Twenty-Ninth Exhibition
As part of the World Photography Festival’s London wide project ‘The Bigger Picture’, EXHIBIT is proud to bring together two special photographers into one show. Entitled The Super Estate: People and Moments, the show features work from Patricia Niven and Kathryn Faulkner.
In a sense the show is a partial retrospective of EXHIBIT’s larger Super Estate exhibition held over 2009/10, based here at London’s Golden Lane Estate. In this show Patricia and Kathryn once again present their work, which captured people and experiences in and around this unique housing estate.
Golden Oldies by Patricia Niven
Originally shown in 2009 and 2010, the Golden Oldies project documents thirteen residents of London’s iconic Golden Lane Estate, the majority of whom have lived on the Estate since its advent over 50 years ago.
Golden Lane Estate resident and photographer Patricia Niven photographed residents in a series of intimate and affecting images. Aside from being an important historical record, the images and accompanying text by writer Sarah Winman offer an insight into the sitter’s character; from who they were the day they collected their keys, to who they have become today. Gentle yet thought-provoking, this series of portraits aims to depict each unique journey.
Patricia has an ongoing interest in the stories and lives of the older generation. It is her ability to find beauty in the everyday that offers us a wider perspective in the way we look at our neighborhoods and of course our neighbors.
Bibliology at Golden Lane Estate
Bibliology at Golden Lane Estate is a photography exhibition originally created in 2010 as one of the Super Estate Projects. The images were created by British artist Kathryn Faulkner alongside a special BookCrossing event.
The exhibition extends Faulkner’s interest in reading as subject and showcases a body of work that highlights the role of books on the Golden Lane Estate. The BookCrossing event was sponsored by Penguin Books, during which new books were crossed with others brought in by participants and released into the wilds of the Golden Lane Estate.
During her original residency, Faulkner visited numerous book-loving residents and observed how they lived with their books and how bookcases help to furnish a home. Visiting flats in all seven houses on the estate called into play a cross-section of living environments and whilst there are shared architectural details, such as the cantilevered staircases, the individuality of the personality shaping their environment is crystallised through the different collections of books and the various ways they are stored.
The body of work touches upon social/anthropological concerns and the images themselves play with composition, colour and light in a painterly way. With one series directly referencing the ‘still life’ genre, the everyday materiality of domestic spaces is reduced to an essential fragment of that space and reflects the lives inhabiting it.
Reading is a democratic and universal activity. Be it for knowledge, pleasure or work, this snapshot of literary life on Golden Lane Estate proves that despite the rise of electronic publishing, the book object still holds its place in the affections of the people who live there.
The Super Estate: People and Moments is part of the World Photography Festival organized by the World Photography Organisation.
26 April – 19 May 2012
