DOD YN ÔL / RETURN
These past couple of years have been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride for Tamsin Stirling, currently based in Cardiff but soon relocating to Bristol. Bristol's gain, I think.
Having recently graduated with her Honours Degree in photography from Coleg Gwent, she’s now readjusting her daily life to being a working photographer.
Walking forms an important part of her photography and interest in "...how humans interact with their environment, how land and buildings are used, who has access to space in different geographies and how different communities are portrayed through images".
As her major project on her Degree, DOD YN ÔL / RETURN is an ambitious undertaking as a photobook form, essentially constructed from four separate folios of images, accompanied by specially created loose inserts.
A selection of spreads from 'DOD YN ÔL / RETURN' Images © Tamsin Stirling
As one of the seven photographers who agreed to share new work in progress in the first of Offline Journal's new CHAOTIC publications, Stirling will be offering an early glimpse of another project she's currently researching in-depth. Along with the others in the first cohort, she will also be taking part in an online discussion about her chosen project. The first issue of CHAOTIC will launch at the Photozine & Print Day taking place in the Turner House gallery in Penarth on Saturday 20 September 2025.
Tamsin kindly agreed to discuss the book with me in a recorded audio session as part of Offline's SIGNATURES series of posts on photobooks and photography self-publishing here on the website. We cover the subject matter of DOD YN ÔL / RETURN, her approach to making the work, and her design decisions around creating the hand-stitched photobook.
As if planning and constructing the finished photobook wasn't challenging enough, it's also interesting to hear of her decision to include insert materials and paper finishing techniques through a collaboration with a letterpress expert based in Cardiff.
Our full 30 minute conversation is available below...
DOD YN ÔL / RETURN
Photographs by Tamsin Stirling
Self-published (10 copies) June 2025 as final project during BA Photography Degree studies at Coleg Gwent, South Wales.
210 x 298 mm
60 pages over 4 sections; includes printed inserts, plus soft cover and red card slipcase
black (full colour) printing, red thread-sewn binding
For the moment, Subscribers can watch the photographer flip through the full book to demonstrate its design, structure and sequencing of her images in the video below.
Although about to start on a new website, a selection of her work can currently be viewed here: https://tamsinstirlingbe22.myportfolio.com
Follow her work on Instagram @tamsinstirling
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