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  © Stephen Gill: „Off Ground“

Stephen Gill (* 1971 in Bristol, United Kingdom). Gill has emerged as a major force in British photography, and his work has been exhibited and held in severel collections. Gill has gained special recognition for his original and beautiful photobooks which include Invisible, Hackney Wick, Warming Down, A Series of Disappointments, Archaeology in Reverse, Hackney Flowers, Buried, Off Ground, Coming up for Air, B-Sides, Trinidad 44 Photographs, A Book of Birds, Outside In, Coexistence, Talking to Ants, Best Before End, Hackney Kisses and Pigeons.

 

www.stephengill.co.uk

 

Artist's statement

 

 

The pictures were made in response to the London riots that took place in August 2011. I had a strong urge to respond and try to make sense of what was happening in London and in this case the Borough of Hackney. I was concerned, too, knowing that so often by the very act of photographing and filming can also fuel and add to the problems. I feel this was particularly felt with the TV and press coverage and the fast modern dissemination of images that amplified and distorted the events, giving so much oxygen to the violence. I collected stones and rocks that were thrown during the riots and took them to my nearby studio to photograph them in a detached descriptive way without colour. I see such studies as starting points for reflection that are pinpointed to a certain time and place.