Category Archive

Flak Photo in association with Aperture Foundation are offering members of their facebook page the chance to win the excellent monograph Zwelethu Mthethwa.

For your chance to win click the image below and follow the instructions.

Since Apartheid’s fall in 1994, South African photography has exploded from the grip of censorship onto the world stage. A key figure in this movement is Zwelethu Mthethwa, whose portraits powerfully frame black South Africans as dignified and defiant individuals, even under the duress of social and economic hardship. Photographing in urban and rural industrial landscapes, Mthethwa documents a range of aspects in present-day South Africa, from domestic life and the environment to landscape and labor issues. His stunning portraits often portray rural immigrants on the margins of South African cities, revealing the efforts of his subjects to maintain thir cultural identities through their choices in clothing, and the decoration of their dwellings. His singular oeuvre challenges traditional conventions of African commercial studio photography and Western documentary work, moving away from the exoticized images that encapsulate what curator Okwui Enwezor describes as “afro pessimism.”

“Step right in folks to witness the most amazing things your eyes balls have ever witnessed, ponder in awe at the horrors that behold the tent of visual culture”

There are many things that piss me off about the world and society in general so I have decided to isolate one specific thing for the purpose of this blog post. What really irritates me is how many visual practitioners use ancient techniques  harping back to ye olde times by exploiting civilizations voyeuristic nature in order to gain some form of notoriety. Television is easily the biggest culprit, from Channel 4′s seemingly innocuous embarrassing bodies to the Extreme humans season it ran last year; Television will wheel out the oddest and most unfortunate human beings on the planet to be gawped at by millions supping on tea and biscuits and declaring “Oh that’s disgusting” or “How terrible”. It’s nothing more than a 1900′s freak show. The only difference is the tents have been replaced by square boxes in the corner of peoples living rooms.

Photographers are not immune to this either, however they are slightly more subtle in their approach (which doesn’t make it any better). I will not get into the Pieter Hugo debate as so much has been said about it on line previously, but I will mention the work of Morten Nilsson, and his piece Dancers as it is what initially sparked this half hearted rant. I spotted Dancers whilst browsing some photo blogs and initially I didn’t really think much about it. Interesting looking people… dancers, high key light, blah blah. However the more I flicked through each image the more I realised that this is just another fucking freak show.

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There is no comment on the time and effort these dancers who, most likely, have devoted their lives to something they care about and wish to succeed in. No comment on the physically demanding nature of dancing, no comment on the trials and tribulation of competing. All I see in this work is a bunch of mannequin-esq humans beings placed in front of a super strong ring flash to emphasize every last plastic looking detail on the subjects face. Sure there is an artificial nature to what these people do and of course there is a ridiculousness to it all when put in context of wider issues, but so what. It’s just like pointing out that it’s all a bit camp. Everybody knows that! I just feel that as photographers we need to work harder to make work less about “oh look at that thing/person/freak” and more about “shit, I hadn’t thought about it like that”.

RANTS!

With all that has been going on recently I totally forgot to write up anything about my recent two man show exhibition in Blackpool. There is no Blood was a collaborative show with fellow Chemical Tea Room member and good friend Graham Hallam. The show was brought together by curator and director of the Supercolider, Tom Ireland, Blackpool. Supercolider is an independently run space offering emerging local artists the opportunity to showcase some work. Tom spotted our work in an open submissions week at the Grundy gallery -Blackpool- and asked us if we would like to put on a show, we happily agreed.

We decided on 6 pieces each from our current work “Our aim is to survive” and “Heel” I have discussed in length my work on this blog previously so I will not go through it all again. Heel however is an examination into the relationship between humans and animals, in particular the varying relationships we have with dogs. I’ll let Graham’s artist statement say the rest….

“Heel is a developed study of the relationship between canine and humans. It examines how this complex relationship allows for perfect training and breeding. These images explore the partnerships between a set of Hound Trailers and Gun Dogs handlers.”

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The exhibition culminated in the opening night and as is usually the way with these things, very little happens after that. However the experience of getting the work printed, mounted and laminated -in a matter of days by the way- and the initial build up was all invaluable experience. We managed to secure a few contacts and everybody who came enjoyed the work and enjoyed the night so you can’t ask for much more really.

Next step, hopefully a collaborative Chemical Tea Room exhibition in Preston.

Just a quick post to mention the recent formation of a photographic collective called Chemical Tea Room. This collective brings together four photographers, Myself -Brian J Morrison-, Rob Rusling, Victoria Haydn and Graham Hallam.  Our aim at the moment is not totally clarified. However we hope to promote our new photo art through out the U.K by creating awareness of those individuals who have not yet had the opportunity to do so. We are currently awaiting confirmation of our first group exhibition in Preston, so watch this space and the website for more details.

So I briefly mentioned that I was short listed for an open submissions publication opportunity for Source Photographic review. Well, I was delighted to find out a few days ago that Our Aim is To survive has been selected for the July issue.

It really is a strange feeling as after the interview in Bradford -with one of my photography idols, John Duncan- I was certain it wasn’t going to happen. The interview was the most critical review the work and I have ever encountered. I came away from it feeling negative and disheartened. It was the first time anyone had ever said anything bad about the work, I had received nothing but good complements up until that point. I suppose what I am trying to say is that it’s really easy to get carried away with what your peers and lectures say about work we are making. What we all need to do as creatives is continually challenge ourselves and remember that it’s one thing getting good grades but it’s a whole other ball game getting on in the “real” world, in whatever capacity that may be.

Anyway I just want to take this opportunity to thank some people for all there advice, listening to me moan and groan and for just generally being amazing people. I am blessed to have such great people around me. So in no particular order.

Sarah Eyre
Mishka Henner
Stuart Whipps
Rob Rusling
Victoria Haydn
Graham Hallam

THANK YOU.