Detail of photograph of Sue Warren © Nigel Green

I Am A Norman – photographic project

In September and October the Root 1066 International Festival will take place in Hastings, St Leonards and surrounding areas. Hastings Borough Council will be staging a contemporary, multi-art-form festival, celebrating 950 years since the battle took place. There will be a curated programme and a number of projects engaging local people. Erica Smith reports on a photographic project which is already under way.

Photographers Nigel Green and Andrew Moran are searching for modern-day Normans. More precisely, they want to find any inhabitants of the 1066 area who have a link to the names of William the Conqueror’s companions at the famous Battle itself. The project is part of the upcoming ‘Root 1066’ festival that celebrates its 950 year anniversary.

If you have a surname derived from the selected 18 names below and are willing to be photographed, to share information and to take part in a photographic exhibition in September 2016, Nigel would like to hear from you. The pictures will be shown in public spaces throughout the 1066 area under the title, I Am A Norman.

Nigel has compiled a list of surnames associated with the clash who are known to have taken part in the battle itself. A blog site has been created for people with a link to those named in the battle, to give details of their history and to be part of the exhibition.

The modern variations of the ‘companions’ names are commonly seen in our area today, they are:
Bayeux, Beaumont, Boleyn, Daigle, Devereaux, De Tosny, Duffey, FitzRolf, Gifford, Grandmesnil, Mallet, Montford, Mort, Morton, Mowbray, Osborne, Thairs, Warren.

The original names vary from the obscure to ones that we commonly know today:
Beaumont, Boulogne, Evreaux, Mortagne, FitzOsbern, Thouars, Giffard, Monfort, Warenne, Malet, Bayeaux, FitzRolf, De Laigle, Mowbray, Mortain, D’Auffay, De Tosny, Grandmesnil.

Nigel Green says, “We want to have a conversation with people who are willing to be a part of the photographic exhibition of the new Normans. The pictures might be portraits, landscapes or images of objects. The decision will lay with the Norman participant. We want to share information with the public and to show the images in everyday public spaces, celebrating our heritage and our famous history.”

The final selection of images will be shown in local public spaces in the 1066 area and the historic information will be passed on to the Hastings History House as part of a modern public archive.

The exhibition will run throughout September in the 1066 area. To view the blog site go to: www.iamanorman.wordpress.com
For more information on the ‘I Am A Norman’ project, contact Andrew Moran: am.photographic@icloud.com.
For information on Root 1066 International Festival go to www.1066contemporary.com, and on social media #ROOT1066

Also in: Photography