Hardy and Free (Subtitled)

"I wish I were a girl again, half-savage and hardy, and free..."
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
The companion film of new installation, Hardy and Free: Carolyn Mendelsohn, at the Brontë Parsonage Museum.
Inspired by personal journeys and stories of discovery, renowned artist and portrait photographer Carolyn Mendelsohn celebrates the female connection to nature, examining how feeling connected to the natural world can be an inspiring and important aspect of everyday life for women.
Over the course of four months, Carolyn embarked on a series of adventures to capture the personal stories of remarkable women living and working in the Bradford District; women who work on the land, women who are inspired by the land, and women for whom the landscape is a place of freedom.
Inspired by the power and prevalence of the natural world in the lives and literature of the Brontës, this immersive installation celebrates the enduring connection between Yorkshire women and the landscape today, telling unique and powerful stories through projection, soundscapes, personal objects and a filmic collection of photographs.
Hardy and Free can be viewed at the Brontë Parsonage Museum from 5 May to 31 December 2023
and is free with entry to the Museum.
Commissioned as part of the Brontë Parsonage Museum Contemporary Arts Programme.