Portrait Salon

David Severn

David Severn’s portrait ‘Ethan and his Mum’ (below) was selected for Portrait Salon 2013 and is part of a body of work that comprises two commissions by Dance4 and The Renewal Trust to photograph young people in Nottingham who are dancers with differing levels of ability.

Ethan with his Mum after Ethan’s first dance class at The Chase community centre, St Ann’s estate, Nottingham

‘The portrait that was selected for Portrait Salon 13, “Ethan and his Mum”, was shot after Ethan’s first ballet class at The Chase community centre on the St Ann’s estate. Ethan had visibly taken to the dance session and tried with impressive enthusiasm to perfect the positions he’d been taught. I approached Ethan and his Mum as they were leaving the centre and we set up the portrait on their walk home. I wanted to convey Ethan’s zealous spirit, so asked him to connect with the camera and demonstrate some of what he’d learnt. His Mum stood behind, proudly placing her hand on Ethan’s shoulder.’

Savannah, a participant in a series of outreach workshops with Birmingham Royal Ballet, presenting a ballet pose in the St Ann’s area of Nottingham.

Street dancers sat in the stalls of the Theatre Royal, Nottingham.

‘I was keen to make the portraits in various locations within the city such as the street, the community centre or the theatre, reflecting a shared community and sense of place. From young people taking their very first dance class to those with years of experience, these portraits depict a common interest among young people of diverse social backgrounds. Rather than becoming distracted by the artificiality of performance or capturing dramatic movement, these photographs present the quieter, more personal moments of creative expression and reveal the self-actualization of youth.’

Jasmine, a keen ballet dancer, outside the Sycamore community centre on the St. Ann’s estate, Nottingham.

Dancer resting between rehearsals, Nottingham Contemporary.

‘Many of the young people I photographed are from the St Ann’s area of Nottingham, a neighbourhood that is still being affected by the collapse of the local manufacturing industry and scores poorly on government measures of deprivation. During the project, Birmingham Royal Ballet ran outreach workshops at The Chase community centre in St Ann’s. I spent time getting to know the participants’ individual personalities and documenting their discovery of dance. It was striking to witness the level of engagement in the ballet sessions from the young people involved, breaking down stereotyped ideas of the art form being an elitist interest not meant for them. I made several portraits responding to the relationship between the perception of ballet and the built environment of the St Ann’s estate, posing subjects in their newly learnt ballet positions in front of social housing, shopping precincts and the community centre.’

Young people during tuition with Dance4’s Centre for Advanced Training programme

Teenagers warming up before a dance class and looking out over Wellington Circus, Nottingham.

‘The social aspect of dance is also a significant theme in the work, exploring the bond between dancers both during practice and in downtime. The familiar adolescent story of inseparable friendships, budding romances, and evolving identities plays out through the images and touches more broadly on the adventurousness and heightened emotions of young people.’

Sharmell, a street dancer, on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Nottingham

Enok on his scooter before dance class at the Sycamore community centre in St. Ann’s, Nottingham

David Severn is a documentary and editorial photographer based in Nottingham, UK. His work is concerned with working class culture and the places associated with it, both historically and today. He is particularly interested in the relationship between people, work and landscape. His current project explores life within coalfield areas in the British Midlands. David’s photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally including at Renaissance Prize exhibition, Royal Photographic Society International Print Exhibition and Singapore International Photography Festival. He has worked on editorial assignments for numerous publications including FT Weekend Magazine, The Times and MONOCLE. Recently David was selected as a winner of the Magnum Photos “30 under 30” award, an international competition open to documentary photographers under 30 years of age covering social issues.

davidsevern.com

Twitter: @davidsevern

Instagram: davidsevern

James O Jenkins

Clare Hewitt

Eugenie

‘That night the blind man dreamt that he was blind.’ José Saramago.

Clare Hewitt’s portrait of Eugenie (below) was selected (and used on the cover of our publication) for Portrait Salon 2013.

‘I first started photographing Eugenie in 2011, around ten years after her life had been unexpectedly and abruptly changed by a stroke, which had left her severely visually impaired, unable to walk and talk, and with restricted memory. To this day she can’t be sure of her age.’

