Representation: Millenium Images MilimStories
May 17th, 2013
My series 23 Red Lions has been included in a new venture by Millennium Images focusing on the photo essay.
“Millennium Images is proud to announce the launch of MilimStories our brand-new collection consisting of diverse photo essays by our photographers. The collection takes you on a journey through our contemporary world, exploring a variety of topics both familiar and unusual. Our stories fall into the broad categories of health, lifestyle, education, travel, fine art and the environment.”
Project: The Motorway Service Station as a Destination in its Own Right
April 30th, 2013
At the tail end of 1988 the UK’s burgeoning house music scene was fast outgrowing the small number of clubs experimenting with this new sound. A handful of promoters, initially Genesis, Energy and Sunrise seized on an opportunity and started putting on illegal parties primarily in disused east London warehouses. As the scene began to gain momentum the raves moved to bigger venues outside of London, typically abandoned aircraft hangers and open fields surrounding the M25. These raves became known as the London orbital parties. Within a few months of this first spate of illegal raves the tabloid press were splashing headlines across their front pages deploring the menace of ‘acid house parties’ and inadvertently fueling wider interest in the rave scene.
At their height during the summer of 1989 the London orbital raves regularly attracted in excess of 5 or even 10 thousand ravers. To avoid detection by the authorities, the location of the raves would be kept secret until the last minute, and then announced on pirate radio stations or via information lines detailed on the flyers. Partygoers would congregate in their cars – usually at service stations – and travel in convoy once the rave had been set up and the location revealed. The police would only become aware of the location at the same time as the ravers, and were usually powerless to stop the raves due to being hopelessly outnumbered by partygoers.
Motorway service stations were ideal meeting points for the orbital parties as their locations provided easy access to the motorway system and ample space for hundreds of vehicles to congregate relatively out of sight. The close proximity to trunk roads gave the ravers an advantage when the location of the rave was announced and the race commenced to arrive onsite ahead of the authorities. It was not unheard of for the service station car park itself to become the scene of an impromptu party if the intended rave was delayed or cancelled and scores of partygoers found themselves stranded.
This series is an attempt to evoke the feeling of anticipation and excitement felt during the early months of the rave scene when a hedonistic party in a secret location would, with luck, consume the night ahead.
Exhibition: The Motorway Service Station as a Destination in its Own Right, Sheffield
April 17th, 2013
“The title alone of Simon Armitage’s 2011 poetry pamphlet, The Motorway Service Station as a Destination in its Own Right (published by The Poetry Business) was the inspiration behind and catalyst for this exhibition. Created to coincide with the second Sheffield Poetry Festival, selected photographers were invited to take part as much for the differences in their approach and style as for any similarities in their work. The resulting exhibition is an eclectic show of contemporary photography in which participants have used the title of Simon’s pamphlet as a point of departure, alongside the work of others who have more closely referred the content and mood of the original poems. Whilst all involved were aware of who else was taking part and free to communicate with each other, most of the work was undertaken in relative isolation. Photographers taking part are: Si Barber, David Barnes, Andy Brown, Simon Carruthers, Richard Chivers, Andrew Conroy (with the collaboration of Simon Armitage and Ian Baxter for the soundtrack), Alex Currie, Jessa Fairbrother, Sam Mellish, Andrew Robinson, Tribble and Mancenido.”
Bank Street Arts, Sheffield 14/05/2013 – 08/06/2013 Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 5.00 pm
Catalogue: Flash Forward 2010
February 23rd, 2013
832 days after entering the postal system, my copy of the Flash Forward 2010 catalogue finally arrives. Apologies to the Flash Forward team for suggesting that you forgot to put my copy in the post and apologies to Royal Mail for accusing you of being useless. The delayed delivery was the fault of a former house mate of mine who for the past 27 months has had the unopened parcel sat on a shelf in his room!
Catalogue: Millennium
August 31st, 2012
The 5th Edition of the Millennium catalogue is currently being circulated and features 326 of the photographers on the Millennium roster, with each photographer represented by a single image. As you would expect with such a large number of contributors, the catalogue is hugely varied but the quality is consistently high and the catalogue itself is an elegant item. My contribution is plate 125, a detail from ‘Untitled (Fridges)’ from 2006.
