Whitehot Magazine
"The Best Art In The World"
By Diane Smyth, whitehot magazine of contemporary art, London
Photography is about recording in a very subjective way, says London-based photographer Stephen Gill. 'I like it when someone has made something that only they could have made. It's that individuality I’m looking for.'
From images taken with a disposable camera to photographs of the back of advertising hoardings, Gill's work has always had that esoteric touch and his latest projects are more eccentric still. In his 'flowers' series, Gill places dried flowers onto images of street scenes and re-photographs them; in his 'buried' series he takes similar photographs of street scenes and puts them underground, digging them up a few days later when the acids and moisture of the soil has eaten into the photographic emulsion. It's unusual, freewheeling work, which transforms inherently reproducible images into individual pieces of art.
It's about letting go and following my instincts,' says Gill. 'I think it's almost a reaction against photography. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, digital imaging was coming in and everyone was talking about quality and technique.
Diane Smyth is deputy editor of the British Journal of Photography. She has held this position for the past three years. Diane originally studied English and Philosophy and holds an MA in 20th century literature from the University of London. She lives in sunny Lewisham, south east London.