Saturday, 4 March 2017

Study Task 5 - 'Strange and Familiar' at Manchester Art Gallery

Last weekend I visited Manchester Art Gallery to see 'Strange and Familiar', a photography exhibition containing the works from international photographers (including big hitter such as Cartier-Bresson) documenting Britain through the ages.

Curated by renowned British photographer Martin Parr, the collection of work on display aims to discuss The United Kingdom's identity over the years, documenting the quirks, oddity, mundanities and everything in between that make up everyday British life. What is perhaps the most interesting thing about this exhibition is that all the photographers are from other parts of the world; they are visitors, 'outsiders' with fresh eyes witnessing the lives of the diverse range of people that have inhabited this nation from the 30's onwards.

These photographers have sought out and responded to the many cliches and stereotypes of Britain, but they have also delved deeper into what gives this nation its identity, to British people as well as foreign lands.

At face value, this exhibition was very interesting to me just to take in and see all these amazing photographs from some of the greats, and some more unknown artists, in person, to appreciate the images in physical form as opposed to on a screen. I am very interested about photography, and the way you read an image I believe inherently changes (for the better) when viewed in person. You are afforded the time to stand and appreciate an image for longer and to really break it down. In regards to what we have been learning in visual language, I couldn't help but notice the techniques used by the photographers to capture their images; composition, colour, view point, all are techniques that can be learnt from photography and applied to illustration and drawing.

Another appealing thing about this exhibition was the social, and educational aspects. I visited with my family, and seeing how they all read and responded to each photograph differently was fascinating. My dad who is a very passionate and active photographer himself saw the images differently than how my Mum did, who is equally as creative but just in different mediums. However they both stood and reminisced about their younger years looking at a photograph depicting the inside of an old sweet shop taken by Jim Dow in 1983. There is value in learning about how other people view and read images and to compare this to how I read an image and evaluate the reasons for each. There is also immense value in listening to my parents stories and memories,something which I cherish the opportunity to do so.

I felt very inspired after leaving the gallery. Pushed to further pursue my passion for the medium, I also rediscovered the value and importance of documentation of today, as the everyday things that make up our lives. Photography has a place in documenting this but drawing and illustration also has a need and purpose within this. The work that we create today will possibly be seen in 30, 40, 50 years time and will serve as a time capsule of 2017. The way future generations will view the world as we know it at this particular stage in history will be formed and influenced by the creative work made today in response to today's culture, social situations and the experiences creative people are having right now. This industry and the work we are producing is very important, if only for this purpose.

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