‘I was introduced to Eugenie through the Haringey Phoenix Group, a London based charity for blind and visually impaired people. I had approached them because I was keen to spend time with a person who had experienced one of my own fears, loss of sight.’

‘I visited Eugenie once a week for three and a half years and have observed many aspects of her self. The idea that Eugenie would not see my representation of her encouraged me to portray her as sensitively and transparently as possible, valuing all the time we spent together. In the end though, I could not help but make a body of work that is primarily my own emotional response to her adaptation. The work is a truth, whether it is hers, mine, or a blur of both.’

‘Through her own strength and the help of The Haringey Phoenix Group Eugenie’s condition has improved considerably, but her permanent visual damage and memory loss means she still struggles with the changes she has undergone.’

‘In one sense her life has become complicated, vulnerable and overcrowded with frustration. In another it is simple, repetitive and monotonous, an oiled routine. Either way it is far removed and excluded from the society she first lived in, with its warped ideals of beauty, strength and heroism. For her it is now a very different way of the same life.’

Clare Hewitt is a photographer based in London. After completing a degree in law, Clare returned to university to study photography. In 2011 her work was selected for Fresh Faced + Wild Eyed at the Photographers’ Gallery, and has since been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. She is regularly commissioned by various publications including The Independent Magazine and Oh Comely.

www.clarehewitt.co.uk
@clarehewitt_
Instagram: clare_hewitt

James O Jenkins

Phil Le Gal

Days of Mercy

Phil Le Gal’s portrait (below) was selected for Portrait Salon 2014 and is part of his work entitled ‘Days of Mercy’, a study of the area Brittany in France. Phil was born and lived in Brittany until he moved to London in 2003. He graduated with an MA at the London College of Communication in 2014.

‘Brittany is a land of many beliefs, cults and traditions. Successively the territory of Celts, Gauls, Romans, Bretons and finally Francs, the peninsula boasts a particularly important cultural heritage. With thousands of places of worship and religious relics scattered across the region, Christian Catholicism is the de facto religion in Brittany. The Celtic peninsula offers a very pious face to visitors, a construct built upon hundreds of years of pagan beliefs. One of the most prominent illustrations of this fact can be seen during the ceremonies of the Pardon (French for Forgiveness).’

‘Every year local Catholic saints are celebrated across the region in an eclectic mix of superstition, religion and rites of pagan origin. For hundreds of years on the same Sunday, relics of saints are paraded around towns, in a procession which goes on sometimes for most of the day. Every Pardon is unique but the general aim is to ask forgiveness and redemption for committed sins from a particular saint. Every saint is a patron for a specific profession (lawyers, sailors, etc), an activity (travellers/pilgrims or more recently motorcycle riders) and even some for animals.’

‘The bulk of the season happens between May and September. During that time, every Sunday sees the celebrations of a saint. This culminates with the most fervent moment around the 26th July when many Pardons are dedicated to Saint Anne, patron of Breton people. Christian Catholics celebrate their religion in many different displays of faith. This heady mixture of tradition, religion and paganism seen at Pardon ceremonies remains an unique occurrence within the Christendom still to date and only visible in Brittany.’

‘The project Days of Mercy attempts to decode the practice of ancient religious rituals deeply buried in the heart of brittany and equally to Breton’s psyche. It also tries to answer questions about the role and place of this ongoing traditions on today’s Breton’s culture as well as documenting and revealing the various forms that the Pardons can take. With a church congregation losing its appeal it is feared the next generation might not be able to perpetuate these century old practices.’

Phil Le Gal is a French documentary photographer who specialises in documentary, reportage and portraiture. Much of his practice stems from his interests in the contemporary social, environmental and globalisation issues. After training in photography at London Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design and later graduating with a Diploma in Arts and Design Digital Photography he has completed a Masters in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication.

phillegal.org

James O Jenkins

Michal Solarski

Hungarian Sea

Michal Solarski’s portrait (below) was selected for Portrait Salon 2012 and is part of his work entitled ‘Hungarian Sea’ which saw him revisit Lake Balaton in Hungary where he spent summer holidays as a child.

