Her book "London Perceived" was an early influence on my photography; my English-expat grandfather passed it down to me when I was maybe 12 (before I discovered photography for myself). I've searched out some of her other books since, and they are quietly wonderful. Glad to see that she is getting some recognition; it's just a shame that this show is five thousand miles away from me.
That’s really interesting to read Mark. London Perceived was also my introduction too, which I found in the junk bin of a second hand bookshop for £3 around 15 years ago. It really resonated with me, (and was published the year I was born), and likewise have been able to find most of her books on cities quite cheaply on Abe.
Around that time, I found out she had an exhibition in The Hague in Holland so made a weekend of it thanks to really cheap air flights at the time. It was a really great exhibition. I’ve been to the London show, which was really good too, though quite different curation. There was some of her magazine work exhibited, plus some spreads in vitrines, and would really like to see more of this work.
What I found curious was that there was an almost equal amount of colour to black and white. While the colour work is exemplary, and I think some of her most striking images are in colour, it didn’t reflect the balance of her published work which was maybe 80% black and white. I’m presuming it’s a curatorial decision to emphasise the colour, (I’m not complaining), but there were some wonderful black and whites missing. She did say in an interview that she prefers black and white for portraiture. Some large format shooting friends are in town next week so looking forward to another visit.
I hope you get to see one of her shows sometime soon Mark.
www.theguardian.com
