From May to Etta, with Love
An talking portrait gallery for Glamorgan Archives and the National Archives
From May to Etta with Love is a new permanent display of canvas prints at Glamorgan Archives, each with an embedded QR code linking to a short audio drama inspired by the sitter.
The pictures are from the studio of Fred Petersen, an early portrait photographer who had a business at 232 Bute Street, Cardiff from 1910-1920.
Fred’s beautifully intimate and intriguing pictures are notable for portraying black and mixed heritage children and families from Cardiff’s historically diverse docks community in Butetown.
The collection was acquired by Glamorgan Archives in the 1970s with no contextual detail. Despite numerous public appeals over the years, almost all the subjects of the photos remain unidentified.
In 2023, The National Archives in London commissioned Applied Stories to visit Cardiff and meet with Glamorgan Archives specialists, to see what could be done to bring these images to life.
Applied Stories worked with two professional writers with Butetown links, Danielle Fahiya and Kyle Lima, to script six imagined scenes from the moment the photo was taken. Each minidrama has been embedded in each image as a QR code.
From May to Etta with Love is the extraordinary result. Each play sends listeners back in time, to eavesdrop on the conversation between Fred Petersen and his subjects. The scripts were recorded with a mixed cast of professional actors and contemporary young people from the Butetown area, in partnership with local company Fio.
Visitors to Glamorgan Archives can browse the pictures and scan the QR codes for a time travel experience on their phones, taking them back to some audio from the moment the photo was taken.
From Us to the Future
An additional set of prints...
From Us to the Future is a set of contemporary photographic portraits of the Cardiff families who voiced the From May to Etta, with Love dramas.
In voice casting the historical plays, we needed local young people with the right accents and backgrounds. That effectively meant finding the anonymous sitters' modern day counterparts!
We thought this was a good opportunity to create a new archive, so we offered them all a free photo shoot of their own, then recorded their voices!
These prints will join the Fred Petersen originals, complete with QR codes, on the walls of Glamorgan Archives in a permanent display.
Visitors to Glamorgan Archives can browse the pictures and scan the QR codes for a time travel experience on their phones, taking them back to some audio from the moment the photo was taken.
Listen online wherever you are
If you can't make it to Cardiff to see and hear the portraits in person, all can be listened to online for free above, or via the SoundCloud playlist below (use headphones!)
Full Credits
From May to Etta with Love - full credits
From May to Etta with Love is an Applied Stories production for Glamorgan Archives and The National Archives.
From May to Etta with Love by Danielle Fahiya
May Brown - Olivia Forrest
Fred Petersen - Kieron Self
Director - Danielle Fahiya
Sound design - Farokh Soltani
Dramaturgy and production - Fin Kennedy
Studio Engineer - Elinor Newcombe
Man of the House by Danielle Fahiya
Eric - Jailen O’Diam
Ernie - Kaiden Davis
Eugene - Malachi Saltus-Hendricksen
Fred Petersen - Kieron Self
Director - Sita Thomas
Sound design - Farokh Soltani
Dramaturgy and production - Fin Kennedy
Studio Engineer - Elinor Newcombe
Mother Nature by Danielle Fahiya
Elvira - Maeva Lewis
Leonard - Theo Ellul
Gwenllian - Zoe Davis
Fred Petersen - Kieron Self
Director - Danielle Fahiya
Sound design - Farokh Soltani
Dramaturgy and production - Fin Kennedy
Royal Family by Kyle Lima
Joseph - Theo Ellul
Emmanuel - Kai Antoine
Lynda - Bethzienna Williams
Fred Petersen - Kieron Self
Director - Kyle Lima
Sound design - Farokh Soltani
Dramaturgy and production - Fin Kennedy
Three Lads and a Wedding by Kyle Lima
David - Charlie Jones
Michael - Harvey Jones
Julio - Kene Uwandula
Fred Petersen - Kieron Self
Director - Sita Thomas
Sound design - Farokh Soltani
Dramaturgy and production - Fin Kennedy
Dada’s Girl by Kyle Lima
Mr Achebe - Kai Antoine
Sophia - Mya Lima
Fred Petersen - Kieron Self
Director - Kyle Lima
Sound design - Farokh Soltani
Dramaturgy and production - Fin Kennedy
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Rebecca Eversley-Dawes, Fio, Radio Platform, Rhian Diggins, Sara Griffiths and Iqbal Singh.
