Saint Lucian Photographer Fiona Compton Is Retelling Fairy Tales

With the verve of the NottingHill Carnival approaching this weekend there’s a lot of anticipation and expectations. The yearly celebration which has conveniently been moved online might have given us some reservations about how the virtual experience would feat. However in times of adversity comes triumph which is what the rich heritage of Carnival, over 54 years worth, was founded on. It is also fitting that we were able to talk with one of the wonderful cultural ambassadors of Carnival, photographer and artist Fiona Compton who will be performing in her masquerade costume as part of the live proceedings over the weekend. We engaged her about her work as a female photographer from Saint Lucia, her cultural platform KnowyourCaribbean and what Carnival means to her.

I’ve seen the term “Irie” celebrated a lot on your Instagram, please describe what it is for people who may not know?

‘Irie’ is a term that you can find across the Caribbean. I have been trying to find its etymology as there are so many varying accounts of its origins, from Rastafarianism, to its being as a variant of ‘alright’. ‘Irie’ encompasses positivity. Something that is ‘Irie’ is something nice, something wonderful, devoid entirely of negativity. So, if we call something ‘Irie’ its only good things!

How do you stay focused and positive whilst doing the work you do?

Once you are passionate about something, focus comes naturally, it’s really hard to focus on something I don’t care about. When it’s something you love, even the hard times comes with a sense of value, a mission, a goal, because love and passion pushes you through the thick and thin.

How does it feel to be a female photographer from Saint Lucia, has it impacted you or changed perceptions of women in Caribbean creative communities?

Absolutely it has changed my perceptions. I can tell when a man has shot stills or video. Even when its not something sexy, the male gaze and the feminine gaze is entirely different. There is a stoic yet gentle approach women bring to our visual representations, even when it is an affirmative piece, even when it’s a shoot of women in batty riders wining, you just know when a woman has shot something.

““As a woman, in the Caribbean too, we still have to push harder to be respected, we are not immune from sexism, even in the creative community, but I have lost count of the amazing female Caribbean creatives who have made some of the most beautiful work I have ever seen.””

Your self-portraits are amazing, particularly the ones where you are bleeding from a stab wound and still doing normal everyday things. What message are you trying to convey to people?

I did this series to let people know they aren’t alone in dealing with day to day pain, anxiety, depression. Social media is such a volatile place, but I think comparison has been the most damaging for us. The highlight reels we view of people’s curated best bits of their lives leave us feeling like we are failures, our inadequacies of years of internal anguish feel amplified next to a split second photograph from a stranger. We think thousands of negative thoughts about ourselves a day, from not making the bed perfectly, to how your house looks a mess, not doing your makeup as good as girls on the ‘gram’, and I just wanted people to know that we are all functioning whilst carrying a lot of pain, and that no one’s live is perfect..

You’ve been involved in so many projects with award winning films and curated exhibitions at the Southbank Centre. What’s been your favourite milestone?

That’s a really hard question. All of them came with different journeys, different times in my life, and with that different emotions. Some of them are bittersweet and carry pain behind the triumph – so it is hard to say! One vivid memory is seeing my son go up on stage at Southbank holding a ‘Not Asking For it’ sign for my Carnival Mas section that is dedicated to spreading the message that no woman or child is asking to be sexually abused or assaulted. I cried, because there was a lot to be proud of at that time, from the Mas section existing, to us having a Caribbean event of that scale at Southbank, to my son being on stage supporting his mom’s message.

Snow White eats a poison mango, Dorothy is Voodoo priestess Cecile Fatiman - how did “Revolution of A Fairy Tale” impact you creatively?

I was OBSESSED! I don’t think I had ever immersed myself into a project so much before. The concept of the project came as a joke when I called my Trini friend a wizard, so I called him ‘Merlin’ and he responded to say ‘Merlin is a white man, I am not that.’ So, I tried thinking of a black ‘wizard’ and this is how I came to Boukman, the Obeah priest who sparked the revolution as my wizard of Oz. From there on out, I literally fell down a rabbit hole of fairytale, fable and fantasy and it was a beautiful journey. Especially putting my foot down and saying I am only working with Caribbean creatives – and it truly paid off

Stories from creatives of colour often feel painfully censored, what does it mean to be a cultural ambassador?

