Ollie Harrop, from the project ‘Working Progress’
I’m always rather interested in photographers that make projects close to home, drawing out stories and moments from that which surrounds them. Opening tomorrow evening is ‘Still City’, a show conceived by Ollie Harrop and Billie Macrae, bringing together four photographers who make work about the experience of living in London; Polly Braden, Colin O’Brien, Ollie Harrop and Billy Macrae.
Billy said of the show, “The four projects in this show differ wildly in content, style and technique. However, what binds them so clearly together is an urgent desire within each photographer to express the reality of personal experience in our hometown of London.”
I spoke to Ollie briefly about the conception of the show:
“The idea behind the show has been on the boil for a while now. Since interning at Magnum a few years ago, and the friends I’ve made in the industry since that time, there’s been a string feeling that there isn’t enough of a ‘culture’ for documentary photographers working in London, especially when you compare it to Paris and New York.
There seems to be a bit of a spark right now with a lot of people feeling the same way and things are starting to happen. Photographers that would usually use London as a base for shows, agencies and developing/printing are starting to shoot projects on their doorstep too, and businesses such as Contact Editions and Roof Unit are beginning to feel like the beginning of a scene, for want of a better word. The first thing me and Billy did when R O O M asked us to curate a show was to put a list together of potential projects with this in mind.”
The show opens tomorrow, 6 August, at R O O M gallery.
