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Portrait of Britain Vol 2 PIX TO COME
Kaleidoscope of the extraordinary diversity of Britain’s population
THIS volume, published by Hoxton Press in collaboration with the British Journal of Photography, features the winning photographs of the latter’s open-call competition this year and, like the preceding 2018 work, it’s a kaleidoscope of fascinating images.
Reflecting the incredible diversity of people living in Britain now, there are some very moving portraits. Some are self-indulgent, while others focus on minority or marginalised groups as well as a few — too few, I feel — from the traditional mainstream.
Beyond reflecting our country’s diversity, it’s unclear to me what the book’s aim is. It provokes the question of who exactly are the people who occupy this island today and whether it’s possible to capture the full diversity of our population in a single book like this, however wide the net is cast.
Many of the images are affecting, others shocking, and the technical skills and aesthetic sensitivities of some photographers are to be admired.
Yet I was perplexed and dissatisfied by the lack of context and background for each of the people featured and perhaps several mini-series about individuals or locations, rather than one-off portraits, would have had more impact.
The strength of older, more conventional photographic volumes like those of Paul Strand, who documented places like New York and the Outer Hebrides, was that they were able to help the viewer connect strongly with the local communities in painting a broader canvas of the lives of those being portrayed.
Perhaps unintentionally, the book acutely reflects our fragmented and individualistic society and despite its flaws it’s a lovely book to dip into.
As a paean to human diversity as well as being an underlying appeal for tolerance and understanding, it’s more than welcome.
Portrait of Britain Vol 2 is available from Hoxton Mini Press, price £22.95, hoxtonminipress.com.
