Hello friends, this is the first in a behind-the-scenes series about the work that’s going on to create a retrospective of Paddy Summerfield’s photography at the Bodleian scheduled to open in October this year.
I am fully involved in the show - from design to print to texts and curation - and this film is a way for me to record some of my thoughts as I eat, sleep and breathe this extraordinary experience.
The exhibition, titled The Camera Helps, brings together seven major bodies of work; five published by Dewi Lewis and two previously unseen, including Mother and Father, The Oxford Pictures, Holiday Pictures, Empty Days, Home Movie, Tony Lights Up, and Handheld.
Alongside these will be a complex 3D display of Paddy’s extraordinary photographic practice depicting the physicality of his process, the way he revised and developed images over time and how his wife and collaborator, Patricia Baker-Cassidy, helped organise his vision into the books that sealed his reputation as one of the most original and psychological photographers of our time.
A catalogue is currently in development, and I’ll be making films of Patricia as she talks about some aspects of life with and working alongside Paddy, also for the show. The aim is to reveal not just the images but the depth of thinking and lived experience behind them - how Paddy used photography to navigate and express the world around and within him.
So, over the next few months I’ll add to this occasional series as we progress towards installation and the big moment of opening.
I hope you enjoy the film. It would be wonderful if you commented, shared and/or subscribed.
Alex
Some imges from this week in the studio
Share this post