‘We were heading south. It was the most exciting time of every year. Luggage, fixed to the top of out tiny Fiat made the car look almost as high as it was long. There were three hundred miles to drive but for us it was almost an eternity. Three hundred miles could easly take more than one day if we happened to come accross nasty officers at the border, who would scrutinise our car inside out in case we were smuggling contrabands.’

‘Equipped with government-issued food vouchers and a little amount of pocket money in local currency, we were driving to a warm, colourful and pleasant place. For us, coming from sad, cold, and almost monochromatically grey Poland, it was like a window to the world. On arrival we found ourselves surrounded by a multitude of smells and colours. I would play endlessly on the beach with my sister and my parents. We would swim in the warm waters of the lake. For the next two weeks we would indulge in the holiday spirit until the day we had to make our way back home.’

‘The Hungarian Lake Balaton is the largest in Central Europe. As Hungary is landlocked, the lake is often called the ‘Hungarian Sea’. From the 1960s onwards Balaton became a major destination for ordinary working Hungarians as well as for those from the eastern side of the ‘Iron Curtain’ who were rewarded for their work in building socialism with a permit to travel across the border. As we could not dream of travelling to Spain, Italy or Greece, Balaton was the closest and most achievable destination for ordinary Poles to see ‘what’s out there’.’

‘My family and I were among the lucky ones who could go and spend holidays in what appeared to us a paradise. Twenty-odd years later, going through the pages of my family album, I found only one photograph of Balaton. It was a blurry picture of my sister and I, that was taken somewhere on one of the lake’s piers. This snapshot was the only reminiscence of six subsequent summers spent by the lake.’

‘These images are my attempt to create what my parents failed to do. I try to see the world through the eyes of a little boy who used to holiday there with his parents and sister over twenty years ago. Strolling among ruins of the glamorous, back in the day, concrete villas of Castro, Brezhnev and Honecker, the memories start to flood back. Balaton has hardly changed, it is almost exactly the same as I left it. Perhaps a bit more rusty, but the atmosphere remains the same. Only now for me it is no longer a paradise. I have grown and changed.’

Michal Solarski is a London based photographer. After graduating in Poland with a Masters in Politics, Solarski moved to London and studied at The London College of Communication where he earned an additional masters in Documentary Photography. He divides his professional career between advertising and his personal projects, travelling extensively between the UK and Eastern Europe where he produces the majority of his work. Most of his photography is strongly based on his own background and experiences, with a strong concentration on migration and memories. Solarski’s work has been widely exhibited (many group exhibitions in Europe, USA and Canada and his first solo show last year in Toronto) and published in many different publications including The Guardian, Time, GQ, Vanity Fair among others.

michalsolarski.com
@michalsolarski

James O Jenkins

Andrew Youngson

The Devil’s Garden

Andrew Youngson’s portrait of Mastoor Ali Atia (below) was selected for the first Portrait Salon in 2011 and is part of his work entitled ‘The Devil’s Garden’ documenting Bedouin communities living amidst Second World War minefields in Egypt’s Western Desert.

Mastoor Ali Attia (43) was injured at El Alamein in the early 1990s. He was dining in the desert with friends when their campfire triggered UXO buried beneath it. Mastoor lost his left arm, left eye and penis. His left leg is partially lame. After the explosion he was unconscious for one week and is now awaiting plastic surgery.

‘It is estimated that approximately 17 million unexploded anti-personnel and anti-tank mines; artillery shells; bombs dropped by aircraft and machine gun, small arms and mortar rounds remain beneath the sand.’

Negi Helal Khamis (39) was injured in 1998 at El Harabi when he and another man prepared a fire for lunch. After the explosion Negi was left deaf in one ear, blind in both eyes and with shrapnel injuries to his left arm. The other man was killed.

‘Official records of incidents involving UXO have not been kept until recently but it is believed thousands of Bedouin have been killed or injured since the end of the Second World War.’

