The Bristol Photo Festival 2024 has returned, captivating audiences with its mesmerizing exhibitions that showcase the extraordinary power of photography. This year’s festival, titled “The World a Wave,” takes visitors on a visual journey through exiles’ dreams, glamorous portraits of 60s shop workers, and awe-inspiring visions of nature.
Rinko Kawauchi’s Quiet Gaze
Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi’s exhibition at the Arnolfini, “At the Edge of the Everyday World,” invites viewers to experience the world through her gentle, child-like eye. Her jewel-like images, arranged in clusters, urge close study and reveal surprising moments, such as the immense instant a newborn emerges into the world.
Kawauchi’s larger images swell with the incomprehensible awe of nature, capturing waterfalls, crashing waves, night skies, and baby reptiles held in the palm of a hand. Her exhibition also explores the essence of photography—light—and her desire to visualize an inter-species solidarity.
Hashem Shakeri’s Afghanistan: Staring into the Abyss
At the Bristol Museum, Hashem Shakeri’s “Staring into the Abyss” offers a compelling exploration of life in Afghanistan after the Taliban’s return in 2021. Shakeri’s exquisite use of color and composition captures the contrasting realities of women and men under the oppressive regime.
Shakeri’s photographs depict men trapped by violence, shackled by weapons as they stand guard in public spaces, while women and girls are confined to underground illegal schools or the concrete backyards of their homes. His images provide a glimpse into the lives of those hidden behind shuttered windows and shrouds.
Herbert Shergold’s Glamorous Portraits
In a remarkable tale of a rediscovered archive, “Now Keep Quite Still” showcases the work of Herbert Shergold, a tobacconist and confectioner who ran a portrait studio on Cotham Hill in the 1960s. Shergold’s astonishing portraits, emulating Hollywood perfection with hyper-staged poses and dramatic lighting, present a subversive kind of ideal that speaks of freedom and suppressed desires.
The exhibition, held at the Laundrette on Gloucester Road near Shergold’s former studio, features portraits of stars like Moira Lister and Elizabeth Larner alongside Bristolian glamour queens and androgynous beauties. During the show, a woman who had been photographed by Shergold 62 years ago saw her portrait for the first time since it was taken, evoking tears and applause from the gallery audience.
Amak Mahmoodian’s Dreamscapes of Exile
Iranian-born, Bristol-based artist Amak Mahmoodian’s installation, “One Hundred and Twenty Minutes,” explores the subconscious realm of exiles’ dreams. Collaborating with 16 other exiles living in the UK, Mahmoodian represents their often-recurring dreams through video, photography, drawing, and text.
Spanning four floors of an austere residential building, Mahmoodian’s works delve into the visual realm of the subconscious, connecting individuals beyond invented states and imagined borders. The installation is a heady, haunting journey that reflects on the restless motion of the mind’s shadows, moving like a wave.
A Festival Finding Its Feet
While some aspects of the festival, such as the “Dreamlines” exhibition at M Shed Museum, struggle to find their footing, the event steadies itself as visitors explore the various venues throughout Bristol. The festival’s second edition continues to evolve, showcasing the power of photography to capture the human experience, from the intimate to the awe-inspiring.
The Bristol Photo Festival 2024: The World a Wave offers a captivating array of exhibitions that will leave visitors spellbound. From the quiet beauty of everyday moments to the stark realities of life under oppression, and from the glamour of a bygone era to the haunting dreams of exiles, this festival celebrates the extraordinary potential of photography to move, inspire, and connect us all.
