This season the Photographer’s Gallery hosts three outstanding exhibitions. Each space boasts compelling images that convey more than just the physical aesthetics presented on the surface. Contemporary theory, discussions into the role of photography in art and as an autonomous medium are thrown around, with each separate exhibition bringing forward a new exciting conversation. Each are totally different but completely complimentary of one another.
For us the most rich and exciting is "Taking Shots : The Photography of William S. Burroughs" because coincides with the centenary of Burrough’s birth and is the first major exhibition worldwide to focus on his impressive photographic oeuvre. “Taking Shots” displays over 100 works, mainly black and white, and offers a great visual plethora of mediums, such as postcards, magazine and book covers.
Burroughs’ photography, striking in their self containment, lack any reference to other practitioners or genres.
William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) was one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century. Despite his prolific achievements as a novelist, essayist, spoken word performer and painter, Burroughs’ work as a photographer is rarely acknowledged. While they can be gathered into categories of street scenes, still lifes, collage, radio towers, people – his dynamic approach to image making sits outside of any canonical structure.
Taking Shots is curated by Patricia Allmer, Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, and author John Sears.
Venue.- The Photographer’s Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1F 7LW. UK.
Dates.- 17th January – 30th March 2014.
Burrough’s photographs are aesthetically stunning. The personal intricacies of his artistic practice can be monitored on the surface of many of his photographs as they bear markings, scratchings and doodles from Burrough’s hand. He envisioned photography as a disposable medium; a cheap form of aesthetic research.
“I pay a lot of attention to photographs because of characters. I’ll say, ‘Well, that picture looks something like one of my characters, and I’ll build up a composite picture of what a character looks like” – William S. Burroughs.
A fully illustrated catalogue, Taking Shots: The Photography of William S. Burroughs, co-published by The Photographers’ Gallery and Prestel. It highlights the significance of Burroughs' photographic experience to his overall artistic output, and includes a large number of reference images, typescript reproductions of Burroughs’ work, and essays by the exhibition curators Patricia Allmer and John Sears, and contributors David Brittain, Susan Laxton and Barry Miles.