Project: The Motorway Service Station as a Destination in its Own Right
June 9th, 2012
I am very please to have been invited to participate in the collaborative photography project ‘The Motorway Service Station as a Destination in its Own Right’, 14 photographers have been selected to respond to Simon Armitages’ book of the same name with the resulting work scheduled for exhibition at Bank Street Arts, Sheffield from April 2013.
Exhibition: Voies Off, Arles
May 29th, 2012
As part of Human Endeavour collective I will be showing work from the project Degeneration at Voies Off in Arles. Voies Off runs between 02nd of July and 7th of July, 2012 and Degeneration will be featured during a night screening in the court yard at Archbishops Place.
Feature: Urbanautica
February 13th, 2012
The good people at Urbanautica recently showcased work from my ongoing series looking at the London canal network entitled Superfluity. See the full feature and much more from Urbanautica here:
Feature: FOTO8 Website
September 1st, 2011
FOTO8′s story of the week this week features images from the series Degeneration by the Human Endeavour collective with text by Richard Healey.
Book: Context and Narrative
August 19th, 2011
I feel very honored to be included in Maria Short’s new book Context and Narrative, recently published by AVA Books alongside such worthy names as Paul Fusco, Eve Arnold and Mark Power. Read a full review via the link below.
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Talk: Mini Click
July 17th, 2011
I will be giving a talk along with fellow Human Endeavour member Richard Chivers about our project Degeneration as part of the Mini Click series of photography talks at the Old Market, Hove on August 4th.
The Mini Click talks are organised by Jim Stephenson, otherwise known as Click Click Jim. Jim states on his blog that ‘this is the third season of talks and follows on from some excellent speakers over the last 8 months. I’ve been very proud to be able to present some extremely talented photographers as part of all this and this season we’ve been able to maintain the level of quality.’
Exhibition: Collectives Encounter @ Format Festival
January 17th, 2011
Simon will be exhibiting as part of the ‘Human Endeavour’ collective, showing work from the series ‘Degeneration’
“Established in 2004 in Derby UK, FORMAT is one of the UK’s leading international contemporary festivals of photography and related media.”
“FORMAT11′s theme is ‘Right Here, Right Now: Exposures from the public realm’ and is curated around the theme of street photography, examining the relationship that photographers and filmmakers have to it through a wide variety of approaches. The ‘Collectives Encounter 2011’ exhibition’s curator Yasmina Reggad has decided to explore the concept of ‘The Flâneur’. She invited the collectives working with or about photography and related media to look at this theme through the lens of this mobile observer and aesthete that Walter Benjamin presented as a conceptual and analytical tool to think the modern city.”
“The exhibition will showcase 4 new commissioned artworks by ASA & Wideyed, The Photography Collective, Vea-Collective and Rawiya, as well as Human Endeavour’s ‘Degeneration’ series.”
The exhibition will be held at the Royal Insurance Buildings, 2 The Strand, Derby, DE1 1BA
March 4th – April 3rd, 10:00 – 17:30 daily
Exhibition: Singapore International Photography Festival 2010
October 16th, 2010
“The SIPF is a worldwide biennial gathering of minds commonly pursuing the advancement and appreciation of photography. An arena for critical thought and academic discussion on photography in Southeast Asia, the festival also functions as a platform to nurture and propel photographers onto the international stage.”
“SIPF 2010 prides itself to be the platform for Southeast Asian photographers to showcase their photography works alongside their international counterparts. This year’s festival incorporates a brand new themed category titled, ‘HUMAN: NATURE’ to address universal concerns faced by the world.”
SIPF Open Call Showcase
Out of more than 6,500 works submitted, a stellar crop of 550 images by a total of 48 photographers of 23 different nationalities were short-listed by SIPF curators. Images from Simon’s ‘Cycles’ series will be exhibited as part of the ‘HUMAN: NATURE’ exhibition …..
Esplanade Xchange, 15 Oct – 13 Nov
Curated by Chow Chee Yong
Esplanade Xchange 90 Bras Basah Road,
Singapore 189562
Exit F of Esplanade MRT (Circle Line)
Daily: 8am – 10pm
Exhibition: Human Endeavour presents Degeneration
September 21st, 2010
Degeneration
The State or process of being or becoming degenerate; decline or deterioration.
