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Rio Creech-Nowagiel

Rio Creech-Nowagiel

(they/them)

Research student

School of Journalism, Media and Culture

Overview

I'm Rio, a PhD candidate at Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Culture as part of an AHRC funded Collaborative Doctoral Partnership with Imperial War Museums. My project explores the role of imperialism in shaping the production and circulation of ‘official’ conflict imagery, paying close attention to the impact of accompanying text on how public knowledge was generated in postwar Britain around its so-called ‘Emergency’ wars.

I run an interdisciplinary research network, which provides a platform for PGRs & ECRs based at Cardiff University working in any area related to photography. Alongside my PhD research, I'm a curator and organiser. In 2022, I co-curated a photography exhibition at The Curve gallery in Slough with Polish diaspora groups exploring themes of belonging & home.

Prior to my PhD, I completed a BA in Art History at Cambridge University and an MA in Museum Studies at the University of Amsterdam. I also conducted photographic research as part of the curatorial team at the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam.

Research

I am in the third year of an AHRC-funded collaborative doctoral PhD studentship with Imperial War Museums and the department of Journalism, Media & Culture at Cardiff University. My PhD research explores the role of annotated photography in shaping public knowledge of Britain’s decolonisation wars, drawing upon photojournalistic, filmic and fictional portrayals of the twelve-year independence war known as the ‘Malayan Emergency’ (1948-60). My project examines the visual histories and legacies of Britain’s colonial campaign in Malaya, focusing on the use and circulation of images by state authorities, the press and left-wing anti-war groups in postwar Britain. More broadly, I am interested in the possibilities that decolonial, feminist and queer approaches can bring to the study of war and conflict. I seek to integrate these perspectives into my own research and contibute to action that reckons with the living legacies of colonial violence and Empire in present-day Britain. 

 

Thesis

‘Rubber & Rifles: Tracing the photographic histories and legacies of Britain’s colonial counterinsurgency campaign in Malaya (1948-60)’

My PhD research explores the role of annotated photography in shaping public knowledge of Britain’s decolonisation wars, drawing upon photojournalistic, filmic and fictional portrayals of the twelve-year independence war known as the ‘Malayan Emergency’ (1948-60). My project examines the visual histories and legacies of Britain’s colonial campaign in Malaya, focusing on the use and circulation of images by state authorities, the press and left-wing anti-war groups in postwar Britain. More broadly, I am interested in the possibilities that decolonial, feminist and queer approaches can bring to the study of  war and conflict. I seek to integrate these perspectives into my own research and hope to contribute to conversations that address the living legacies of colonial violence and Empire in present-day Britain. 

 

Funding sources

I am in the third year of an AHRC-funded collaborative doctoral PhD studentship with Imperial War Museums and the department of Journalism, Media & Culture at Cardiff University.

Teaching

In 2023, I taught as a PGT at ENCAP supporting the Year 1 Philosophy module 'Philosophy through Film and Fiction'. 

Supervisors

Tom Allbeson

Tom Allbeson

Senior Lecturer in Media History

External profiles