Another Way of Telling: Photographs by Anna Fox & Karen Knorr
December 8 – January 6
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
Curated by Xu Hao
Another Way of Telling: Photographs by Anna Fox and Karen Knorr” showcases almost 100 works from the rich, dynamic careers of two of Britain’s leading documentary photographers. Here, acerbic wit is brought to sharp social commentary on subjects that are seen through two highly individual perspectives that wrap the photographers’ penetrating insight into the issues of our times in a warm dose of humour. The exhibition includes selections from representative themes in each of their work, as well entire series which function like photo essays exploring topics like class, working environments, and self-awareness. Here we have Anna Fox’s Work Stations, and Basingstoke, in contrast with Karen Knorr’s Belgravia about the gulf in class attitudes, and Punks which documented the first generation of the punk music movement with Olivier Richon in the UK in the mid-1970s.
There has been a volume of activity in the field of documentary photography in Britain since the late 1970s, which both builds upon and stands as a reaction to the documentary tradition. Photography played an incisive part in constructing a British documentary movement from the mid twentieth-century, that began in 19th century realist literature (ie: Charles Dickens, George Eliot) and soon extended to film (ie: John Grierson ) and in time to television. The spirit of questioning and re-invention that characterised the particular period of New or Expanded Documentary that emerged from the 1980s, was new in that it began to draw on strategies from contemporary art, primarily in its questioning and play with notions of authenticity and truth. That play, in terms of the mix of carefully observed reality and consciously constructed illusions, is embodied in the work of Anna Fox and Karen Knorr, described here as ‘another way of telling’.
The exhibition will continue its tour next year to further venues including OCAT Xi’an, Xi’an and Lianghzou Photo Festival.Three Shadows Photography Art Centre is honoured to present “Another Way of Telling”, supported by the British Council as one of the British Council in China’s “Inspiring Women in the Arts” programme. “Inspiring Women in the Arts” celebrates the achievements of female artists and inspires young women about the world of the creative industries, to raise confidence and aspirations, and to enable them to make more informed choices about their careers.
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre would like to thank, on behalf of the artists, the University for the Creative Arts for its support.