“The work presented in this project by Human Endeavour is a study of key areas across Britain of 20th century housing that has slowly fallen into decline and is now due for regeneration. Investigating these outmoded and marginalised spaces the photographers here seek to explore ideas of displacement and a collapse of a sense of community or sense of place. As an examination of urban architecture, the project explores an interest in the values and beliefs that inform the built environment. It poses questions about the future of modern living and the impact that these spaces have, not only on the residents that inhabit them, but also on society as a whole. Many of the photographs show rows of boarded up houses, ‘ruins’ that represent the collapse of social ideologies. Here history is suspended, awaiting the next phase of modern architectural ideals to take shape.”
Having secured Arts Council funding, the Human Endeavour collective are very pleased to be exhibiting work from their collaborative and ongoing Degeneration project. This exhibition is part of the 2010 Brighton Photo Fringe festival that runs in parallel with the Brighton Photo Biannual. This exhibition will showcase 100% previously unseen work from Richard Chivers, Alex Currie, Oliver Perrott and Simon Carruthers.
Print Sales: EyeBuyArt
August 26th, 2010
EyeBuyArt is an online gallery, specialising in limited edition print runs of contemporary photography. EyeBuyArt have selected 2 images from Simon’s Cycles series for inclusion in their gallery.
Competition: Magenta Foundation Flash Forward 2010
July 6th, 2010
Simon has been selected as one of the winners of the 2010 Magenta Flash Forward competition hosted by The Magenta Foundation. Photographs from the series Cycles will be included in a beautifully published catalogue available later in the year.
Exhibition: human ENDeavour
April 23rd, 2010
Crane Kalman Brighton is pleased to present End – an exhibition bringing together a selection of work by five up-and-coming British contemporary landscape photographers all focused on a central theme. End will be exhibited at the Crane Kalman Brighton Gallery from 3rd – 16th May 2010.
In considering the relationship between modern society and the space it occupies, as a collective these images bring together new perspectives of the dialogue that occurs through our evolving relationship within the landscape we inhabit, and how this resonates upon the collective human psyche in wider society. The individual works shown here aim to offer new understandings of our position within a continually changing landscape.
End will run from 3rd – 16th May 2010 at Crane Kalman Brighton, 38 Kensington Gardens, North Laine, Brighton BN1 4AL. For further information or images, please contact Richard Kalman on 01273 697096 or via email at enquiries@cranekalmanbrighton.com
Exhibition: murmurART: An Introduction
February 3rd, 2010
murmurART: an introduction celebrates a new and exciting chapter in murmurART’s history. For the first time the organisation has the use of a permanent exhibition space to compliment its commitment to supporting and promoting the most exciting up-and-coming artists and the highest quality new work.
The exhibition brings together the works by twenty artists who have at some point been supported by murmurART since its inauguration in June 2009. murmurART: An introduction shows off a wealth of diversity, as works in the exhibition cross a broad spectrum of mediums from sculpture, installation, drawing, photography, video and print.
murmurART: an introduction marks not only the first exhibition for murmurART in its new exhibition space and office, but also the beginning of a new working relationship with 20 Hoxton Square; both working together to bring an exciting and complimentary programme of exhibitions and events for 2010.
To enquire about any works from this exhibition catalogue, please contact info@murmurart.com
murmurART: an introduction runs between 15th February – 31st March 2010 at 20 Hoxton Square, London
Commission: Wallpaper*
September 14th, 2009
The October ‘09 edition of Wallpaper* magazine features work from a commission to photograph the recently reopened Kensington Hotel, in London.
Publication: LIP magazine
August 5th, 2009
LIP is a forum for both amateur and professional photographers. Their themed magazine is published three times a year and features member’s work along with book and exhibition reviews. Issue No.13 is entitled Collections and includes a double page feature with images and a short essay. LIP13 is available from August 2009.
Feature: CAN magazine
June 16th, 2009
CAN is a Chinese Fine Art/Lifestyle magazine produced in conjunction with China Fine Art Collections Online (CFAEO). The June ’09 edition carries a ten-page feature of my Cycles project which looks great but unfortunately for me, the entire article is written in Chinese. Anybody fluent in Chinese who is willing to translate?
Commission: Wallpaper* Magazine
June 11th, 2009
In May ’09 I was fortunate enough to be asked to photograph the new ESPA spa, in Riga, Latvia for Wallpaper* magazine. A selection of the photos taken during this commission can be seen in the Interiors portfolio.