Looking south into the desert from the Alexandria/Marsa Matrouh Road.

Fouad Abu Sake (67) picked up an object in the desert twenty years ago near Sidi And El Rahmen. When it exploded he lost his right arm above the elbow and was hit in the face by shrapnel. Fouadi’s older brother, Meftah was killed by a mine while walking in the desert in the early 1950s.

‘The term ‘Devil’s Gardens’ was first used by the German General Erwin Rommel to describe the box-like areas of minefields and barbed wire installed by Allied and Axis forces during the conflict.’

Saleh Beha (47) was found by scrap metal dealers after he stepped on a mine in the desert twenty years ago. Saleh bought his first artificial leg 4 or 5 years after the incident and now runs a small shop.

A boy walks in the desert south of El Alamein.

Rabeh Dawi Salem (40) stepped on an anti-personnel mine in 1986, leaving his left leg so badly damaged that it had to be amputated above the knee. Rabeh used to own an artificial leg but prefers to use a crutch.

Andrew Youngson is a London-based photographer and writer whose work explores the relationship between landscape and memory, specifically in conjunction with the long-term effects of armed conflict.

He has worked with UNICEF in Ethiopia; Al Haq in Palestine; SOS Sahel and Book Aid International in the UK; Bedouin communities affected by Second World War land minesin Egypt and unexploded ordnance contamination in Berlin.

After graduating with degree in Fine Art Andrew interned at Magnum Photos and has been working as a freelance photographer since 2006.

andrewyoungson.com
Twitter: @ayoungson
Instagram: @ayoungson

James O Jenkins

Lucy Levene

The Spaghetti Tree

Lucy Levene’s portrait ‘Family Portrait 1, St Francesca Cabrini Italian Church, Bedford, 2013′ (below) was selected for Portrait Salon 2013 and is part of her work entitled ‘The Spaghetti Tree’ about Italian communities in Bedford and Peterborough.

Family Portrait 1, St Francesca Cabrini Italian Church, Bedford, 2013

‘The Italian communities of Bedford & Peterborough formed in the 1950s as men were recruited from Southern Italy to supplement labour shortages in the local Brick industry. ‘The Spaghetti Tree’ is titled after the Panorama April fools day hoax documentary that aired on the BBC in 1957. At the time Britain was so unfamiliar with Italian culture that many were persuaded that spaghetti did indeed grow on trees. The Bedford & Peterborough communities have thrived over the years, however they have remained separate from the more financially established, older UK Italian communities of London & Scotland. These photos were taken between February 2013 and 2014 at Italian community events in both Bedford & Peterborough.’

Statue 2, The Sharnbrook Hotel, Bedford, 2013

Woman dancing, Tara & Vito’s wedding, Bedford, 2013

‘The project was my response to a commission from the 1000 Words Magazine Photography Award. The award was part of a larger initiative that was supported by the EU Cultural Programme. As such, the subject matter was very specific. The photographers involved were invited to make work that would contribute to an archive that explored and documented the migration that occurred in the decades after WWII, from Southern to Northern Europe.’

Orchids 1, St Francesca Cabrini Italian Church, Bedford, 2013

Woman with baby, St Francesca Cabrini Italian Church, Bedford, 2013

‘As an outsider to these communities I took up the position of community photographer, attending events and providing portraits as mementos. I was interested in demonstrations of ‘community’ and of ‘family’ being played out in front of the camera. The project deals with some of the problems inherent in taking a documentary approach. The series consists of 48 images, within which the repetition of particular people, themes and motifs aims to draw attention to the means of construction as well as to the passing of time. Caught moments, staged and interrupted portraits as well as interiors are given equal weight, lending the work a disparate, cyclical feel. Beyond the various constructs of what it means to be ‘Italian’, the conventions of portraiture and the Italian ideal of ‘la Bella Figura’, families discompose, revealing their dynamics. Individuals concede, betraying desires, insecurities and nostalgias. Frustrated by the perfect image and its hermetic surface, I took these images at just the wrong moment; looking for a disruption, ‘a crack that lets the light in’. Using flash and its blanket reveal, I attempt some form of objective democracy. Yet, sitting between construction and documentary, as ever this work is highly controlled and constructed.’

