Booker T Skelding (she/her)
70s kid, Mother, Carer, LGBTQ Ally
I am a neurodivergent, Welsh and English speaking contemporary photographer and artist. I use the photographic lens to document and process profound life events, exploring how photography can be used to express emotions, to heal and to overcome adversity.
Consultancy Services - Making Art Accessible
With extensive professional and lived experience of neurodiversity and disability, I am able to offer organisations and businesses expert support to deliver cultural events and design public spaces that are inclusive and disability positive.
I worked closely with Disability Arts Cymru (DAC), designing, tailoring and facilitating inclusive exhibition tours, which included Artes Mundi's 10 2024 touring exhibition with Amgueddfa Cymru, including the National Museum of Wales and Chapter Arts, Cardiff.​
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Other consultancy work includes:​
Artes Mundi 10 Biennale: Inclusivity and Access tours.
National Museum of Wales: Celf at Y Cyd project and Museums Inspiring Memories Projects.​
Disability Arts Cymru: making exhibitions more accessible and inclusive Creativity Is Mistakes, Commission.​​​
Exhibitions and Awards:
I was commissioned to make work for Disability Arts Cymru (DAC) and DASH and have won several awards including Gold in the Visit Wales Photographic Travel Competition - Year of the Seas 2018.
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I was selected for DAC Arts Prize 2022 - Aildanio. A book and zine of my work was shown at Ffotogallery’s book fair in 2023.
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Biography:
The process of taking the camera out and connecting with a scene is a form of therapy, my projects have a very strong personal narrative. From a young age I spent many weekends with my grandfather, watching him make images with his Pentax ME SLR. This fascination with the camera and its results led me to enrol on a photography course at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, after which I built a small dark room in my attic and began developing my own prints.
​In 2015 I left a career in the police service and enrolled at the University of South Wales to study photography, where I was awarded a BA (Hons) 1st class and the Reginald Salisbury Award for Outstanding Achievement in BA Photography. ​​​​