The original photo was taken in 1895 by miss Catherine frost, lecturer in mathematics at Royal Holloway from 1887 until 1907. the college archives contains a number of photograph albums she donated to the college. these photos tend to capture the daily life of the students at the end of 19th century such as the student picnic on the south terrace which was a favourite place for them to take their summer picnics. I was particularly fascinated with the atmosphere of this archive photo and knew I had to work with a group of students that also knew each other and were friends in order to capture the authenticity of a similar atmosphere in recreating the original photo. luckily the exact spot of the picnic still exists and it's accessible (as long as you don't mind some wild roses in your way).
