Description:
Keith Medley was a commercial photographer on Merseyside between 1949 and 1987. His Wallasey-based photographic business made him well-known in the area for his work as a wedding, portrait and press photographer.
All of the images in the book are studio portraits taken between 1965-68. The intriguing ‘dual-portraits’ originate from Medley’s efforts to be cost-effective. By exposing half the plate at a time, he was able to produce two portraits from the same negative. For this exhibition the portraits have been printed together, creating a compelling alternative narrative. Small shifts in the pose or expression of the sitter help us to share their experience of a professional photography studio.
The exhibition is curated by photographer, Ken Grant and Professor Mark Durden. Mark Durden said: “Looking through this massive archive we became really fascinated with the amount of double portraits—often of the same sitter— that were exposed on glass-plate negatives. While of course never intended to be printed and exhibited in this way, the doubling offers up a new way of thinking about the portrait tradition and convention, also delaying our gaze as we compare the sitters’ shifts in pose, from one take to the next.”
Publication Date: 2013
Publisher: LJMU Archives
Condition: Very Good
Book Size: 21 x 14cm
Pages: 48
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780957617308
Description:
Keith Medley was a commercial photographer on Merseyside between 1949 and 1987. His Wallasey-based photographic business made him well-known in the area for his work as a wedding, portrait and press photographer.
All of the images in the book are studio portraits taken between 1965-68. The intriguing ‘dual-portraits’ originate from Medley’s efforts to be cost-effective. By exposing half the plate at a time, he was able to produce two portraits from the same negative. For this exhibition the portraits have been printed together, creating a compelling alternative narrative. Small shifts in the pose or expression of the sitter help us to share their experience of a professional photography studio.
The exhibition is curated by photographer, Ken Grant and Professor Mark Durden. Mark Durden said: “Looking through this massive archive we became really fascinated with the amount of double portraits—often of the same sitter— that were exposed on glass-plate negatives. While of course never intended to be printed and exhibited in this way, the doubling offers up a new way of thinking about the portrait tradition and convention, also delaying our gaze as we compare the sitters’ shifts in pose, from one take to the next.”
Publication Date: 2013
Publisher: LJMU Archives
Condition: Very Good
Book Size: 21 x 14cm
Pages: 48
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780957617308