Photo Show – The Age of Anti-Ageing by Stewart Home and Chris Dorley-Brown at The Function Room London

Becoming (M)other, Photo Chris Dorley-Brown

In a culture obsessed with the aesthetic rather than the fitness results of exercise, Anti-Ageing is more effectively achieved via digital manipulation than beauty products! From the press release

Stewart Home and Chris Dorley-Brown bring the past and the present together in The Age of Anti-Ageing which opens tonight and runs until 6 November in The Function Room. The Function Room hosts exhibitions and events in an upstairs room as the guests of the landlady of The Cock Tavern, and is run by Anthony Auerbach and Marlene Haring, with Dunya Kalantery. The latest exhibition comprises of two sets of digitally-manipulated composite family portraits merging mother and son, then and now, fiction and fact.

Becoming (M)other (set of 8 photographs, pigment giclée prints, each 584 × 690 mm)
“In 1966 Carla Hopkins took a series of fashion photographs of Julia Callan-Thompson, a club hostess who was hoping to become a model and movie actress. Julia landed a bit of film extra work and did press ads for products such as Max Factor lipstick but was soon devoting herself to a full time exploration of alternative realities in the company of such luminaries as Alex Trocchi, William Burroughs and Marianne Faithfull. In 2004, Julia’s son Stewart Home was photographed by Chris Dorley Brown imitating the poses from his mother’s 1966 modelling portfolio. A selection of the two sets of photographs were then morphed together to create a composite image of Julia at the age of twenty-two and her son Stewart aged 42.

The Age of Anti-Ageing. Photo Chris Dorley-Brown

“The Age of Anti-Ageing, 2014 (set of 8 photographs, pigment giclée prints, each 584 × 690 mm)
In 2004 Stewart Home was photographed by Chris Dorley Brown imitating poses from photographs in his mother’s 1966 modelling portfolio. More recently, after noticing books with titles such as The Green Pharmacy: Anti-Ageing Prescriptions and The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible lying around in the flats of friends, Stewart Home and Chris Dorley Brown decided to repose their 2004 restaged photographs a decade on. The photographs from 2004 and 2014 were then morphed together.

“Rationally the result should have been Stewart Home as he would have looked in 2005, but instead of this the morphs conjure up a timeless Stewart Home. Anti-Ageing books and products have become big business among the baby-boomer generation, but photographic manipulation makes them superfluous. In a culture obsessed with the aesthetic rather than the fitness results of exercise, Anti-Ageing is more effectively achieved via digital manipulation than beauty products!” From the press release

The show is curated by Clare Carolin

Upstairs at The Cock Tavern,
23 Phoenix Road,
London NW1 1HB
open: when the pub is open
admission: free

Photo Stroll LOOK13 Liverpool International Photography Festival Pt 1 – Rankin’s Alive: In the Face of Death

The second edition of LOOK13 Liverpool International Festival (17 May -15 June 2013) opened in May and closed this weekend, but you can still catch some of  the exhibitions taking place in Liverpool.

In collaboration with some of Liverpoolʼs well-known museums and galleries, LOOK/13 presented “a diverse programme of contemporary and historical exhibitions” that includes new work by the portrait photographer Rankin, Alive: In the Face of Death (until 15 September) at the Walker Art Gallery in a show in which he “sets out to explore and challenge our perceptions of death”; rarely-seen early photographs by Martin Parr and Tom Wood in Every Man and Woman is a Star (until 18 August), and Double Take: Portraits from the Keith Medley archive (15 September). Bringing together influential and established photographers, presented alongside international emerging talent, LOOK/13 explored ideas of subjectivity and selfhood, based around the question, ʻwho do you think you are?ʼ.

