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| Brighton photo biennial: seventh edition aims to cut through stereotypes | Brighton photo biennial: seventh edition aims to cut through stereotypes |
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| This year’s Brighton Photo Biennial is to take on the stereotypes around gender, sexuality and the ideal body form that dominate our lives from advertising to the filtered images posted across social media. | This year’s Brighton Photo Biennial is to take on the stereotypes around gender, sexuality and the ideal body form that dominate our lives from advertising to the filtered images posted across social media. |
| The seventh edition of the biennial, titled Beyond The Bias- Reshaping Image, will include exhibitions documenting the youth subcultures around Notting Hill Carnival, representations of the LGBT community in both Brighton and Mumbai, and an exploration of the black dandy phenomenon across the world. | The seventh edition of the biennial, titled Beyond The Bias- Reshaping Image, will include exhibitions documenting the youth subcultures around Notting Hill Carnival, representations of the LGBT community in both Brighton and Mumbai, and an exploration of the black dandy phenomenon across the world. |
| Celia Davies, director of Photoworks who devised the biennial programme, said she wanted to bring together photographers who offered a new perspective on identity and representation, “cutting through, dissecting and hopefully in some way reshaping” our visual culture, which tends to conform to a single idea of beauty, fashion and gender. | |
| Ewen Spencer, who had spent the past two decades documenting youth culture and was at the forefront of documenting the emergence of garage and grime music, will produce a new series of work for the biennial exploring subcultures of young Londoners, particularly that have emerged around Notting Hill carnival. | Ewen Spencer, who had spent the past two decades documenting youth culture and was at the forefront of documenting the emergence of garage and grime music, will produce a new series of work for the biennial exploring subcultures of young Londoners, particularly that have emerged around Notting Hill carnival. |
| Rather than being displayed in the traditional format, Spencer’s images will be blown up and displayed on custom-built billboards in Brighton’s Fabrica gallery. | Rather than being displayed in the traditional format, Spencer’s images will be blown up and displayed on custom-built billboards in Brighton’s Fabrica gallery. |
| Davies said the project, titled Kick over the statues, would emphasise how, even though the advent of the internet is often seen to have killed off youth subcultures and tribes as they once existed, they are still present on the streets of places such as London and Liverpool. | Davies said the project, titled Kick over the statues, would emphasise how, even though the advent of the internet is often seen to have killed off youth subcultures and tribes as they once existed, they are still present on the streets of places such as London and Liverpool. |
| “The project will use the Notting Hill carnival as a locator for these ideas around history of youth culture, the diaspora that is involved in youth culture today, the tribe mentality that is involved and how people are expressing it,” said Davies. | “The project will use the Notting Hill carnival as a locator for these ideas around history of youth culture, the diaspora that is involved in youth culture today, the tribe mentality that is involved and how people are expressing it,” said Davies. |
| She added: “Ewen would always say that style informs fashion and I think that is a really interesting point, because young people are particularly good at individualising trends for themselves. It is what makes this such an interesting project.” | She added: “Ewen would always say that style informs fashion and I think that is a really interesting point, because young people are particularly good at individualising trends for themselves. It is what makes this such an interesting project.” |
| The biennial has also brought together a British and an Indian photographer for a new continent-crossing project documenting members of the LGBT+ community in Brighton and Mumbai. Olivia Arthur and Bharat Sikka decided to examine self-image and sexuality through a series of intimate portraits where each subjects was asked to explore their own fantasies – either in the privacy of their own homes or in public open spaces. | The biennial has also brought together a British and an Indian photographer for a new continent-crossing project documenting members of the LGBT+ community in Brighton and Mumbai. Olivia Arthur and Bharat Sikka decided to examine self-image and sexuality through a series of intimate portraits where each subjects was asked to explore their own fantasies – either in the privacy of their own homes or in public open spaces. |
| The images will also address issues around assumptions and the portrayal of gender, with photos of figures from the trans community and some in the midst of transitioning. | The images will also address issues around assumptions and the portrayal of gender, with photos of figures from the trans community and some in the midst of transitioning. |
| “In Mumbai there is a complexity in terms of how people express their sexuality because homosexuality is banned and carries with it an enormous amounts of shame, whereas Brighton is one of the gay capitals of the UK and sexuality is often on public display,” said Davies. | “In Mumbai there is a complexity in terms of how people express their sexuality because homosexuality is banned and carries with it an enormous amounts of shame, whereas Brighton is one of the gay capitals of the UK and sexuality is often on public display,” said Davies. |
| “But sometimes you wonder how authentic that is, in terms of what people are really feeling about their sexuality. So these images will explore shame and fantasy and how those feelings are connected to sexuality and self-image.” | “But sometimes you wonder how authentic that is, in terms of what people are really feeling about their sexuality. So these images will explore shame and fantasy and how those feelings are connected to sexuality and self-image.” |
| The Brighton Photo Biennial will also bring one of the largest documentations of black dandy culture from around the world to the UK. The Dandy Lion project, begun by American curator Shantrelle Lewis, has collated contemporary images of black dandies from Europe, the US and Africa since 2010. | The Brighton Photo Biennial will also bring one of the largest documentations of black dandy culture from around the world to the UK. The Dandy Lion project, begun by American curator Shantrelle Lewis, has collated contemporary images of black dandies from Europe, the US and Africa since 2010. |
| The exhibition in Brighton will showcase 150 of these images taken by more than 30 photographers and filmmakers over the past decade, the largest show of its kind ever displayed in the UK, and will also include some photos collected from an open call by the biennial specifically for the show. | The exhibition in Brighton will showcase 150 of these images taken by more than 30 photographers and filmmakers over the past decade, the largest show of its kind ever displayed in the UK, and will also include some photos collected from an open call by the biennial specifically for the show. |
| The photos will illustrate how different communities of the diaspora have interpreted the black dandy styles, which has troubled roots from the time of slavery but has since been adopted and owned by many from the black community. While the black dandy style is often seen as a projection of manhood and masculinity, Davies said the show would explore, across the diaspora, the nuances of the phenomenon. | The photos will illustrate how different communities of the diaspora have interpreted the black dandy styles, which has troubled roots from the time of slavery but has since been adopted and owned by many from the black community. While the black dandy style is often seen as a projection of manhood and masculinity, Davies said the show would explore, across the diaspora, the nuances of the phenomenon. |
| “Being a dandy is about looking good but it runs deeper than that,” she said. “That visibility and that need to be taken seriously – it’s a statement as much about political and social attitudes as it is about fashion.” | “Being a dandy is about looking good but it runs deeper than that,” she said. “That visibility and that need to be taken seriously – it’s a statement as much about political and social attitudes as it is about fashion.” |