Hackney has long fascinated the British photographer Stephen Gill. The northeast London borough is a bric-a-brac medley of concrete, brick, roof extensions and pockets of nature. It is, in some ways, beautiful in its ugliness – but nowhere more so than in Gill’s kaleidoscopic, collage-like studies of the area.
The artist's recently opened selling exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery in London brings together a selection of Gill’s photobooks, alongside over twenty framed prints from six series: ‘Hackney Flowers’ (2003- 2007); ‘Buried’ (2004-2007); ‘Co-existence’ (2009-2010); ‘Talking to Ants’ (2009- 2013); ‘Hackney Kisses’ (2012); and ‘Best Before End’ (2013).
Born in Bristol in 1971, Gill fell into photography at a young age. His father was himself an avid photographer who taught him to print at home in a makeshift darkroom. Gill was also fascinated by insects, and collected specimens of pond life to inspect under a microscope. This innate curiosity in nature has been at the centre of his practice ever since, evident in the experimental quality of his images.
Like a (mad) scientist, Gill tinkers with Hackney as though it were a test subject - refreshingly, he achieves his effects in-camera or during the developing process. This includes part-processing negatives in energy drinks ('Best Before End'), leaving photographs to decompose in the ground ('Buried') and applying pond water during various stages ('Co-existence'). In ‘Talking to Ants’, meanwhile, the photographer places insects, foliage, dust and debris directly into the body of the camera.
‘Hackney is a place that attracts obsessives,’ the photographer once said. ‘It's something to do with its contradictions: you can be in a beautiful spot with canals and meadows, and then the flipside is chaos and dirt.’ Gill's photographs encompass this duality with harmony.
The northeast London borough is a bric-a-brac medley of concrete, brick, roof extensions and pockets of nature. Pictured: Untitled, from the series ’Hackney Flowers’, 2007
Born in Bristol in 1971, Gill fell into photography at a young age. His father was himself an avid photographer who taught him to print at home in a makeshift darkroom. Pictured: Untitled, from the series ’Buried’, 2007
Untitled, from the series ’Hackney Kisses’
Gill was also fascinated by insects, and collected specimens of pond life to inspect under a microscope. Pictured: Untitled, from the series ’Talking to Ants’, 2013
This innate curiosity in nature has been at the centre of his practice ever since, evident in the experimental quality of his images. Pictured: Untitled, from the series ’Talking to Ants’, 2013
Like a (mad) scientist, Gill tinkers with Hackney as though it were a test subject. Pictured: Untitled, from the series ’Coexistence’, 2010
Gill’s techniquea include part-processing negatives in energy drinks, as seen here. Pictured: Organic Energy #3, from the series ’Best Before End’, 2013
Hackney, Gill explains, is a place of ’contradictions: you can be in a beautiful spot with canals and meadows, and then the flipside is chaos and dirt.’ Pictured: Survive & Revive, from the series ’Best Before End’, 2013
INFORMATION
‘Myeyefellout’ runs until 8 May. For more information, visit the Photographers’ Gallery website
Photography © Stephen Gill. Courtesy Christophe Guye Galerie
ADDRESS
16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
-
Stay at Nujuma, a forward-facing sanctuary in the Red Sea regionNujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, sets the bar high as one of Saudi Arabia’s ultra-luxury destinations
-
Pierre Yovanovitch’s set and costumes bring a contemporary edge to Korea National Opera in SeoulFrench interior architect Pierre Yovanovitch makes his second operatic design foray, for The Marriage of Figaro in Seoul
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlightFor more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his must. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
-
From counter-culture to Northern Soul, these photos chart an intimate history of working-class Britain‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’ is at Edinburgh gallery Stills
-
Celia Paul's colony of ghostly apparitions haunts Victoria MiroEerie and elegiac new London exhibition ‘Celia Paul: Colony of Ghosts’ is on show at Victoria Miro until 17 April
-
Teresa Pągowska's dreamy interpretations of the female form are in London for the first time‘Shadow Self’ in Thaddaeus Ropac’s 18th-century townhouse gallery in London, presents the first UK solo exhibition of Pągowska’s work
-
Sylvie Fleury's work in dialogue with Matisse makes for a provocative exploration of the female form'Drawing on Matisse, An Exhibition by Sylvie Fleury’ is on show until 2 May at Luxembourg + Co
-
What to see at BFI Flare film festival, 'a rich tapestry of queer experience'As one of the only film festivals to explicitly profile LGBTQI+ cinema, BFI Flare Film Festival remains a unique and beloved event. Here's what to see as it makes its return to London from 19 - 30 March
-
The enduring appeal of Transport for London’s seat designsFrom artist Rita Keegan’s new collage to fashion designer Adam Jones’ Overground suit, TfL moquettes continue to enjoy a cult status
