On Diversion by Emilia Cocking

Honourable Mention: Personal

On Diversion developed out of Emilia Cocking’s long journeys on buses across London, though it is far from a straight documentary project. Instead she approached the idea in a more conceptual way. “As a way of documenting these trips, I began a weekly routine: choose a bus number, complete the route, photograph the seat upholstery, then retrace that same journey on foot,” she explains. “On the return journey, I would collect items I felt represented the textile patterns specific to that service. I then arranged these objects into a sculpture. Beginning with a rough idea, I’d treat each item as a building block, with its own significance and origin, towards a final composition greater than the sum of its parts.”

The intention of the project was to slow down the way she works and to allow accidents. “I forced myself to slow down the creative process, giving myself time to craft each still life at my own pace. By working in this way, I embraced mistakes and let the composition develop naturally during the shoot. The result is a manifestation of my bus-hopping; visual connections formed in memory which helped paint a living, breathing picture of home.”

emiliacocking.com