Girls dancing, ICA Valentine’s Dance, Peterborough, 2014

Portrait 1, Prima Generazione Club, Bedford, 2013

‘Throughout the images, elements of the shoot are visible; the studio backdrop, harsh shadows from the flash and awkward perspectives all indicate my presence. As Federica Chiocchetti states in her essay, There’s Nothing Like Real, Home-grown Spaghetti ‘[The Spaghetti Tree] is a construction of the candid nature of an encounter.’ In subtly foregrounding elements of construction, I hope to encourage the reader to question the truth value of the documentary approach.’

Portrait, ICA Valentine’s Dance, Peterborough, 2014

Empty hall 1, St Francesca Cabrini Italian Church, Bedford, 2013

Lucy Levene is a photographer based in London.  She received her MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art in 2004. She is a recipient of the ‘1000 Words Photography Award 2012’ and was selected for the ‘Conscientious Portfolio Prize 2014’ by Jörg Colberg. The Spaghetti Tree will be included in an upcoming group show at Photofusion having been awarded the ‘Select/15 Bursary’.

lucylevene.co.uk

@LucyLevene

James O Jenkins

AP Magazine

We’re pleased to have a feature about why we set up Portrait Salon in this month’s Amateur Photographer Magazine. (Click on the images to enlarge and read).

Carlotta Cardana

The Red Road

Our blog this week explores ‘The Red Road’ by Carlotta Cardana. Her portrait ‘Evereta Thinn’ (below) was selected for Portrait Salon 2014.

Everita Thinn

‘The Red Road started as a collaboration between myself and one of my closest friends, Danielle SeeWalker, who is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and has stayed connected with her culture despite living off the reservation as an adult. Our project began as a dream of two friends that wanted to one day team-up and capture the Native American culture in a positive way. We were tired of seeing the same sad story of how depressed and underprivileged the Native people are. Our idea is to showcase the beauty and strength of these people by way of photographs, stories, and art with a traveling exhibition and a book.’

Juanita Toledo

Sarah Jumping Eagle

‘“Cultural genocide” is a large part of Native American history but is not taught in schools or communicated to the masses. In The Red Road project, we want to illustrate how this culture has had to overcome “cultural genocide” and highlight not only the backlash of their struggles but bring forth the strength, sovereignty, and pride among these people. Native Americans represent only 1% of the United States’ population so it’s not inconceivable to say that it’s a huge struggle to have their voices heard. Combating stereotypes every day and seeing their cultural traditions, practices and languages slowly vanish by various attempts of assimilation is quite devastating, yet there are so many inspiring Native people out there who don’t give up and are working so hard to make a difference for their people.’

Thipiziwin Young

Sage Honga

‘Tribal people today suffer a sort of forced segregation at the very bottom of American society on every indicator; from the 88% unemployment rate to the world’s second lowest life expectancy, Indian reservations stand as third world islands in the biggest economy on Earth. Issues such as drug & alcohol addiction, sexual abuse, poverty, crime and the highest suicide rates in the country are just some of the residual scars left on today’s generations and are often the only things highlighted in mainstream media about this rich and dynamic culture. Jean Houston once said, “If you keep telling the same sad small story, you will keep living the same sad small life”; it’s through The Red Road project that we will stop telling the same sad story and start inspiring positive change.’

Heather Abeita

Kelli Brooke

‘Our dream became a reality in 2013 when we began to develop this project. In 2014 we were commissioned to do a portrait series and article focusing on Native women that was published in several editions of Marie Claire around the world. The feature’s popularity has opened up several more opportunities for us to visit additional tribes and spend intimate time in the communities. We both can’t wait to be back on the road next month!’

