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Tate Britain appoints Kate Bush to the new post of Adjunct Curator of Photography

Tate was famously slow to institutionalise photography, staging its first photography show (Cruel + Tender: The real in the 20th century photography) in 2003, and appointing its first photography curator, Simon Baker, in 2009. Now, hot on the heels of its acquisition of Martin Parr’s 12,000-strong photobook collection, its now made another major commitment to photography, appointing Kate Bush in the new post of Adjunct Curator of Photography. Bush, who was previously Head of Photography at the Science Museum Group, and prior to that Head of Art Galleries at the Barbican Centre in London, starts at Tate Britain in October.

22 September 2017

On the road with the carnies in 1970s America

Randal Levenson stumbled upon fairgrounds almost by accident in 1971 – travelling from Ottawa to Maine to visit a friend, he found he was there at the same time as the Fryeberg fair. He spent eight days photographing its agricultural and carnival exhibits and, intrigued, went on to the next fair, the last of the season, in Topsham, living in a tent in the woods opposite to be as near to the site as possible. From there Levenson decided to shoot a book-long project on the so-called carnies, and worked on the project for the next ten years. He spent nearly all of 1974-78 on the road with various sideshows and carnivals, shooting from under a dark cloth on a large-format camera on a tripod. “I photographed freaks as normal people,” he told Vice back in 2014. “I found most to be fairly noble individuals.”

22 September 2017

Photojournalism and responsibility in Jan Grarup's epic new book

“I meet people with more empathy and more care towards one another in war situations or in conflict around the world than I have ever experienced in Europe. People want to share the little they have with me because I have talked to them and shown an interest in them,” says Jan Grarup. His work has taken him to the sites of the worst conflicts – from obvious examples such as Iraq and Iran, to forgotten areas like the Central African Republic. Each place he visits, he stays to learn about the culture and customs of the people before taking their photographs. In these places of despair and destruction, Grarup often finds hope and resilience. But the Western world needs to be more active and share the responsibility to help these regions return to a peaceful existence.

21 September 2017

Ewen Spencer's vision of Young Love

“The Face had a different theme every issue and were planning an issue on sex, so Graham Rounthwaite [the art director] said ‘Can you photograph in clubs and sixth form parties and get an idea of young kids’ idea of love?’”says Ewen Spencer. The feature became a regular spot, sometimes shot by Spencer and sometimes by another photographer, a writer going along each time to talk to the kids they found. But it became an ongoing interest for Spencer, who started to pursue it in his own time as well as on commission, and images from the series have now been published as a book by Stanley Barker

21 September 2017

Joana Choumali and Musa Nxumalo among the stars of the 11th Rencontres de Bamako

Titled Afrotopia, the headline show of the 11th Rencontres de Bamako features work from 40 photographers and collectives, drawn from all over the continent and from the African diaspora abroad. Shown at the National Museum of Mali, the exhibition was drawn from over 300 applications by a jury of photography insiders including Rencontres de Bamako artistic director Marie-Ann Yemsi, photographer Sammy Baloji and curator Azu Nwagbogu. It will be on show from 02 December-31 January 2018, after which the exhibition will travel to The Netherlands.

18 September 2017

Martin Parr's Foundation opens to the public

Martin Parr has found a permanent home for the foundation he set up in 2014, giving visitors access to his archive and to his formidable collection. “I’ve been very lucky,” he told BJP’s Gemma Padley. “I have secured a very good living from doing this, and so the foundation is a great way to feed some of that back into the system.”

18 September 2017

BJP on the programme at the truly international Tbilisi Photo Festival

Returning for its eight edition from 13 September, Tbilisi Photo is an international festival in the heart of the Caucasus which hopes to bridge the image-making communities from across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. This year themed Fashion, the diverse programme includes a look at Guy Bourdin’s iconic oeuvre, the Dutch artist Viviane Sassen’s approach to fashion photography, and an exclusive display of Iranian fashion magazines published before the Islamic revolution in 1978.

12 September 2017

Getty Images announces its 2017 grant winners

“The recipients of the 2017 Getty Images Editorial Photography Grants are working at the cutting edge of photojournalism, ensuring that often ignored global issues are brought to the forefront of public consciousness,” said Hugh Pinney, Vice President of News, Getty Images. This year’s winners see projects taking place in war torn Mosul, documenting the unrest in Venezuela and refugees seeking new homes in Europe.

8 September 2017
Raw and compelling narratives of our time from today’s leading documentary photographers.