Installation view, Reimagine,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
Brighton, England's trendiest seaside resort, may be the most open and free-thinking city in England . A buzzing cultural centre with theatres and music venues to suit every eclectic taste, it’s home to two universities (Sussex and Brighton), a highly regarded art school and an art centre, Fabrica, which hosts shows by top international contemporary artists, including the likes of Anish Kapoor and Michaelangelo Pistoletto.
Now running through the month of October, the 7th edition of the Brighton Photo Biennial is Britain’s largest curated photo festival.
Installation view, Our City, How Do We Look,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
The theme this year focuses on identity. Organised by Photoworks, a leading British photo agency, the festival explores the roles that photography, and particularly the pervasive images projected by fashion and style photography, play in understanding gender and sexuality. This includes the politics of style , subcultures, and the transformation of social and cultural norms.
Three main projects are located in three separate spaces, all within easy walking distance from one another.
Installation view, Kick over the statues (Ewen Spencer),
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
The largest and most extensive, housed in the University of Brighton galleries, is the European premiere of an American exhibition, “The Dandy Lion Project”, exploring global expressions of contemporary urban black dandyism. The two others are new commissions: One focuses on British Youth style, using the framework of London's Notting Hill Festival; the other, a collaboration between British photographer Olivia Arthur, a member of the international Magnum photo cooperative, and Indian photographer Bharat Sikka, looks at sexuality and gender in Brighton and Mumbai.,
The Dandy Lion’s curator, Shantrelle P. Lewis, aims to show a different side of black culture than the usual clichés of gang violence or the rap world of the likes of Jay-z or Kanye West. In more than 150 images by 30 photographers, taken over a decade, she presents an African diaspora of black dandies -- elegant and refined individuals, each with a highly colourful and original sense of style. For the Brighton edition, she has added “'high-styled rebel” women dandies who, oddly, were missing from the show’s earlier versions in Chicago and San Francisco.
Installation view, The Dandy Lion Project,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
Also hosted by the University of Brighton, “Reimagine”, by Arthur and Sikka, is a documentary project in which Arthur travelled to India and Sikka to Britain, to film people from Mumbai and Brighton revealing their diverse gender and sexual identities, both in private and public spaces.
At The Fabrica art centre, in a converted church building a few streets away, “Kick over the Statues”, by photographer Ewen Spencer, is a collage of multi-layered images of British youth tribes and style presented on giant custom-built billboard screens –street kids hanging out and looking cool together.
Installation view, Off the Page – Self Styled,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
Running in parallel is a fringe photo festival in various venues scattered across the city.
Everything is free. For full events programmes, consult - bpb.org.uk and photofringe.org
Article by Claudia Barbieri
Installation view, State of Control,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
布莱顿，英格兰最具时尚气息的海滨度假点，同样也或许是英格兰最具开放与自由思想气质的城市。这座具有大量剧院与演出场馆的热闹的文化中心几乎能适应所有人的文化口味，这里的两所大学（苏赛克斯大学与布莱顿大学）之艺术学院也同样令人瞩目。Fabrica，作为布莱顿代表性的艺术画廊，举办了大量包括Anish Kapoor与Michaelangelo Pistoletto等现当代著名艺术家的国际展览。
金秋十月，作为不列颠最大的摄影艺术节，第七届Brighton Photo Biennial即将召开。
Installation view, Our City, How Do We Look,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
本年度的主题关注于身份问题。由英国领先的摄影机构Photoworks主办，本次展览探索了摄影，尤其是无处不在的由时尚及风格摄影创造的图片在理解性别议题上发挥的作用。这包括风格政治、亚文化，以及社会与文化形式的转型等。
在本次活动中，三个主题将分别置于三个不同的场馆内，场馆之间紧密相连，步行即可抵达。
Installation view, The Dandy Lion Project,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
最大且内容最丰富的展馆坐落在布莱顿大学画廊，是为“The Dandy Lion Project”（一个美国展览）在欧洲的首次公演，它探索了现当代全球范围内的黑人时尚表达。其他两个中，一个以London's Notting Hill Festival的框架关注于英国年轻人的时尚；另一个由国际Magnum摄影协会会员，英国摄影师Olivia Arthur及印度摄影师Bharat Sikka合作完成，主要关注于布莱顿与孟买的性别议题。
The Dandy Lion的管理者Shantrelle P. Lewis，旨在展示黑人文化的不同侧面，不是帮派暴力或者JAY-Z和Kanye West的说唱。十年间，30位摄影师拍摄了超过150张照片，她呈现了非洲移民黑色花花公子—高雅脱俗，每一种风格非常丰富多彩，且不改变初衷。对于这届布莱顿，奇怪的是，她补充了展览早期在芝加哥和旧金山遗失的“高级的反叛”女花花公子。
Installation view, Fashion Shows,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
布莱顿大学还主办了纪录片项目“重新想象”，亚瑟前往印度、西卡和英国，电影从孟买和布莱顿人揭示他们在私人和公共空间不同的性别和性身份。
在Fabrica艺术中心，在教堂建筑几条街，摄影师Ewen Spencer拍摄的“踢翻雕像”是英国青年部落风格多层图像的巨大广告牌–挂出来的定制屏幕-街上的孩子们一起挂上看起来很酷。
Installation view, Fashion Shows,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
“在平行时空中奔跑”是本次活动的一个附加活动，它在遍布全城的不同画廊中举办。
一切都是免费的。完整的活动计划,咨询——bpb.org.uk和photofringe.org
由Claudia Barbieri所著的文章
Installation view, Reimagine,
Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. © Nigel Green
