insideKENT Magazine Issue 52 - July 2016 | Page 27

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

ONLY IN ENGLAND

Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr

A major exhibition of work by British photographer , Tony Ray-Jones ( 1941-1972 ) opens at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge in Canterbury on Saturday 9th July . The exhibition will feature over 100 works drawn from the Tony Ray-Jones archive at the National Media Museum alongside 30 rarely seen early black and white photographs , The Non-Conformists , by Martin Parr .
TOP : Mayor of Todmorden ’ s inaugural banquet , 1977 by Martin Parr © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos BOTTOM LEFT : Tony Ray-Jones , Blackpool , 1967 ; BOTTOM RIGHT : Beauty Contestants , Southport , Merseyside , 1967 by Tony Ray-Jones
After growing up in Kent , Essex and London , Tony Ray-Jones studied at the London School of Printing before gaining a scholarship to Yale University School of Art , working in and around New York before returning to the UK in late 1965 . Between 1966 and 1969 Ray-Jones created a body of photographic work documenting English customs and identity . Humorous yet melancholy , these photographs were a departure from anything else being produced at the time .
In the October 1968 issue of Creative Camera magazine , he described his aim as , “… to communicate something of the spirit and the mentality of the English , their habits and their way of life , the ironies that exist in the way they do things , partly through their traditions and partly through the nature of their environment and their mentality . For me there is something very special about the English ' way of life ' and I wish to record it from my particular point of view before it becomes Americanised and disappears .”
Ray-Jones ’ work quickly attracted the attention of the Institute of Contemporary Arts ( ICA ), London where they were exhibited in 1969 . Tragically , in 1972 , Ray-Jones died from Leukaemia aged just 30 . However , his short but prolific career had a lasting influence on the development of British photography from the 1970s through to the present .
In 1970 , Martin Parr , a photography student at Manchester Polytechnic , had been introduced to Ray-Jones . Inspired by him , Parr produced The Non-Conformists , shot in black and white in Hebden Bridge and the surrounding Calder Valley . This project started within two years of Ray-Jones death and demonstrates his legacy and influence .
Martin Parr says : “ Tony Ray-Jones ’ pictures were about England . They had that contrast , that seedy eccentricity , but they showed it in a very subtle way . They have an ambiguity , a visual anarchy . They showed me what was possible .”
Parr is now an internationally renowned photographer , filmmaker , collector and curator , best known for his highly saturated colour photographs critiquing modern life .
This special exhibition draws from the Tony Ray-Jones archive , held by the National Media Museum . Around 50 vintage prints will be on display alongside an equal number of photographs which have never previously been printed .
Director of Canterbury Museums & Galleries , Joanna Jones said : “ An important aspect of The Beaney ’ s exhibition programme is to showcase the very best photography which we are continuing through this partnership with the Science Museum and National Media Museum ”.
Greg Hobson , curator of photographs at the National Media Museum says : “ The combination of Martin Parr and Tony Ray-Jones ’ work will allow the viewer to trace an important trajectory through the history of British photography , and present new ways of thinking about photographic histories through creative use of our collections .”
Only in England : Photographs by Tony Ray- Jones and Martin Parr is on in the Special Exhibitions Room at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge from 9th July to 25th September 2016
Admission : Free
The exhibition is a Media Space production . Media Space is a collaboration between the Science Museum ( London ) and the National Media Museum ( Bradford ).
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