Carlotta Cardana is an Italian portrait and documentary photographer based in London. In 2013, she was named “Discovery of the Year” at the Lucie Awards. She was also among the winners of the New York Photo Awards, the PDN Photo Annual, the LensCulture Exposure Awards and the Association of Photographers Open Awards. She was shortlisted for the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

carlottacardana.com
@carlottaroid

James O Jenkins

Rachel Piper

The Challenges of Longevity

So we go from the first 24 hours of life to the twilight years…. these images of elderly people in a retirement home are by Rachel Piper, a young photographer currently studying at University of Middlesex. The judges chose three of her portraits for Portrait Salon 2014.

Rachel says this about her project:
“What would you do if you had lost the people or person that loved you, the family members
that meant most to you and the ones that have been through everything with you, offering
support and kindness to help you grow. What do you do once they are gone?”

“It is believed that we only grow up and mature when neither of our parents is alive, so
because of this I have concentrated on the fragility and sensitivity of the elderly. From details
to portraits, I have captured their personalities and individual characteristics, allowing myself
to appreciate their company before it becomes a distant memory.”

“I realise that not only can obstacles interfere with us in life, but also as I am getting older my
close family members will not always be around and therefore I need to treasure every
possible moment.”

More of Rachel’s work can be seen on her website

 @_RachelPiper

Carole Evans

Jenny Lewis

One Day Young

This year is Portrait Salon’s fifth birthday and in the run up to our events this year we’re going to be blogging about work by photographers who’ve been selected for Portrait Salon in the last four years. We want to highlight some of the background, stories and developments of portraits that have been selected for Portrait Salon, which began in 2011.

We’re starting with Jenny Lewis, whose portrait Liana and Archer (below) was selected for Portrait Salon 2014. Photographer Jenny Lewis has devoted the last five years to photographing Hackney mothers and their newborn babies within 24 hours of their birth. Her aim was to pass on a powerful message that childbirth is a positive experience and nothing to be feared. The project has now been brought together in a new book, One Day Young, which is the latest addition to Hoxton Mini Press’s East London Photo Stories series.

‘It’s really quite simple — I wanted to tell a story about the strength and resilience of women post-childbirth that I feel goes largely unacknowledged in today’s world. To reassure women that childbirth is ok; yes it’s painful but it is a positive pain, one that has purpose and is just part of the journey, a rite of passage into motherhood. To make visible other emotions that are far more powerful: the joy, the overwhelming love and the triumphant victory every new mother feels. In my mind this is the supportive message we should be passing on to future generations rather than paralysing them with fear.’

Liana and Archer

‘Very early on in the project I knew I wanted to concentrate on the first twenty-four hours, when a woman’s body is engulfed by hormones, to capture the unrelenting physicality of the moment, straight from the battlefield. Sweat still glistening on the mothers’ skin, the translucent umbilical cord, freshly severed, and wide-eyed wonder as the women come to terms with the magnitude of what they have achieved and survived.

I leafleted Hackney, the borough where I live to find my recruits. I was clear I did not want to cast people on looks, age, race or class — but to include all who responded. As the series developed over the past five years, the mantra of calm running through the images was impossible to ignore. I find the collection of images quite defiant and beautiful, challenging the expected vision of those first twenty-four hours, a pure celebration of what it means to be a mother.’

Karla and River

Leanh and Lachlan

‘The book contains 40 portraits of mother and child, selected for publication from over 150, which focus on the primitive and hormonal moment of love and protection. As Jenny Lewis says, “My aim was to capture the extraordinary bonding, warmth and strength between mother and infant. In fact the whole range of amazing emotions felt at that time, as the mothering instinct kicks in”.’

Rebecca and Osiris

Kim and Perseus

‘Jenny Lewis has worked as a portrait photographer for the last 15 years. Known internationally for moving with ease between celebrity photography on the covers of magazines such as The Times with the likes of Thandie Newton and Peter Blake to working with the Beastie Boys in New York. Jenny continues to work for her editorial clients but is spending more time on personal work such as the One Day Young series.’

Jenny’s book is available via Hoxton Mini Press – an independent publisher making collectable art books about East London. Jenny is holding a pop-up exhibition at Boxpark on 5th March, details below.

To see more of Jenny’s work visit jennylewis.net

@JennyLewisPhoto

James O Jenkins