“The decision as to when to photograph, the actual click of the shutter, is partly controlled by the outside, by the flow of life, but it also comes from the mind and heart of the artist. The photograph is his vision of the world and expresses, however subtly, his values and convictions.” Paul Strand, 1976, […]
Category: Photographers
John Myers – The End of Industry
I have already expressed my deep admiration and liking for the photography of John Myers. Almost everything I have done over the last 12 months shows his influence. The End of Industry is the third and final volume of his work published by RRB books a few weeks ago and it completes his catalogue raisonné. […]
Nick Hedges
Nick Hedges was born in 1943, a decade after such photojournalists and street photographers as Don McCullin and Shirley Baker and a decade before the ‘independents’ such as Martin Parr and Daniel Meadows. This may explain, in part, why he is so often overlooked as he does not fall easily into either of the two […]
Bernd and Hilla Becher
The incursion and subsequent dominance of the ‘industrial’ as a template if not an ideal in domestic architecture is usually associated with the work of Le Corbusier (1887-1965) and is sometimes reduced to his often quoted remark, that “Une maison est une machine-à-habiter.” (Le Corbusier, 1923, Vers une architecture.) – ‘a house is a machine […]
Robert Adams
Adams was born in New Jersey in 1937 and moved to Wheat Ridge, a suburb of Denver, Colorado, when he was 15. In 1956, he began to study English Literature at the University of Redlands, Southern California. Adams’ later writing reflects his deep appreciation of modern literature, particularly his affection for T.S. Eliot. In 1963, […]
John Myers: Landscapes without incident
John Myers grew up in Bradford and studied fine art, print making and sculpture in Newcastle between 1963-67. He went on to teach at Stourbridge College of Art and later at the University of Wolverhampton. Starting in 1973, partly as a way of getting to know Stourbridge, Myers took photographs of his new home town. […]
The Ashington District Star
The aim of the Ashington District Star project was “to inspire a new group of photographers and artists, of all ages and abilities, to look at Ashington today and creatively document the area and its community.” (Evaluation Report, 2015). Ashington is one of the largest towns in Northumberland and developed around its pit which opened in […]
Andrew Newman: The Great British (Part 2)
People and Power The project published as The Great British in 1979, was developed jointly by The Sunday Times and the National Portrait Gallery. Newman was invited to come to the UK to photograph 75 or so ‘celebrities’ who would, in the opinion of those making the selection, be remembered 50 years hence. Most of […]
Arnold Newman: The Great British (Part 1)
People and Places One of the most obvious weaknesses in my last project, Afon Lwyd, was the absence of people. In part, this was an honest reflection of the area, especially during the day when the streets seemed as empty as the open hills. But the towns and villages were not empty; behind the curtains, […]
Tony Ray-Jones
Although I have been Martin Parr enthusiast for a long time, until recently I hadn’t come across Tony Ray-Jones, who Parr acknowledges as one of his most important influences. In his biography on British Photography Ray-Jones’ work is described as a personalised blend of ‘compassion, curiosity and irony.’ He said of his own work; I […]
