The Stephen Gill‘s solo exhibition ‘myeyefellout’ taking place at The Photographers’ Gallery in London. The British photographer Stephen Gill (1971, Bristol) constantly tests the limits of the photographic medium. He can be described simultaneously as a documentarist, anthropologist, alchemist, or a sociologist. His aim is to “bottle, preserve and attempt to make images that respond to and reflect the times in which we live.” Drawing together six of many iconic series created to date during his 28 year practice, myeyefellout reflects on the artist’s lifelong fascination with nature and his dialogue with the London’s borough of Hackney.
On occasion Gill used a plastic camera to help retain the essence of place without relying on enhanced detail or clarity to describe, before turning to bolder and more experimental working methods and manual interventions. These included part-processing negatives in energy drinks (Best Before End), leaving photos to decompose in the ground (Buried) and utilizing pond water during different stages (Co-existence). Emerging out of these processes were new and complex compositions as Gill gave space and encouragement for the place or subject to breathe and speak for itself and reveal essential details while transforming the often austere scenery.
A highlight of the exhibition is the award winning series Hackney Flowers 2003-2007, in which Gill layered his photographs from the area with seeds, flowers, berries and objects collected from the local area. He then re-photographed them, carefully building up complex multi-layered collages that possess an ephemeral quality, stretching the viewer’s imagination with their unique aesthetic.
In Talking to Ants 2009-2013 he placed insects, foliage, dust and debris directly into the body of the camera prior to loading the film. These image ingredients became superimposed on city-scenes and portraits, the forms casting tactile shapes and silhouettes that both disrupt and melt into the landscapes depicted. The photographs emit a confusion of scale and bear small traces of the environment they were created in, the resulting images expressing Gill’s reaction to the place itself rather than creating a definition of it. Gill says, “I hoped through this method to encourage the spirit of the place to clamber aboard the images and be encapsulated in the film emulsion, like objects embedded in amber. My ultimate aim was to evoke the feeling of the area at the same time as describing its appearance, the subject being both in front and behind the camera lens at the same moment. I like to think of the series as in-camera photograms in which conflict or harmony has been randomly formed in the final image depending on where the objects landed.”
Hackney Kisses presents a collection of photographs reprinted from thousands of 1950s negatives bought by Gill on eBay. Depicting East Enders on their wedding day, Gill selected snaps capturing the bride and groom’s first kiss. Through reimagining this traditional moment, Gill re-contextualised the narrative of the images as one continuous kiss.
Alongside the fine art prints, the exhibition also includes an overview of Gill’s internationally celebrated publications to date. In 2005 Gill founded his own publishing house Nobody. Gill was a forerunner and set the stage for what has become in recent years a huge movement in self-publishing books of photography.
EXHIBITION
Myeyefellout
Stephen Gill
From March 18th to May 8th, 2016
The Photographer’s Gallery
16-18 Ramillies Street,
London W1F 7LW
United Kingdom
T: + 44 (0)20 7087 9300
Opening times: Mon – Sat, 10:00 – 18:00, Thu, 10:00 – 20:00, Sun 11:00 – 18:00 Admission: Free
[email protected]
http://www.thephotographersgallery.org.uk
http://www.stephengill.co.uk
