped male this dream come true. Rich Hendry, Josh Lustig, Sarah Hulme, Jess and Buc Dennis, Simon Williams, Liz Ings, to name but a few. It was absolutely a team effort I could never have done it on my own!
We opened the studio day and night. I just loved meeting all the people – the stories were just amazing, and this is why I love this project of Emma’s! What makes Glastonbury Festival is the spirit of the people. The festival goers, and the workers. Glastonbury is made up of so many ‘families’ who have been part of the festival forever - all these families bring their own creative identities to their areas, and foster a sense of ownership, returning year after year with new and exciting ideas. I think it is also unique in its ability to keep circus arts and niche performance areas alive, as well as attracting global talent.
With the help of Art Director Candace Bahouth we started photographing the performers too. I was lucky enough to have a few moments with Shirley Bassey, Leonard Cohen, Amy Winehouse, Paul Weller, Lily Allen and many many more. The resulting book, Glastonbury Another Stage, was published for the 40th anniversary, with Michael Eavis writing the foreward. It captures some of the cast of characters who create, visit and perform at the festival every year. It was celebrated with a solo show at the National Portrait Gallery in 2010 and has been exhibited worldwide. ( copies are still available!)My brother now runs and off site camping called Pennard Orchard. For me, the festival will always be an annual gathering of friends and family, time shared with the people I have come to know who help create the festival. I will miss it so much this year!
