When in London I visited the V&A museum that was holding an exhibition surrounding the idea of Hope, ‘Prix Pictet 2019.’ - ‘Revealing how a mood of optimism can drive us towards change.’ One photographer who stood out to me was Alexia Webster’s ‘Street Studios.’ Webster set up outdoor photographic studios for passers-by and their families to get their picture taken free of charge. Love and identity was portrayed through the portraits. The photographs themselves in the exhibition were bright and colourful. In each photograph there was a different story to tell with each family. What was interesting about the exhibition was the colour of the walls that had been painted grey, rather than traditional white. I felt this really enhanced the images along with them being well lit.
I then went to the National Portrait Gallery where the submissions and winners of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait prize 2019. The portrait that struck me the most was not any of the first, second or third place winners but in fact ‘Rosy and Herb (Stage four bowel cancer 36/100 years)’ portrait, taken by Jenny Lewis. What struck me about her portrait was the aesthetic vibrant green leaves on the curtains alongside the delicate curls in Rosy’s hair who is a new mother. The soft tones within the portrait release a sense of femininity which creates a calming atmosphere.
The third and final exhibition I visited was by Susan Bright’s ‘Feast for the Eyes,’ at the Photographer’s Gallery. This exhibition showed work from different photographers from all eras of food photography. Bright shows fine art and contemporary food photography over the years and how it has changed. Cookery books are now becoming more like art books and the layout is changing. The wall colours were bright blue, red and yellow, suggesting the three different areas of food photography. They were also painted this way to represent sitting around the table. I enjoyed this exhibition as it made photographing food more exciting and interesting and showed the potential of the future of food photography.
