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Airports
for the Lights, Shadows & Particles
A survey exhibition by Jyll Bradley
, Liverpool
25th Feb - 1st May 2011, free entry
Reviewed by
As soon as you enter this exhibition your attention will be caught by
the huge, wide-angled photographs which are brilliantly suspended in the
darkness. The use of light boxes and low ambient lighting bring the the
photos to life. The works appear chiefly concerned with documenting the
dynamic relationship between light and objects.
In photography, light is the supreme element. Photographers wait days,
or even weeks, for that 'perfect' light. Bradley focuses on artificial
lighting, which is notoriously difficult to photograph correctly. Despite
this, some of the photographs are the best renditions I have seen of artificial
light. For example, one image is captured in a seemingly mundane office
building. The perfect exposure makes the image seem altogether pleasing,
drawing our attention to the complexities of light and shadow.
In other works Bradley uses text imposed into the frame to provide a
narrative for the photo. I find this distracting and it is why captions
are otherwise used separately alongside photographs. However, one might
wonder if Bradley is exploring how the relationship between text and imagery
is used - or perverted - in the mass media. Considering the intelligent
presentation and the technical skill of the photographer, Airports for
Lights is an interesting approach to the commonplace and is recommend.
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