Being a cultural ambassador means you have to be aware of your audience space to space. I do not tend to over curate myself, but I have to understand who I am talking to in various spaces in terms of their level of experience with my culture. Sometimes you have to start small, but that doesn’t mean to whitewash yourself. This is where I feel we fail sometimes. I think it’s a balance of understanding who you are interacting with at the time – Fiona doing a workshop in Canary Wharf for corporate bankers will not play “Fattt” by Nadia Batson right off the bat, I have to wean people in – but best believe they will get it at the end of the presentation!

Carnival has been around for over 50 years, and for the first time will be digital, tell us what your first experience at carnival was like?

I was in primary school in Saint Lucia. My school had their own band. This is how much Carnival is incorporated into our culture back home. I wore neon pink frilly socks, a tutu and a traditional masquerade hat. I never felt more amazing in my life.

How did KnowYourCaribbean come about?

I started KYC because I felt I wanted to help make us feel proud of who we are again. I was so tired of the narrative that we were beaten for 400 years (both African and indigenous people) and then Europeans out of the goodness of their hearts let us go. That’s not true. Caribbean people fought, and we fought hard. Slavery was not like we have seen in Hollywood movies. I feel its legacy weighs so heavy on us and I really wanted us to know our own stories, told in our own way. It’s not that we don’t care about our history, it’s how it’s presented. Not everyone wants to read a book, not everyone engages with fancy language. Why can’t I tell a piece of history through using a clip from a dancehall video?

““There are so many ways for us to connect and share our stories. We aren’t divided by the sea, we are connected by it.””

You started a petition to remove Pro Slavery advocate Admiral Rodney and to rename Rodney bay in Saint Lucia. How important is it to retell the stories of forgotten Caribbean heroes instead?

I grew up calling Admiral Rodney’s name, associating him as a hero in St. Lucian History. He has so many landmarks in his honour and I was so shocked to come to find out that he was pushing for our enslavement. He is not a Caribbean hero, he was deemed a hero of England for brutally taking control over several Caribbean islands, as Britain was suffering over the loss of the USA. He is a hero for the expansion of the Empire, including ensuring slavery was kept alive. In the meantime, we had an entire revolution of enslaved freedom fighters who managed to liberate us from enslavement for almost 3 years, and yet we know nothing about them. There isn’t a monument in their honour, yet our island is named after slave owners to this day. How does this not add to generational trauma? And it instils the concept that the white elite are the only ones deserving of having landmarks named in their honour.

What is your ultimate goal with your creative work, is there anything that you are working on that you can share?

To empower our people. That’s what I am here to do. I know that’s my purpose. I’m working on growing Know Your Caribbean, to become something tangible, something people can feel, can touch, and can depend on as a resource to return to self.

Follow Fiona Compton on Instagram here and Know Your Caribbean @knowyourcaribbean .

This year’s Carnival supersedes all visual restraints with no holds barred—the reach being more global than ever. Expect to be treated to the worlds best food, art and music from carnival performers as well as confirmed super artists like Koffee, Great, Helena B, DeeVine, Soca Kidd, Sunshine & Nadiva, D’Alberto, Masterlink, Nigel Isaacs, The Divette’s, Davido and Tiwa Savage who will be part of the visual line-up.

Celebrate Notting Hill Virtual Carnival on August Bank Holiday - Saturday 29, Sunday 30 & Monday 31 August 

Watch at www.NHCarnival.org 

Twitter: @NHCarnivalLDN Instagram: @nhcarnivalldn FB: @NHCarnivalLDN

Get The Official Notting Hill Carnival App - Apple & Android

#NHCatHome

Interview & Words by Funmi Olagunju