- Venue
- WE ARE OPEN Pop Up Gallery
- Location
- North East England
Pistol and Fur
New Contemporaries
If, like many other people, you sometimes feel that the gap between art and real life feels more like a chasm, then this is the show that you should see. Here, the immediate, the mundane throw away image, and the ‘here and now’ all gain centre stage. Stuff of life is caught on camera, shot with a snap shot aesthetic, bringing attention to the instant intimate moment between subject and photographer.
Raw and un-retouched, taken on any camera to hand (but rarely digital), there is a magical quality to these images. Each holds an air of mysticism – and surprisingly at the same time – a refreshing honesty. We feel that we could have been there and in fact, that we could have taken these images ourselves. The reality is that we never would because we would have to change the way we look at the world.
What is appealing is that there is little or no post-production, no extensive retouching, and no soul destroying laborious application of software or techniques. What the shooter saw, is what we get.
Pistol and Fur was initially set up in 2009 as a Flickr group by Jason Hynes. His intention was to find a method of sharing the work of emerging photographers from around the globe. The group aim was to represent an aesthetic in photography that cast away the shackles of technical photographic ability to concentrate more on the importance of the moment.
In 2010 he collaborated with Steve Brown to bring the rising tide of submissions received to some sort of conclusion. Hynes and Brown brought in funding to allow them to represent the work at a level seen in high end galleries. The result is an exhibition that represents a new canon of rising stars in art photography, and is devoted to the practice of experimentation, rather than the promotion of over hyped, ultra slick, contemporary art.
For Pistol and Fur New Contemporaries see: www.pistolandfur.tumblr.com but better still catch the show which runs until August 7th 2010 at We Are Open Pop up Gallery, 148 Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough TS1 3RA.