Representation: Daniel O’Gorman
April 29th, 2009
Daniel O’Gorman Visual Research is a small independent picture research and full service image licensing agent, based in Dublin, providing services globally. The gallery is a collaborative showcase of international emerging and mid-career artists. As of April ’09 Daniel O’ Gorman will be representing some of my work.
Shortlist: BJP Project Assistance Award
January 8th, 2009
“From sea gypsies in Myanmar to the vast containers that facilitate globalised trade, the subjects covered by the eight shortlisted photographers in our latest Project Assistance Award – run in partnership with Nikon UK – explore the hidden and familiar of the world around us. Selected from a longlist of 51 published entries in last year’s BJP, which were in turn chosen from more than 1,500 submitted portfolios, the final eight must now write an extended, fully-costed proposal for their chosen project for a chance to win our £5,000 bursary.”
BJP Volume 156 Number 7718 is available mid January ’08 and features an article of the eight shortlisted photographers.
I have made it to the final eight, fingers crossed (again!).
Wallpaper*: Graduate Directory
December 14th, 2008
“From artists to architects, photographers to foodies, fashion to graphic designers to perfumers, illustrators and travel gurus, here’s Wallpaper’s annual global graduate directory. This is our pick of the raw and the revolutionary who might just change your world forever”
I am very proud to be one of only sixteen photography graduates from around the world to be included in the 2009 Graduate Directory. Change your world forever? Let’s hope so!
Representation: Millennium Images
November 3rd, 2008
A selection of my images are now available via the contemporary photography website Millennium Images.
Exhibition: Human Endeavour
October 2nd, 2008
“Human Endeavour presents the work of four emerging contemporary photographers: Murray Ballard, Simon Carruthers, Richard Chivers and Alex Currie. Curated around a central theme, ‘Human Endeavour’ aims to tackle important issues of the day, concerning human intervention and activity in the 21st century. This exhibition covers the societal impacts of consumerism and waste, geological scars on the landscape through quarrying, the impact of globalisation and homogenisation as reflected through the urban and industrial environment, and thoughts of death and immortality observed via cryonics.”
Private View: 16 October 6 – 9pm / Open: Mon/Thurs/Fri/Sat 10.30 – 18.30, Sun 11.30 – 16.30 between 3 October – 30 November ’08 (closed Tues/Wed)
Location: Upstairs at Bellis Gallery, 8-9 Kings Road, South Lanes, Brighton, BN1 1NE
This exhibition is in conjunction with the Brighton Photo Fringe (BFF). We have managed to secure a great gallery space, as well as Arts Council funding for our first show under the Human Endeavour banner.
Shortlist: BJP Project Assistance Award
August 12th, 2008
“Every week we showcase a personal project from a photographer looking for completion funding or assistance shooting another series. Each published is then longlisted for our £5,000 Project Assistance Award. This week’s featured photographer is Simon Carruthers.”
BJP Volume 155 Number 7699 is available late August ’08 and the back double page showcases my project.
I have made it to the final fifty-one, fingers crossed.
Exhibition: A Series of Investigations
July 4th, 2008
“This exhibition showcases recent art works by 9 contemporary photographers concerned with investigating the idiosyncratic nature of the human condition in the 21st Century. Themes of sex, death and immortality, human impact upon the environment, globalisation, the façade of identity and political repression are all explored. In doing so, the exhibition reflects upon the diversity of contemporary photographic practice – demonstrating photography’s multiplicity of uses and approaches.”
Private View: 16 July 6 – 9pm / Open: Wednesday – Sunday 11am – 7pm (closed Mon/Tues) between 16 July – 10 August ‘08
Location: 242 – 248 Kingsland Road, E8 4DG
Exhibition: Foto8 Summer Show
June 14th, 2008
“Have your photographs exhibited in London’s prestigious Host Gallery, seen and judged by respected industry professionals from the photography, arts and media worlds, and a chance to win the first annual Foto8 award for best in show and a prize of £1,000.”
Open: Monday – Friday 10 – 6, Saturday 11 – 4 (closed Sun) between 17 July – 31 August ‘08
Location: 1 Honduras Street, London, EC1Y 0TH
My photo is one of around 100 photographs exhibited and up for sale – take a look.