#NTUDEGREESHOW Spotlight: Jess Govinden

This week's Spotlight piece features BA (Hons) Photography student Jess Govinden

From Microphone Check, Jess Govinden, BA (Hons) Photography, 2019.

In the run-up to the Art and Design Degree Show, we will be sharing a series of student projects from across the 26 participating courses through #NTUDEGREESHOW Spotlights.

Microphone Check

"That’s what MC-ing is. It’s called mic controller. You interact and communicate with people; you make them smile, make them feel good. That’s the art of it, communicating with people, bringing people together through music. That’s what we do." – Jammer (MC)

From drum and bass and jungle to the classic garage styley, MC-ing has created a culture and community within the ‘urban’ music scene and now more than ever, due to grime’s renaissance, it has become one of the most documented sub cultures to date. Microphone Check explores the people behind the sound, recording portraits of those involved with the scene and images capturing the true essence of what happens behind the on-stage bravado.

From Microphone Check, Jess Govinden, BA (Hons) Photography, 2019.

The ‘urban’ music scene has come under scrutiny due to prejudice indictments creating the false ideology that it is a hostile community, when in fact this mentality just comes from an ignorance towards the culture. I want to show the realities of these genres, displaying a collection of images that document what the music has created and the uprising of the people in this community. This body of work fades away the stereotypes, expressing a more vulnerable side to the artists, adding the femininity of myself to the overall softer aesthetic. I wanted to capture the moments in preparation, before the MC gets on stage, taps the mic two times and says, ‘Microphone Check’.

Jess Govinden

Find out more about the BA (Hons) Photography Degree Show here.

Published on 3 May 2019