On the 15th February, I visited the Tate Modern in London where I was particularly interested in Sir Elton John's exhibition of photographs. Over the years, he has collected over 8,000 photos and I was interested in why he had chosen each image and how they relate to each other. The Tate Modern in itself has an artistic and calm atmosphere, where people from all over the world are joined by their love for art, but when I entered the exhibition, it was even more intriguing. The lighting was perfect, where individual bulbs shone over each photograph, to draw attention- it certainly did mine.
It had dozens of photographs from Elton John's collection -which we could view in our own time- all different in size, theme and technique. They were presented in four separate rooms, sometimes thematically, but sometimes in the way they were set up in Elton John's office. There were portraits, full body pictures, experimental photographs, documents and object photography. All had information explaining how they were made and by who as well as the date, which was very helpful in order to understand the context behind them. Most were collected from the 20th century and all were mesmerising in theme and the background stories made them even more interesting. They were presented at the perfect height and space apart to emphasise their individuality, making the layout also effective.
My favourite pictures where the small photos (some smaller than a mobile phone screen) because they made me look harder for all the detail and I appreciated each aspect of them. Also, I loved looking at Irving Penn's photographs where he put famous people of his time in a corner of a room and photographed their reaction to the small space. I loved the range of poses he collected by the people and they made me travel back in time, feeling intrigued throughout.
Also, halfway through the exhibition there was a short (five minute) video of Elton John himself talking about his favourite photos and why he has collected so many different images. It put into perspective how the photographs relate and actually compliment each other and was a very enjoyable and effective aspect of the exhibition.
I would definitely recommend the exhibition to everyone interested in photography as from the beginning information written on the wall to the little shop at the end, it kept you focused on the photographs and nothing else outside the exhibition (it ends May 7th 2017 so make sure to get a ticket). It was an amazing experience and allowed me to differentiate between many photographers' techniques and styles, learning their preferences, which for many of the photos in the exhibition was to present what life was like at the time or show off creative techniques which were newly experimental and modern. The photographers thought of themselves as 'radical', pushing to the extreme, testing the camera's and their limits.
The only feedback I would give is to actually extend the exhibition and include a few more of the thousands of photos Sir Elton John had collected. It could have shown an even bigger range of themes and dates which would have made the exhibition slightly longer and give it a better value for money (£13.10). I didn't want it to end!
Amazing review, wish I had gone there myself!