The Brighton Photo Biennial is a big deal. If you hadn’t clocked that before then the fact that Martin Parr is curating this year ought to hammer the point home. For those that don’t divide their non-Flickr time between Colourstream, Zoingimage and Clocktower Cameras, Mr Parr is one of Britain’s most important photographers, so it might come as a slight disappointment that he isn’t showing any of his own work. But as much as he’s a photojournalist, he’s also an enthusiastic curator and chronicler of images and artefacts. He collects boring postcards, Saddam Hussein watches and even big bags of crisps. The man is bemused and interested in modern life, making him perfect for joining Brighton’s own Photoworks in putting together these five exhibitions under the title New Documents.
STRANGE & FAMILIAR: THREE VIEWS OF BRIGHTON
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery It makes sense that Parr – a photographer with a real sense of place – would have Brighton-based works as a key part of his offering, and the photographers he and Photoworks have chosen are hugely exciting. Hackney-based Stephen Gill literally put the city into his camera for Outside In, shoving items found on our streets – including a false eyelash, seaweed and fish tails – right onto the film. Japanese snapper Rinko Kawauchi meanwhile captured the swirling starlings around the pier. Best of all, Alec Soth came to town to shoot… Oh, actually he didn’t – he got busted without a work permit on the way over, but cleverly got his seven-year-old daughter to shoot the images. Knowing Parr’s love of the vernacular that probably excited the curator even more, and certainly promises to be an interesting view of our city.
QUEER BRIGHTON
Lighthouse Obviously a photographer so interested in society would want to peer into the gay community Brighton is proud to call its own, and here Martin Parr has turned to Americans Molly Landreth and Zoe Strauss. The new work is split between the normal, everyday life of Brighton’s LGBT residents, an exploration of Pride and some straight up portraits (see our contents page for one of the finest images).
A NIGHT IN ARGENTINA
University of Brighton Gallery Getting away from Brighton, Alejandro Chaskielberg and Esteban Pastorino Diaz provide what might be the most traditionally beautiful work of the Biennial. Both photographers shoot after dark, using the light of the moon, Chaskielberg adding flash to direct our focus without taking away from the magical atmosphere of his nocturnal vignettes. Pastorino Diaz meanwhile uses long exposures to make his architectural shots look luminous and peculiar. Both provide a new way of seeing the world, which must sure have been what caught Parr’s eye.
NEW WAYS OF LOOKING
Old Co-op Building Though his induction into the world’s premier photo-journalism agency Magnum caused huge controversy, documentary photography is exactly what Parr does, albeit with less humanism and a more satirical edge. So a group exhibition of on that subject seems apt, with Parr digging deep across the world finding photographers from Algeria, China, India, Mexico, The Netherlands, Senegal, South Africa and the USA. Elements of portraiture, landscape, staged tableaus, urban life and the night-time shoot are promised, all with a new edge.
THE HOUSE OF VERNACULAR
Fabrica Parr has always been fascinated by vernacular photography – photos viewed as art despite not being taken as such – most famously in his Autoportrait series, where he commissions portraits from odd studios. Here he finds seven new sources of commercial and non-professional photographers producing something special. Included are amateur family snapshots from America, photos of litterbins from the design Council Picture Library, and shots of the insides of luxury private jets from the 60s and 70s. Expect to scratch your head the first time you see some of it but inexplicably finding yourself coming back for more.
WORDS BY JAMES KENDALL
PHOTO BY VIVIANE SASSEN
