Daphne Wright’s work ‘The Bulls’ was inspired by the
trophy head of a buffalo shot on safari which is in the Victorian collection
of Swansea Museum. Wright has photographed domestic bulls which are kept
for reproduction purposes on small farms. Usually only one bull of this
kind is kept on each farm and it is afforded a certain status, often being
paraded and displayed and usually given a pet name. The artist has photographed
only the heads and eyes of these 'pets', capturing the underlying menace
of an animal that is fundamentally unpredictable and untrustworthy
In making these works, Wright has used an obsolete printing method. The
resulting prints resemble many of the black & white photographs in
the museum’s collection. Although the objects in the Victorian collection
seem benignly presented and displayed, many of the exhibits and curiosities
have an underlying sense of unease. ‘The Bulls’ are hung in
the stairwell of Swansea Museum in a way that alludes to the presentation
of the hunting trophies from the collection
Wright’s work can be read not just in the context of the museum
but also within the wider context of agriculture and the debates associated
with it at the present time
