Photomontage Editions of 1

September 29, 2011

tags: Bangladesh, Brick Lane, city, Dictatorships, German Citizen, Hitler, John Heartfield, London, phil maxwell, photoblog, poster fragments, Spitalfields, street photography, Tony Blair, urban, War criminal, Whitechapel

Photomontage is as old as photography itself. It has been a powerful weapon against corrupt governments and dictatorships. As a child I remember viewing photographs of John Heartfield’s work produced against the Nazis and Hitler in particular. At the time I thought the work was like an exploding bomb and was amazed at the courage of Hertfield (who was a German citizen). His anti Nazi work has subsequently inspired many other visual artists who challenge ruling elites.

Dhallywood & the Red Fort, 2009

I’ve always been drawn to what I might describe as the ‘hidden organic footprint’ of any urban area. Primarily this comprises of weathered and torn poster fragments which through accidental juxtapositions develop their own subversive narrative of the time. I’ve photographed walls around the world that have provided a basis for my photomontage. For many years I saved darkroom ‘test strips’ with a view to including them into some kind of photomontage. As these ‘strips’ were usually small portraits in themselves they afford many creative opportunities. Since I am now also working on a series of photomontage exploring ‘Globalisation’ in a purely digital format, the mixed media photomontage has an immediacy and creative vocabulary that includes chance. ‘Back to Basics’ with PVA and a digital image overlaid with a fragment of a darkroom image delivers the best of both worlds and an original piece of art, an edition of 1!

Dhallywood & the Red Fort, Photomontage (detail) 2009

All of these limited edition prints will be on sale at my exhibition at the Bishopsgate Institute. They all measure approximately 48.3cm x 33cm and can be viewed by asking one of the librarians.