Have to be honest and admit that up until these last few months I was never a huge fan of Bruce Gilden. I always found his method of using flash up close and personal, shooting the unsuspecting public on the street, a little too intrusive and rude. But have to admit that having tried it myself this last winter, it is harder than it looks and takes courage and a lot audacious impertinence.
When I heard about the ‘Strange & Familiar’ exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery I knew that this was an opportunity to see just what Gilden was really saying with his brusque manner.
And I was really blown away…a great day spent wandering through the rooms with images beautifully displayed, thinking to myself one visit wasn’t ever going to be enough to absorb the details, locations and characters in all the images. Then I saw them…
..displayed across one wall, these huge violently grotesque color portraits, four faces staring back at me complete with every type of blemish, pimples, spots, cuts and bruises, nostril hairs, caked makeup, toothless gums and furrowed brows. What a spectacle these faces are and what a privilege to see them, love each one, spots and all! Will be going back again and will be venturing out with my off camera flash just to see if I can ever muster up the courage to capture a stranger close enough to see the downy hair on their cheeks or the veins on a bulbous nose.
Above images were taken at the exhibition and am quite pleased with the result but also realize that if not for Gilden these would be bland everyday images of people just milling about. Would love him to come to Blackpool and see what he could capture on the streets of the best coastal town in UK.
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Published by dmanderphoto
Dawn Mander, a Blackpool-based self taught photographer, exhibited worldwide,notably USA, Australia, Canada, Hamburg, Moscow Italy and U.K. and published internationally both in print and online. Dawn runs street photography walks in her hometown of Blackpool and gives talks at local colleges, schools and photography groups.
In 2018 Dawn was nominated for the RPS Hundred Heroines campaign celebrating women in photography and in 2019 exhibited with over 80 female photographers in the
RPS 'Representation on the Line:(Un)framing our Identities' held in Chelsea, Doncaster and Blackpool. For the latter she also executed the roles of organiser and co-curator.
Dawn continues to work on her #DocumentingBlackpool & #PortraitofBlackpool series and is currently creating and co-curating exhibitions and community art projects at HIVE Blackpool.
2021 - Format Mass Isolation Project. The Peoples Picture at Quad in Derby
https://thepeoplespicture.com/massisolationformat
2021 - Double Trouble Festival, Women in Street/ Unexposed Collective exhibition at Bondi Beach and Brisbane Australia.
2020/21 Large Scale Images printed and exhibited in the HIVEArts Blackpool Tramstop Takeover.
2020 - Rankin 2020 book contributor
2020 - Grundy Art Gallery Blackpool contributor fro #worktownghosttown online documentary series, exploring the effects of pandemic and Covid lockdown on Blackpool.
2019 - RPS Chelsea, Doncaster and Blackpool
2019 - Women in Street Double Trouble collective exhibition in San Fransisco USA.
2019 - Works shown at Millepiani collective exhibitions In Rome Italy.
2019 - Stills photographer for Farrena Films - The Other Side with Valerie Hope.
2019 - Promotional images shown at Grauman's Chinese Theatre Los Angeles, California USA
2019 - HotBed Press 20/20 print collective shown at Cube in Moscow. part of the Arrested ReDevelopment Collective Blackpool.
2019 - Publicity shots for Virgin Trains promoting travel to Blackpool.
2018 - exhibited and sold works at Manchester Art Fair.
2018 - Seaside Special Postcards from the Edge. Book Cover pub: BlueMoose Books
2018 - works exhibited at Hebden Bridge Art Fair
2015-2017. Local exhibitions in Blackpool: HIVE Blackpool, The Grundy Art Gallery,
The Grand Theatre, It's A Gallery, Shaws, The Solaris Centre, The Galleon, Barista.
Publications:
2020 - Rankin 2020
June 2015 - BLACK+WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine.
July 2015 - BLACK+WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine.
November 2016 - BLACK+WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine
2017 - The Guardian
2016 - The Guardian
2016 - Lancashire Life.
2015 - World Street Photography Book.
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Dawn Mander 