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Classroom Portraits Book Signing

Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Avenue du Général Eisenhower, Paris.
Stand D39 (In Camera Gallery), 6pm, November 15th

Paris Photo 2012

Roads to Wigan Pier

Impressions Gallery, Bradford, until 5th January, 2013
Russell Boyce, Huw Davies, Julian Germain, Graham Hall, John Kemp, Tim Smith 

Impressions Gallery 

"In the summer of 1984, taking as their starting point George Orwell’s seminal 1937 publication The Road to Wigan Pier, a sociological investigation into the bleak living conditions of the working class in Yorkshire and Lancashire, six newly graduated students of photography were commissioned by Impressions to record and document social aspects of the North of England. Each worked independently and each took a personal viewpoint. These non-judgemental, yet sometimes shocking, photographs show us a way of life that was in terminal decline. This picture of Orwellian dystopia acts as an elegy of the northern urban landscape and its people, on the brink of irrevocable social and cultural change. Today, in-post industrial Britain, we are perhaps inclined to forget the recent past as many of the symbols of poverty and neglect have been replaced by regeneration." 

                                        © Julian Germain, 1984     

Big Meetings 

Woodhorn Museum, Ashington, Northumberland, until December 23rd

Big Meetings is a new series of photographs and films by Julian Germain in response to the annual Durham Miners Gala, commissioned by Durham County Council.

Attended by up to 100,000 people, the Gala is one of the largest political gatherings in Europe. As well as photographing the main event: the parade, speeches and the banner blessings in the Cathedral, Germain has explored some of the deeper stories behind it.

He records the communities and landscapes of former pit villages such as Chopwell, Trimdon Grange and Ferryhill, showing the local residents as they prepare their banners for the Gala. He has visited band rooms, clubs and community centres to portray the brass bands in the places where they practice every week and he has also attended gatherings and meetings of some of the political or campaigning groups who use the Gala as a platform to promote their ideas.

The 2 synchronised video portraits feature a 77 year old man and a 9 year old boy performing the protest song and socialist anthem The Red Flag, encouraging us to consider the dramatic changes that have happened to industry, culture, society and politics during the last 3 generations.

The exhibition is about the significance of working class identity and cultural traditions and their ties to a set of political beliefs at a time when only fragments remain of the industries that framed them. While documenting both the spectacle and the spirit of the Gala, Germain is also implicitly asking questions about the nature of politics now, as capitalism appears to falter and socialist ideals are widely believed to have been marginalised by the rush to consumerism.

                                             © Julian Germain, 2012 / Stills from The Red Flag       

 

Exhibition - The Beautiful Horizon

The Beautiful Horizon, the first UK exhibition of the work of the No Olho da Rua Collective, made up of approximately 75 young people living on the streets of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Julian Germain, Patricia Azevedo and Murilo Godoy. The collective has been functioning on a sporadic basis since 1995.  The show is at Fabrica Gallery, Brighton, 6 October - 25 November. It features flyposters, newspapers, video portraits, flyers, exhibition prints and, most importantly, the first phase of the new project archive in the form of more than 125 boxed sets of enprints, enabling gallery visitors to explore the narratives in entire rolls of film. 

For more information and to download interview of Julian Germain, Patricia Azevedo and Murilo Godoy by Mark Sealey:  http://fabrica.org.uk/exhibitions/ 

For more information about the Brighton Photo Biennial: http://www.bpb.org.uk/2012/

Julian Germain Talk - Fabrica, Brighton. Monday 22nd October, 6.30 pm

No Olho da Rua 13/08/2012

Photo Albums

We've known Biui since 1995. In recent years he's been a bit crazy and scary. He's big and fast and very strong, in much better physical shape than most of the street kids of his age. He's always been around but hasn't wanted to make pictures for years and he hasn't wanted to be photographed either. But today he told us he had photos he wanted to show us and out of an old rucksack came two albums. They contain photographs spanning the entire project, from 1995 till last year, flyposters, newspapers, everything is there. We were astonished. It's so difficult for them to look after things. For these pictures to survive for so long, on the streets, is incredible.

He talked about a photo he doesn't have but which he clearly remembers. It's of him and Edna, his lover and the mother of his kids, who died of Aids a few years ago. They are kissing on a bus, on their way to the party we organised for the launch of the flyposter exhibition in 1997. We have to go back and look for this picture, try to find it for him.

He also asked us if he could have a camera to make some new pictures.

Licaõ's lost camera

We found Licaõ on Sunday. He has left Patricia, his lover of many years, at least for the time being. He says he needs a break. He is taking a lot of crack. Elisangela is with him, not in her house, but on the street. We gave him a camera but when when we went to collect it yesterday he explained he had finished the film but had a row with his crack dealer who threw the camera over a steep bank into some bushes. We went off to look for it. Seemed like an impossible task and it was quite a funny situation - we were like kids who'd lost their ball. Amazingly, after 10 minutes or so, there it was, Licaõ spied it nestling in the rubbish and scrub....be interesting to see the pictures...

