Chris Killip, Retrospective / A-kin: Aarati Akkapeddi / An Alternative History: Works From The Solander Collection – The Photographers’ Gallery, London

Plenty to see at the at the Photographers’ Gallery, from early photographic works from the Solander Collection to cutting edge AI works by Aarati Akkapeddi via Manx photographer Chris Killip.

More From The Photographers’ Gallery

It’s been a while since we’ve been to the Photographers’ Gallery, but for some reason I seem to consistently come towards the end of an exhibition. Perhaps because I otherwise avoid the Oxford Street area? But I was intrigued by one of the exhibitions currently on offer, An Alternative History of Photography, and so made plans to visit one evening after work.

As is often the case in this multi-exhibition space, the ones I hadn’t planned to see ended up being as rewarding as the one I already knew about. The Photographers’ Gallery’s current exhibition programme runs until the 19th of February and is threefold. There is a retrospective of work by Manx photographer Chris Killip. There is a small display of an AI-based project. And there is of course An Alternative History of Photography, with a selection of works from the Solander Collection.

As always, the exhibitions were illuminating. That they spanned the full history of photography from Daguerreotypes to AI-assisted art via a mid-century humanist photographer, was all the more enjoyable. Although my after work visit meant I had a little less time than I would have liked, I greatly enjoyed my trip to the Photographers’ Gallery and hope to be a little earlier in getting to their next exhibition!

Chris Killip, Retrospective

This was my first time learning about the work of Chris Killip, a photographer from the Isle of Man who died in 2020 aged 74. He became interested in photography at the age of 17. An image by Henri Cartier-Bresson in a copy of Paris Match sparked a desire to become a photographer before he ever owned a camera. And you can see the influence of the mid-century French humanist photography style on his work. Further inspiration came in the form of a visit to MoMA in New York in the late 1960s, when he was exposed to the work of Bill Brandt, Paul Strand and Walker Evans among others.

For a long time Killip maintained a career as a commercial photographer alongside artistic pursuits, shooting images and series on his own time. Returning to the Isle of Man in the 1970s, he saw his place of birth through new eyes, and began to photograph local people and places. This series, and others shot in the North of England, document the economic changes of the 1970s and 80s. His images are direct but sympathetic, capturing working class people as they responded to deindustrialisation, including the Miners’ Strikes of the 1980s.

Chris Killip’s work is of a style that I really enjoy. The level of detail of times and ways of life now passed into history is fascinating, and each image deserves due time and attention to draw out all of the detail. Some series required Killip to build trust with local communities over an extended period of time, especially that depicting the gathering of seacoal at Lynemouth in Northumberland, shot in the 1980s. A great opportunity to see a varied retrospective by an important British photographer.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

Chris Killip: A Retrospective on until 19 February 2022

A-kin: Aarati Akkapeddi

Heading downstairs from Chris Killip: A Retrospective, the next exhibition I encountered was A-kin. This is a smaller exhibition, in just one room near gallery staff offices. A-kin is a project by Aarati Akkapeddi. In it, they have taken as a starting point the humble family photograph album. The artist’s own family photos have been fed into a machine learning algorithm alongside archival studio photographs from Tamil Nadu. The result are images of people who do not exist but who look familiar, composites of recurring poses and features from the source material. Couple with woman on the left hand side. Pose with hand gesture that holds religious significance.

The resulting images are reminiscent of old gelatin silver prints. A few of them are featured on a wall, while opposite are images, both originals and AI composites, set out in a kolam design as a further element of artistic intervention. There’s also a computer station where you can learn more about the project. Overall I found this an interesting concept for a photographic series, but found the exhibition itself so small that I didn’t have time to really get into it. The boundary between AI and art is an interesting conversation, however, to which Akkapeddi’s contribution brings a personal touch in terms of their own family and a sense of place.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

A-kin: Aarati Akkapeddi on until 19 February 2023

An Alternative History Of Photography: Works From The Solander Collection

The Solander Collection, based in Oregon and California, was an inspiring discovery on this outing to the Photographers’ Gallery. According to the collection’s website:

“the Solander Collection has a special emphasis on international traditions, under-represented and forgotten artists, ethnic diversity, and women. The aim of the collection is to broaden the understanding of photography as inclusive and democratic.

About – Solander Collection

The collection is comprised mainly of vintage prints (made within a few years of the date of the photograph being taken), and is as broad as the description above suggests. The selection on display in this exhibition charts a different story of the evolution of photography. Rather than being a linear narrative of accepted key figures, An Alternative History of Photography revels in the complexity. All the ways in which developments, experiments and dead ends happened in different places, as the medium of photography stretched out across the globe. There are artists you may expect to see here like Man Ray and Eadweard Muybridge. And many you won’t have heard of like Helen Stuart or Emilio Amero. Plus plenty of photographers whose names have not been preserved, but whose work continues to add to the story of photography.

If you have time for only one exhibition while you’re at the Photographers’ Gallery, I would suggest this one. The fact that these are mostly vintage prints makes it a special experience to see them in the flesh. Many are even in original mounts or frames. It’s a pleasing cacophony of places, styles, people and technologies which reminds us to look deeper than the art historical narrative. A valuable space for recognition and dialogue.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

An Alternative History Of Photography: Works From The Solander Collection on until 19 February 2023