Today’s post is a Photo Stroll through, Alive: In the Face of Death – a slick offering encompassing a diverse range of photographic approaches to the subject of death, which will also be the subject of a BBC2 Culture Show documentary this summer. The Walker Art Gallery is impressive and the space given over to the show is substantial – there’s even a wall for visitors to record their responses to the show with coloured post-it notes and details of The Dying Matters coalition, an organisation that seeks to encourage more open discussion around dying, death, and bereavement.

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Alongside portraits of those who are terminally ill, or who have faced death, are photographs of people whose business is death  – from a gravedigger and the only UK maker of death masks, to a studio where the ashes of a loved one can be incorporated into cremation tattoos. Rankin’s own responses to the subject feature too, reflected in a series of self portrait, as well as in his ‘life’ masks, including the one captioned, Michael Jackson, which caused some confusion.

From skulls – whether they are Vanitas, Day of the Dead, Damien Hirst or Salvador Dali-influenced ones – to ‘life’ masks, Rankin hones in on familiar symbols of death, borrows heavily from them and then offers back his collection of works beautifully packaged. His heart-shaped display Anne + Roy is a tribute to his now dead parents and the variously-sized photos of his parents mirrors the ongoing fashion in contemporay photography for the vernacular, the personal archive and the family album. Death is an emotive, and often gloomy, subject but in Alive: In the Face of Death, Rankin celebrates life.

Photo Fun – Intimate Portraits Near and Far Over a Century

Barry Adamson, © photo by Barry Adamson

Anne Gavin and Miranda Gavin, photographer unknown. 1965

Olive Bevis, photographer unknown, circa 1910.

It’s been one hell of a week. A Siberian Front hit Brighton and everything turned white and came to a stand still for a couple of days. Work got in the way of being able to post regularly and blog life took a back seat. Until today.

So, I thought I’d ease myself back into the blogosphere with some intimate monotone portraits spanning 1910 to 2013. It shouldn’t be hard to guess the years.

Thanks to Barry Adamson, who is currently on tour with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds; to my lovely mum for allowing me to share this studio portrait of her with me (the gormless one); and to my maternal great grandmother, Olive Bevis, who I never met but who loved a good read.

Enjoy.

Outside Focus – Voices of the People: Man Ray Portraits opens at The National Portrait Gallery

OUTSIDE FOCUS – VOICES OF THE PEOPLE
This year I’ll be inviting contributors new to photography to review some photo shows to get a different perspective. Today’s post is by third-year journalism student Kerrie Braithwaite, who is new to photography and has written the following review of Man Ray – Portraits on show at The National Portrait Gallery. I also asked Kerrie to do some Vox Pops (Vox populi – interviews with members of the general public).

MAN RAY: PORTRAITS AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
The National Portrait Gallery is currently exhibiting a comprehensive collection of Man Ray’s surreal photography until the 27 May.

Le Violon d’Ingres, 1924 by Man Ray
Museum Ludwig Cologne, Photography Collections (Collection Gruber)
© Man Ray Trust / ADAGP © Copy Photograph Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln

Although mostly known as a painter, this collection shows the development of Man Ray’s photography in the early 19th century, in chronological order based on the places where he was living. The show is curated in a way that allows the audience to have an insight into the photographer’s life through looking at his technique, style and subjects.

Henry Crowder, 1928 by Man Ray
Collection du Centre Pompidou, Mnam/Cci, Paris, AM 1994-394 (463)
© Man Ray Trust / ADAGP, Paris © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN / image Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI

Man Ray Self-Portrait with Camera, 1932 by Man Ray
The Jewish Museum, New York, Purchase: Photography Acquisitions Committee Fund, Horace W. Goldsmith Fund, and Judith and Jack Stern Gift, 2004-16. Photo by Richard Goodbody, Inc © 2008 Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2012 © Photo The Jewish Museum

There are portraits of many creative people, including writers, poets, actors and artists, such as Mina Loy, Jane Heap, and Gertrude Stein, some of whom he met during his involvement with both the Dada and Surrealist movements.

