Looking at art becomes art itself for Samuel Bradley, who puts show-goers in the frame with this compelling photo series, taken exclusively for AnOther
Tomorrow heralds the launch of the London Art Fair 2016, a four-day exhibition of modern artists starring the likes of Isabelle Wenzel and Dialogues, a project designed to unite European art spaces in spite of geographical boundaries. Often considered to be the unofficial 'launch' of the annual arts calendar, the opening of the fair offers an opportunity for reflection on 2015's art scene – and what better way to do so than with Samuel Bradley's beautiful documentary of the people who visited the Frieze Art Fair in London late last year? Here, we speak to Bradley about the series he shot exclusively for AnOthermag.com, about the very concept of a diptych and avoiding the style-blog approach to observational photography...
On his cul-de-sac of creative avenues...
"I’m not sure there was any inspiration behind the series until after I’d shot it. I’d never been to Frieze before, I didn’t know what kind of people would be there, I had no idea what the light would be like and at the time it felt like every creative avenue I pursued ended up being a cul-de-sac. One minute I was trying to find middle-aged men, the next minute art students, then textures, then colours… It wasn’t really until I began sifting through contact sheets that I discovered I had a little of everything and I might be able to piece it together."
On constructing diptychs...
"I love the idea that two entirely different, and maybe even opposing images can become intrinsic to each other simply through juxtaposition. Sometimes it’s a good way of controlling how someone sees a photograph. At a totally base level it’s putting a portrait of a late middle aged man next to a chainsaw and suddenly recognising that the guy looks faintly menacing – it's something that newspapers do all the time to mislead. I’m not trying to mislead people, though! I’m just offering an individual perspective."
On the people of Frieze...
"It was actually a real challenge to find people I wanted to photograph. I mean, there was no shortage of attractive and stylish people so, if you wanted to make some kind of art themed street style blog post, you’d be onto a winner. But I had an idea of the sort of people I wanted and in a way, I suppose I was leaning towards a kind of misfit vibe – but then there were some really obvious candidates who I passed over because I felt like they really wanted people to take their picture."
On selecting his subjects...
"Coincidentally most of them were artists themselves, I think all but one older guy and he was there totally on his own and I remember thinking I could tell. There were two girls I photographed right at the start and even as I pressed the shutter I knew I wouldn’t use the pictures. Why did I choose some people? I don’t know, you just know, you know?"
