We had a fantastic evening launching our collective at @photofringe and exhibiton ‘Interwoven Legacies: A postcolonial dialogue’ at @phoenix_artspace . It was such a joy to connect with old friends and new, sharing our new project and engaging in meaningful conversations with everyone who attended.
A big thank you to the Photo Fringe team for organising the event and to @sunilphoto for fostering ongoing dialogue and collaboration. Stay tuned—there’s more to come, and we’re excited to share further insights into our research practices soon.
#photography #photofringe #photographyexhibition #emiccollective #postcolonial
An excerpt from Teju Cole’s book ‘Black Paper’ (2021), quoting Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer through his collections of poems ‘Night Visions’.
“It is as if my fives senses were hooked up to some other creature
That moves with the same stubborn flow
As the runners in white circling the track as the night comes misting in”
As Cole writes in response “There is a sense of helplessness in Tranströmer, the sense of being pulled along by forces external to yourself”.
Viewing recent footage from the Genocide in Gaza and Jonathan Glazer’s recent film ‘The Zone of Interest’, this cord feels strikingly relatable. On the 29th February 104 civilians were killed and over 750 wounded in Gaza trying to access food aid in Gaza city - the thermal drone footage released by the IDF shows these civilians as they are fired upon - indiscriminately. In The Zone of Interest, a young person is seen planting apples by the tracks and bushes for Jewish inmates starved at Auchwitz concentration camp in the middle of the night. Within both situations I found a striking connection with both victims of genocide.
It feels in between these two images and pieces of footage there are no years separating them, they feel stringingly timeless. One victim holding out what they can offer the other trying to grasp any remnant of it, in the mist of darkness and helpless longing.
As we are watching and bear witness to atrocities and a genocide happening in front of our eyes on such a scale, with the intricacies, sensitivities and fragility of life feeling harder and harder to find I urge you to read Teju’s book. There is detail in the darkness and it’s important that we look closely to let it reveal itself to us.
Images from:
Black Paper (2021) - @_tejucole
IDF released drone image (2024)
’The Zone of Interest’ (2024)
‘The Sunny Side of the Island’
Images from my last project. Excited to be looking forward to the next. All in good time.
1. Room named ‘Empire’ - A conference room named ‘Empire’, within a hotel taking the name of the first American colonialists on the island ‘The Loyalist’ in the city of Summerside that Harry Compton’s son Thomas Compton named.
2/3. Future Harry Compton’s were MLA’s, legislatures and mayors of the city. In the same office of this portrait is a picture of Harry Alfred Compton who was Mayor of Summerside. Hauntingly there, being the present Harry Compton brought many different feelings, which as I am writing this I still find hard to describe. A town, strangely familiar to myself and at some same time completely estranged.
4. Summerside Signage - Entrance to the City
Thank you to @i_make_books for helping me produce this 8x10” Portfolio Box last year with a foiled cover and protective sleeve. In other news I will be doing a selection of print editions from my project ‘The Sunny Side of the Island’ if you are interested please contact via E-Mail or Dm.
Having been asked a few weeks back how I approach portraiture, I decided to jot down a few points (with my incredibly illegible handwriting) that I believe enable me to approach image-making, particularly through portraiture. The list below, for me, facilitates the creation of compelling narratives and connections. I'm curious to learn what works for other photographers and visual artists. Thoughts and reflections are welcome.
For me:
1. Research and Collect - The more thorough, the better. Find artists and photographers whose work resonates with you. Be inspired. This can add layers to the story and make an image profound. My practice is informed by past historical structures and their reverberation in the present.
2. Authenticity - Tell your story. Small, personal stories can carry broad meanings. Be a storyteller, sharing something unique. Create because you care, not to imitate someone else. Draw inspiration from beyond photography; that's what makes it interesting.
3. Intentionality - Ask yourself: Why are you showing this? What is the purpose of the portrait— the act of creating it or the final result? It's okay not to have a clear image in mind initially.