Although my lack of photographical knowledge leaves me with many questions as to Man Ray’s technique and purpose when it comes to the style of his portraits, the exhibition gives the audience an insight into his development of solarisation techniques and photograms as well as other photographic processes of the time. Man Ray’s love of photographing women is evident along with his portraits of other creatives, all of whom he manages to portray in a way that suggests the essence of the character of the person.

Solarised Portrait of Lee Miller, c.1929 by Man Ray The Penrose Collection © Man Ray Trust/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2012, courtesy The Penrose Collection. Image courtesy the Lee Miller Archives

Catherine Deneuve, 1968 by Man Ray
Private Lender
© Man Ray Trust ARS-ADAGP / DACS

Towards the end of the show, a room is dedicated to Man Ray’s work in Hollywood where he continued to work with his surrealist style of photography. Some of the portraits are small , wallet-sized photos from the 1930s as though from the pocket of the artist himself, others take up an entire free-standing wall. Much of Man Ray’s portraits in this show cannot be found online, which makes the exhibition that much more worth the visit and that much more interesting due to its authenticity.

Juliet,1947 by Man Ray
Collection Timothy Baum, New York
© Man Ray Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP/DACS

VOX POPS
Carol: “I was quiet interested in the French poet Paul Eluard and I love the portraits of Jean Cocteau. Man Ray manages to capture what you imagine his character might have been. The show is arranged chronologically which is interesting because you can see the development of his work.”

Roy: “My wife wanted to see the exhibition and I came along. I’m interested in photography so I’m looking at it with a technical eye. Some of the earlier photographs seem rather amateurish, although the solarized prints are, technically, a bit more intriguing. The photographs are very small and it’s interesting to see portraits of familiar names, However, I’m surprised he made a living out of it.”

Bryher: “My friend recommended the exhibition and although I’m familiar with other Surrealists, I haven’t actually seen any of Man Ray’s work. I like the portraits of the other surrealist artists who he was friends with. The way the show is curated, at times, you’re kind of jostling to see some of the pictures.”

Mark: “I know Man Ray’s work and I did a little research before I flew into London. I really like the portrait of Erik Satie. When I think about Satie’s work, this photo really captures his persona. It’s a good collection of portraits and it seems pretty definitive in the scope of the exhibition.”

Stephanie: “I’m seeing a lot of shows today and I do know of Man Ray. I like the photographs of Marcel Duchamp, it’s nice to see them in real life and there’s a lot here to see.”

Post by Kerrie Braithwaite.

Photo Shows – Debby Besford’s series The Boudoir of the Burlesque Performer on show at The Queen of Hungary Norwich

There is no particular order to the photographs. It is intended that the viewer spend time looking at the details of each interior, finding clues that only scratch the surface of the performer’s true identity. Debby Besford, The Boudoir of the Burlesque Performer

All photos © Debby Besford

Before I get accused of being London-centric, I’m delighted to let you know that photographer Debby Besford, who I met three years ago in Arles where I first saw this project, is exhibiting work from her series The Boudoir of the Burlesque Performer at theThe Queen of Hungary (what a fitting name) in Norwich. The show is open from 12-5pm and runs until 8 July. The work is also available as a book on Blurb.

In Besford’s artist’s statement she notes that: “These documentary photographs show the private interiors of the performers’ bedrooms. They play on the idea of what is real and what is fictional. The home-based domestic interiors are in themselves a theatre where the lives of the performers take on a different persona.

“Collaboration with these women has been a journey of immense trust and respect. I did not seek to deconstruct the female performer stereotype or their bedrooms but to explore how these women have taken on total responsibility for the acceptance of their image as well as the fantasies linked to public representation of their ‘acted bodies’.

“My work investigates a complexity of issues about the representation of the contemporary female, with emphasis on the Burlesque Stage Performer. This naturally led onto questioning both the idea of play between photographer, private space, intimacy, fantasy and the real, as well as the mystique of the performer.” From Besford’s artist statement

To see and read more…