exhibitions

See this: Use Hearing Protection: FAC 1 – 50 / 40



Use Hearing Protection- FAC 1 – 50 40 - Factory Records exhibition

September is shaping up to be a mammoth month for me. Not only have I got a big birthday coming up, but there are a couple of great book launches, a wee trip, and no shortage of excellent exhibitions.

This exhibition looks fab.

Use Hearing Protection: FAC 1 – 50 / 40‘ at Chelsea Space (next to Tate Britain) is curated by Jon Savage and Mat Bancroft and explores the audio visual work of the legendary Factory Records from 1978 to 1982. (more…)



Sanlé Sory – Peuple de la Nuit



Fête au Volta dancing, by anle Sory, 1982

Just opened at the end of Ladbroke Grove, a fantastic exhibition of 1960s-80s nightlife photography by West African photographer, Sanlé Sory.

Sory used to take portrait photos in his Burkina Faso (formerly Bobo-Dioulasso) studio, later scooting to local parties and dances as requested, to shoot partygoers in action. According to him, “if there’s music, you need to have memories. Photography tells the story.”

He would also photograph local jazz musicians, the results of which would end up on their record covers. A few years ago, French writer and music collector Florent Mazzoleni came across some of the records and intrigued by the photography decided to track down the photographer. Legend has it that when he arrived in his village, his enquiries led him to Sory in the midst of burning his negatives. (more…)



Iain McKell on youth subcults



Iain McKell Private Reality - Diary of a Teenage Boy

“Small town subcultures are funny, it’s not like bigger cities where you effectively have tribes. In a small town like Weymouth, one guy in the group is a hippy, another is a skinhead, and another a rocker. It’s the backwater, and it’s always been behind the times, but within that you get little nuggets of interesting people.”

Photographer Iain McKell has uncovered a stash of photos of his 70s youth and has started a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund his book (more…)