... welcome to the irregular art beat

Our Latest News - Oct/Nov 06

IAB welcome Ed van de Logt, Sarah Kaye and Karena Akhavein to the London Team!

The launch of our new Shoreditch location in August went fantastically well, and we hope to see you all there again on November 12th from 5-8:30pm at La Viande (3 Charlotte Road), followed by dinner with the artist at the Hoxton Apprentice for the launch of "PANOPTICAL".

Photography is finally taking its rightful place in the art scene in London as was demonstrated by record sales of photographic art at Frieze Art Fair 2006 and all the other major London art shows this year. In light of this, we are pleased to present the work of our latest artist: Guilhem Alandry, photographer.

Guilhem Alandry is a French documentary photographer based in London. His multimedia 360-degree photo stories have won him acclaim and several awards, and is supported by the Prince’s Trust with; the New Entrepreneur Scholarship and the London Youth Support Trust. He was named Olympus Digital Photographer of the Year in the Observer Hodge Award 2004. Alandry is a co-founder of photographers collective Documentography.

"Originally I wanted to be a filmmaker, and was told that all good filmmakers started with still photography to learn the disciplines of light and composition. I became enamoured with the medium. I think there is some middle ground between film and still photography found in panoramas.

I knew I was meant to be a documentary photographer when I went to Albania during the refugee crisis of 1999. I came to understand that what was the most important was not to be published, but to be there on the ground in the moment, witnessing, listening, recording; be there to let them know that their struggle was not going to be forgotten."

PANOPTICAL

IAB discovered Guilhem Alandry though the Prince’s Trust, and fell in love with both his work, and the stories behind it. Panoptical is a show in two parts, Panopticon; Alandry’s signature 360° panoramics, and Genna; the documentation of Ethiopian Christmas celbrated in the holly city of Lalibela.

Panopticon

This collection of works allows the viewer to see the whole picture; not limited by the camera’s lenses, you are shown 360° of scenery, a panoptic view into the world. The name Panopticon come from a prison building designed in the 1700s. A panopticon is a big brother watchtower, allowing the guards to see everything going on at once. Alandry’s panoramas offer this same power to the viewer, an unedited view of what he see around him. Influenced by his experiences as a documentary photographer there is an intimacy and honesty to these dramatic pieces. Though two-dimensional it is easy to imagine being in these images, surrounded by the scenes depicted.

Genna

Christianity has been embedded in Ethiopian culture since the 4th century in the form of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. Thought they share the same essential beliefs as European Christians, their celebrations and stories are different. Alandry had the opportunity to document Genna (Ethiopian Christmas, celebrated on January 7th) in Lalibela where 100 000 of pilgrims descend, some walking for weeks to celebrate Genna, over 3 days and 3 nights of prayers, psalms, songs and blessings.

Lalibela, previously known as Roha, is named after the king, is a beautiful place, rich in history, ledged and mystery. Lalibela, is considered the second holiest city in Ethiopia, and is found in the mountainous regions of Wollo surrounded by 11 rock-hewn churches, built during the 12-13th century. According to legend, King Lalibela built the churches to God’s design and direction.

The King’s name Lalibela, translates to mean the “bees, recognize his sovereignty”, because a swarm of bees are said to have surrounded him a birth. Recalling an old belief that the animal world foretold important futures, his mother announced: The bees know that this child will become king.

Trials and tribulations followed. The ruling king feared for his throne and tried to have Lalibela killed, poisoning him that left the young prince in a coma for 3 days. During the three-day stupor, Lalibela was transported by angels to heaven where God told him not to worry but to return to Roha and build churches. God told Lalibela how to design the churches, where to build them (Roha) and how to decorate them.

Lalibela was said to build the churches in no time at all, because he was assisted by 24 angels, who worked at night to complete the momentous task. To this day, these magnificent churches are a sight to behold, consider by some to be the 8th wonder of the world.

ARTIST'S PROCESS

Alandry’s work walks the fine line between artist and archivist, producing beautiful, documentary photographs. Many of his works are 360° panoramas - reporting everything in a scene. He uses a technique called ‘photo stitching’. With the use of specialised equipment and software he is able to stitch together multiple frames to create images with a complete 360º angle of view. Achieving a seamless result is more complicated than aligning photographs; it also involves correcting for perspective and lens distortion, identifying pixel-perfect matches between subject matters, and adjusting for shadows & light variations. Hours of works are put into each of these beautiful prints.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

The IAB London Team