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
-
Inside the Waldorf Astoria's dazzling restoration, from cigar smoke to snowy owlsHow a team of architects from SOM and a group of art conservationists brought New York's grand dame back to her original Art Deco splendor
-
How do you modernise a home without making it feel modern? This farmhouse renovation is a stunning case studyA 300-year-old English farmhouse has been given a new lease of life while staying true to the old ways
-
Meet Studio Knight Stokoe, the landscape architects guided by ‘resilience, regeneration and empathy’Boutique and agile, Studio Knight Stokoe crafts elegant landscapes from its base in the southwest of England – including a revived brutalist garden
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekAnother week, another flurry of events, opening and excursions showcasing the best of culture and entertainment at home and abroad. Catch our editors at Scandi festivals, iconic jazz clubs, and running the length of Manhattan…
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThe Wallpaper* team immersed themselves in culture this week, attending theatre, music and art performances and exhibitions at some of London’s most esteemed establishments. Along the way, we may have discovered the city's best salad…
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s been another week of Wallpaper* being first through the door – visiting, sampling and reporting back on the freshest in art, design, beauty and more. Highlights included a new rental development, skincare residency and Edinburgh hotel…
-
Get the picture? A new exhibition explores the beautiful simplicity of Japanese pictogramsThe simple, minimalist forms of a pictogram are uniquely Japanese, as new exhibition 'Pictograms: Iconic Japanese Designs' illustrates
-
From Snapchat dysmorphia to looksmaxing, have digital beauty standards made us lose sight of what's real, asks a new exhibitionAI, social media and the ease with which we can tweak our face mean we're heading towards a dystopian beauty future, argues 'Virtual Beauty' at Somerset House
-
Take a rare peek inside eighties London's most famous clubFrom George Michael to Boy George, photographer David Koppel captured a who's who of celerities at Eighties nightclub Limelight
-
Thirty-five years after its creation, Lynn Hershman Leeson’s seminal video is as poignant as everLynn Hershman Leeson’s 'Desire Inc', at 243 Luz in Margate, blurs the boundaries between art and reality
-
Shop the gloriously mad inner workings of Gary Card’s brain in London’s SohoSet designer and artist Gary Card has taken over London's Plaster Store – expect chaos and some really good accessories
