The Dust of Joan of Arc

Owen Rhys- Forbes

This series aims to explore the legacy of Jehanne d’Arc, who she was, and what she has become via centuries of mythmaking and art inspired by her and her actions. This is the second project I have made centred around Jehanne, and I felt she deserved a level of focus and depth I could only present with the scale a thesis project would allow me. For the last few years, I have felt deeply attached to her legacy and have taken a protective stance over her image, as I felt she was misunderstood and needed to be studied and adapted as faithfully as I was capable. The title comes from Leonard Cohen’s song named after her, where dust acts as a remnant, a memory left behind, a storied legacy. I chose to work with medium-format film to create this installation because it provides a timelessness her story possesses while implying a level of deterioration over time. The visual approach pulls from historical depictions of her, from high art religious painting to more recent 20th century film adaptations, reflecting how these works idealise, distort, or reduce her to a symbol, while this series inevitably joins that lineage. For this project, I chose multiple models to depict multiple points in her life story, The Farmgirl, The Warrior, The Prisoner, and St. Jehanne, who was burned at the stake, as I felt she was a larger-than-life figure that one model would not be enough to embody. While researching other adaptations, I discovered the term hagiographic, which describes a biography that is overly reverent and idealises the subject, and I have come to identify this project as a hagiography about Jehanne d’Arc, despite my initial intentions, as it is impossible to remove my biases from any adaptation I have control over. Working on this project has forced me to work more intentionally and has improved my work ethic, and my late grandmother admired the Saint for her tenacity and stubbornness, which has influenced my connection to Jehanne herself.

About The Artist

Owen Rhys- Forbes

Owen Rhys-Forbes is an emerging Toronto-based photographer and visual artist currently attending Toronto Metropolitan University in the Photography Media Arts program. He works primarily in studio editorial and live concert photography. Owen enjoys collaborating with musicians, performers, and other creatives, and values collaboration as a central part of his practice.
His primary goals are to help his collaborators find agency and a voice for themselves, and to be seen by others in the ways they want to be seen, while still maintaining his unique voice and presence in every project. His approach to making work moves between control and unpredictability, especially through his use of analog film, where he is sometimes working in a very meticulous and deliberate way, and other times leaning into the instability and chance of the medium. Whether working in the studio or photographing live performances, Owen believes that kindness and vulnerability are virtues, not weaknesses. He aims to be honest, kind, and vulnerable in his work, and hopes that it encourages others to feel the same way.

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