sally mann | fotofiliablog

Reality At Last

Having just spent most of the week making graduates look like… er …graduates, and then photographing them, it’s nice to be back at Fotofilia where normality has been resumed. Normality and reality.

“Reality: What once was, to what is now and everything in between” is the natty title of the new exhibition at Fotofilia’s gallery. Curated by our own David Shepherd, it features the work of four recent graduates from The University of Northampton: Stephen Dean, Suzanne Delaney, Michelle Williams & Sally Wyman.

This is our first exhibition for a few weeks. Since the last one, there’s been one Jubilee, a couple of Bank Holidays and a great deal of sanding, filling and painting on the part of Mr Shepherd. But it’s definitely been worth the wait. This is a very slick little show, with a diverse but cohesive range of work.

Suzanne Delaney’s work, beautifully presented on square aluminium, explores the emotional fall-out of a bereavement (her father). The devastation is evident in these dark but exquisite images of the objects, the traces that remain.

By kind permission of Suzanne Delaney

Regular visitors might have seen one of Michelle Williams’ images at Fotofilia before, as part of the Fujicolour awards exhibition. This time, the many images that make up the “Lost Property” project are seen in a number of collages. Again, the theme revolves around human traces – objects discarded, overlooked, and photographed where they fall.

By kind permission of Michelle Williams

How Michelle Williams’ work looks on the wall

Sally Wyman’s images, mainly domestic tableaux, appear to depict the everyday, but with a slightly sinister undercurrent a la Crewdson, Mann or Wall.

A quick iphone shot of Sally Wyman’s work at Fotofilia

Finally, Stephen Dean’s work is a single collage of seascapes that stretches almost the whole length of our corridor. Separate images, with varying exposures and perspectives are laid out next to each other so that the horizon (the sea) remains the only constant, from one end to the other, as it encompasses various symbols of the British seaside. Continuity through change. To complete the installation, Stephen has thoughtfully left sticks of seaside rock for visitors. Thankfully no cockles though.