Moving Pictures

To the Black Swan for Portraits of the Working People of Somerset. When I first read about this, I had my doubts. What would be the point of getting people to pose and then video-ing them, rather than just shooting still images? What would video add? And the title was hardly a grabber, either. 


But I was converted. Projected onto the end wall of the gallery, they are beautifully lit and shot - subdued colours with hints of Victorian photography and Vermeer. The seated ones work best (those standing look rather uncomfortable). A potter, a basket weaver, a coffin maker, a stone carver, cheese makers and so on sit perfectly still in profile with their work and/or tools around them. Then a slight turn to camera -  and the effect is both surprising and revealing. 


The accompanying oral history interviews would benefit from some judicious editing (a frequent problem with oral histories for the casual listener/viewer), but the portraits are well worth a visit. I've not spent such a long time in a gallery, so engrossed, for many a day.


At the Black Swan until 5th May.


http://www.blackswan.org.uk/exhibitions_black_swan_arts_Detail.php?Portraits-of-the-Working-People-of-Somerset-29