No Olho da Rua 12/08/2012

Looking for Licaõ

I am finally back in Belo Horizonte. it's some 18 months since I was last here. Patricia and Murilo keep in contact with the street kids (this could be a strange term for them as most are in their thirties now, but that's what they call themselves). Yesterday, we set out to look for them. We started at the soup kitchen they generally visit on a Saturday. It wasn't busy but we did see Reginaldo, Licaõs' uncle. He confirmed that most people are still around here and there but that Miguel has been in hospital since he was run over by a motorbike. He asks for a camera.
     Next we went to the shopping street in Gameleira where Sandro used to live. The last time we saw him he was in a terrible state but thankfully, there he was, sitting outside the same moderately smart ladies clothes shop, not exactly enhancing their window display. He's not a pretty sight, battered, bruised, fat lipped, bleeding gummed and his clothes are filthy. He can't use his left arm or hand at all and struggles to walk, but in the scheme of things he is quite organised, with a shopping trolley to wheel his stuff around. The people around him, the ladies in the clothes shop, the guys in the bar next door, obviously know Sandro well and they must look out for him, otherwise we can't imagine he could be there. He wants a camera and a pair of shorts. The camera we have and luckily we have one with autowind because with one hand he can't manually wind the film on.
    There are no kids under the Gameleira tree and there's obviously been a big clean up. No litter means no kids. A guy washing cars there says there haven't been kids there for a while. We drive on and soon see a group under some trees on a patch of land encircled by busy traffic. We park the car and look for a way to get across the roads. It's no wonder so many of them get hit, stoned on crack or thinner, weaving their way through this traffic. We find Preto, Silvana and Vinicius sitting on a sofa under a tree and numerous other boys and girls are there too. They have a couple of small tables, some broken office chairs, a tatty Brazilian flag flutters from a branch. They are relaxing and really pleased to see us and Patricia digs out some photographs to give them. Preto is better than before, much more calm. He is listening to the Brazil v Mexico Olympic football final on a tiny transistor radio. They are losing 1 - 0. Another boy is wearing a cool looking pink headphone radio but it doesn't work. Vinicius is also in better shape. The last time we saw him he was on crutches after being run over. Silvana is happy and pregnant and we leave them with three cameras. The others want to play as well and we agree to bring them cameras today.
    Next we go looking for Patricia and Licaõ. The last year has been traumatic for them. They had a baby last April and they were allocated an apartment from a government social programme. They had a cooker and a fridge, Patricia and Murilo got them an old TV and a double bed and other bits and pieces. It was an exciting moment, full of promise, but it didn't last. The baby got sick and tragically died and it wasn't long before they were back on the streets. Worse, they then lost their other two kids into the care system. First, we find a group that includes Celia, Buiu and Sueli, none of them photographers but we have known them for years. They are friendly but anxious to start smoking crack so we leave them to get on with it. Patricia is not far away, living in quite an organised place under a road bridge and she's upset a) because her leg got burned in a fire and b) Licaõ has disappeared and she is worried he might be with another girl. She gets in the car and we go looking for him. We drive around and then she takes us to a pleasant stretch of wasteland with trees and bushes and lots of pretty lilac flowers and a nice elevated view. There are quite a few street people here and there but not Licaõ and nobody has seen him. Eventually, Patricia asks us to take her to her mothers house. She packs two bags with her belongings and leaves the street. Her mother collapsed last week and is back from hospital, sick in bed, unable to walk at the moment. We leave her a few $R and Patricia takes a camera. We head for home.

  

CLASSROOM PORTRAITS 2004 - 2012

EXHIBITION
The Future is Ours, Classroom Portraits, 2004 - 2012
Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, June 2 - September 2, 2012


BOOK
Classroom Portraits, 2004 - 2012

Hardback, 30.5 X 23.5, Dustjacket, 208 pages, 87 colour photographs, Essay by Dr Leonid Illyushin, Design by Why Not Associates, Statistics, Archive directory.
Classroom Portraits from UK, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Russia, Bangladesh, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Ethiopia, Nigeria, USA, Taiwan, Japan. 

Published by Prestel               £40 / €49.50 / $60       

Second edition now available !

I am very happy to report that the second edition of 'For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness' has been published by MACK. It will be launched this week in Paris at Offprint and at the Steidl / MACK stand at Paris Photo. Limited edition C-type prints from the series will also be featured at the In Camera Gallery space (Stand D55) at the Grand Palais.

80 Pages, 42 colour plates, 23.5 X 28cm, hardcover with printed cloth

Designed by Julian Germain and David Ellis at Why Not Associates

€35 / £30 / $45

ISBN 978-1-907946-13-4

Available from the usual outlets and direct from www.mackbooks.co.uk

www.incamera.fr
www.offprintparis.com
www.parisphoto.fr

Nothing in the World but Youth

Two pieces from the series 'Classroom Portraits' are currently being exhibited in this vast exhibition (over 90 artists; more than 200 works) at Turner Contemporary in Margate. One of the pieces - Hartsdown Technical College, Margate. Year 8, Drama - was specially commissioned for the show.
There's much too much to see in the time and space I had to look (the opening event was pleasingly crowded and the following morning was just as busy) but the self portrait by the 16 year old Richard Hamilton was rather moving given that he died last week, aged 89. JMW Turner's young teenage sketches are also astonishing for their skill and extraordinarily fine detail. Also enjoyed Phil Collins' video of Indonesian kids singing the Smiths, Graham Dolphin's fan drawings, S Mark Gubb's school desk with homage to Iron Maiden and Glenn Brown's 'Teen Age Riot' desk smothered in a tidal wave of paint, George Shaw's gloomy yet glowing painting of council estate garages; Toby Mott's fantastic collection of political and pop/punk ephemera from the Thatcher years. Lots of photography; Rineke Dijkstra, Craig Aimes, Mark Cohen, Corrine Day, Toby Glanville, Juergen Teller, Santiago Mostyn to name but a few....
The catalogue is interesting and probably more coherent than the exhibition; it features many illustrations as well as various texts including essay length excerpts from novels such as 'Absolute Beginners' and surveys such as 'The Problem of Childhood' from 1974 by John Holt.
There are also 3 large 20 page sections set aside for individual artists - Santiago Mostyn, Toby Mott and myself - who have all created large bodies of work where youth is a fundamental theme.



Nothing in the World but Youth runs until January 8th, 2012
Turner Contemporary
Rendezvous
Margate
Kent CT9 1HG

www.turnercontemporary.org