Inspiration without incident: A successful Year 12 Photography trip

By Julia Hanlon, Year 12 Photography, St Peter's School

We recently had the opportunity to visit the new and expanded Tate Modern as part of an exclusive schools preview day. My Year 12 classmates and I were invited to look around the exhibitions and gallery spaces in all its new found glory. I had never been to the Tate before so I found this visit a very inspiring eye opener.

Tate exterior shots by Paul, Year 12

We first visited Tate Exchange. a new civic space on the fifth floor of the Switch House extension. The view was breathtaking, literally - Mr Francis suggested we walked up the stairs rather than take the elevator. Excitingly, we will be involved in a project early next year in this very space...  

The rest of the galleries were brilliant. From Sheela Gowda’s Behold, an installation made from metres of human hair and car bumpers, to Cildo Meireles’ Babel, a vast tower of noise emitting radios. I was exposed to many contemporary new works alongside some more familiar artist names and styles.

I was particularly drawn to the work of Louise Bourgeois, the French-American artist. Although terrified by the spiders, I was captivated by the underlying themes of sexuality, fragility and protection.

Julia photographed some of the work by Louise Bourgeois and created these two-frame films, above and below, with images taken on the same day at Borough Market.

Another artist whose work I found intriguing was the Indian painter, Bhupen Khakhar. His paintings confront provocative themes with sensitivity and wit, achieved through a narrative of bright colours and experimental ceramics.

Due to the Tate’s sheer vastness I didn’t have time to see everything, but what I did manage to see has certainly helped support new ideas for work.

After the Tate Modern we walked to Borough Market and had the opportunity to experiment with some street and documentary photography.

Images by Harvey and Briony, Yr 12

From here, via a few Tube stops, we went to the ‘Strange and Familiar’ exhibition at The Barbican, curated by British Photographer, Martin Parr. The show included a wide range of works, not least from photographers we have studied in class such as Henri-Cartier Bresson, Garry Winogrand and Paul Strand. The exhibition considered how international photographers from the 1930s onwards have captured the social, cultural and political identity of the UK, a timely choice for our current documentary themed coursework. I found the formality of the exhibition and chronological ordering allowed me to reflect thoughtfully on the wider contexts of the pictures.

Perhaps the most striking images were the imposing portrait prints by Bruce Gilden.The close proximity of the huge, over-sized prints in this space, created an uncomfortable feeling when viewing the images; it felt intrusive, yet, compelling, scrutinising each minute facial detail.

After absorbing all these new works and artists it was time to head home. A safe return, thankfully (no threat of terrorist encounters, as with our previous trip). Seeing these exhibitions has certainly expanded my knowledge. It has enabled me to think increasingly photographically as I continue to find my own creative ways forward as an artist and photographer.

Julia Hanlon