4. Show don't tell - Trust the viewer, the third person. Keep portraits within reach, not in the viewer's lap; the audience is the other person in the room. Not every image needs to make immediate sense; they can be part of a broader narrative. Retain tension in portraiture.
5. Make Imagery, don’t take it - Photography is powerful but must be used judiciously; it comes with many issues. Less is more. I prefer to think and create images slowly. Embrace mistakes, be patient—there's no such thing as a good or bad image.
In the coming year I am looking to create a workshop session programme tying portraiture and story telling. Lecturers and teachers out there please get in touch I’d love to come and chat to students and let’s keep learning together.
It was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to be invited to speak about my practice and process in making portraiture by the @nationalportraitgallery as one of this year’s #PhotoPrize photographers. I offered a ‘Top Tip,’ which, for me, is ‘Showing Not Telling’—enabling the image to be within reach but not in the lap of the viewer. I am looking forward to another year ahead, and if you haven’t already, go down and check out the show, which will be on display until the 25th of February 2024. Stay well, and I wish everyone a peaceful start to the New Year.
Honoured to be able to share this portrait of Tanner and Baby Eleanor from my series ‘The Sunny Side of the Island’ at the @nationalportraitgallery as part of the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, wonderfully curated by @sabinajaskotgill which will be open to the public from this Thursday in London until the 25th February
Incredible to be able to be involved in the exhibition with amazing artists and photographers, both with those exhibiting and not. Also I would like to thank those who I was able to spend the opening night with, those who made the evening happen and to Dave Naiker for the wonderful print.
Recent highlights of exhibits I’ve been lucky to see finally in person. Hell yeah. Plus some nice surprises
‘Capturing the moment’ - Tate Modern
1. Alice Neel - Puerto Rican Boys on 108th Street 1955
2. Lucien Freud - The Painters Mother 1973
3. Thomas Struth - Chiesa dei Frari, Venice 1995
‘Re-Sistering’ - Barbican
4. @chloedewemathews - From series ‘Caspian’ 2010-2016
5. @chloedewemathews - From series ‘Caspian’ 2010-2016
6. LaToya Ruby Frazier - From series ‘Flint is Family’ 2016-2020
7. Francesca Woodman - Untitled 1975-1978
And a few works from Frieze
8. Deana Lawson - Approaching Ivanpah 2023, @davidkordanskygallery
9. @poppymjones - Last Days 2023, @herald_st
Plus a scratch card which I thought I had won a camera. I did not
Looking through old and new books that live in my mind rent free and have been an influence on my current practice
1-2: Sleeping by the Mississippi - Alec Soth @littlebrownmushroom | @mack_books
3-4: Delta - Camilla De Maffei @camilla_demaffei | @edicionesanomalas
5-6: The Lottery - Melissa Catenese @melissa_catanese | @witty_books
7-8: Grey Cobalt - Felicia Honkasalo @feliciahonkasalo | @jointsloose
9-10: Photo Fiction, a Non-Standard Aesthetics - François Laruelle | Univocal Publishing
(Excuse my scribbling at the end)
‘The Sunny Side of the Island’
Ivan Compton
462620.6°N, 634814.2°W.
‘It was said Harry Compton turned, went into the house removed all the doorknobs, tied them in a string bag, returned to the outdoors, handed his wife the bag with the knobs, then immediately he set fire to the new dwelling and all the furnishings
This is the last piece I found of the house
When I ploughed the field as a boy
We played in the foundations
Felled the birch that lined the field
The Pavillion is no more,
just the why remains’
Was a privilege to be able to see Evelyn Hofer’s collection at the @thephotographersgallery . Her work has been an early inspiration of mine and has been a true reference in how I work and how many others try to approach colour photography. Her work was inspired by the New Objectivity movement from Weimar Germany in the 1920’s, which became a reaction from painters such as Christian Schad and Otto Dix and photographers alike such as August Sander who pivoted against the expressionist style in a ‘matter of fact’ way. If you haven’t seen it, make sure you do.
