United Kingdom 2012-19

The Photographic Angle presents an exhibition devoted to documentary photography. Earlier this year we put a call out for photographers who use the camera as a tool for documenting the natural, social and political landscapes of our times. The response has been incredible, and we had the difficult task of selecting the photo-stories that would become part of the ‘Our Stories’ exhibition.

The twenty photographers in this exhibition show a vast cross-section of the topics to which the practice of documentary photographic is being applied to today. The photographers, all at different stages in their careers, come from around the world, and some travel yet further afield still, to document the stories they wish to tell. 

Photography has always held a complex and inseparable relationship with the ‘real’ exterior world. When we look at a photograph we cannot escape the deeprooted belief that we are looking at a true record of the visual world around us; photographs stake their claim on objectivity. Yet every position that is taken gives a unique perspective, every frame separates a moment from time, and every composition selects what will be seen in the photograph and what will be left out. These photographic series can only ever offer a glimpse of the events that they attempt to capture. There is much left unsaid, and much that is relative to the perspectives of the subjects themselves.

Participating Photographers

Claire Homewood, Misha Maslennikov, Luc Kordas, Vanessa Terán, Miguel Angel, Lozano Bonora, Derick Whitson, Abhijit Chakraborty, Onele Mahlangeli, Lee Barry, Terence Lee Ji Long, Somnath Mukherjee, Harry Wakefield, Jophel Botero Ybiosa, David Shaw, Hayley Langan, Alex Cruceru, Sagar Shiriskar, Anurag Arora, Siddharth Haobijam, Alex Mason.

Humans have been sharing stories since time immemorial. This common social and cultural activity serves many purposes from sharing memories and preserving our history, to promoting ideas and instilling moral values, right through to simple entertainment.

Photography is a great means of storytelling and it is often said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. However, photography and visual storytelling are not necessarily the same thing. Anyone can take a photograph, but telling a rich story through photography is another matter entirely.

By using a camera to tell a visual story, you not only capture a moment in time, you also suggest an underlying narrative that hints at something much bigger. A good storyteller will invite you in and make you feel part of their story. They will create a special bond between the audience and the subject of the story, stirring emotion and moving the viewer.

‘Our Stories’ is an exhibition devoted to documentary photography, which is often used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life.

The photographers who are featured in this exhibition have been successful because they have created stories that matter to them and they have shared with us a tiny insight into their own story. Some of the best stories that we see here are also the simplest and it is often the details that enrich the story and impart the most information. On the other hand, this exhibition also features images that invite curiosity, where the viewer is left with unanswered questions and the story is left untold.