Esther May Campbell

Born into a basket of witches cats a long, long time ago, Esther May Campbell has always been curious about image, story and mucking about.

Failing to run away with the circus, she got a job opening theatre curtains before moving on to serve Homity Pie in a cafe. In between double shifts, she watched films at The Prince Charles Cinema. Daylight revealed cinema seams and she began to wonder about stitching her own stories together.

In time, she started making moving and still pictures with friends, which have since been exhibited in streets, playgrounds and farms, internationally at film festivals, online and on broadcast TV. Her adventures included directing and writing film, Light Years, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and the multi-awarded BAFTA winning short, September, which played at over thirty festivals worldwide. While making low fi music videos she directed episodes of Channel 4’s SKINS and the BBC’s Wallander and more recently she co-created experimental films conjured with camera traps with local kids, entitled Anything Moving.

Her inaugural photography show at Bristol’s Old Shoe Factory, Out Of Darkness, grouped together intimate black & white prints and was to be followed up by Water Salad on Monday, an interactive, onsite show and publication at and about a farm in which the cared-for thrive through caring. Scrapbook, made up of workshops, a show and book, celebrated play and was commissioned by the legendary St Paul’s Adventure Playground with help from The Arts Council. When Covid struck, her weekly photo club adapted and sent out art care packages that became the Bewilderment Cards, now selling across the countyr. She has collaborated with The Cube Cinema on the Kids Kino Project, a cultural exchange for displaced children.

Dedicated to pursuing life-affirming art practices, Esther continues to tickle out bewitching images, moving stories and unforgettable live events. She’s still not very good at brushing her hair.