Dark Tales curated by Isaac Blease

With images spanning a period of more than 80 years, Dark Tales explores the complex relationship between the Gothic and British documentary photography, depicting Britain from the post-war to the present era. The photographs in the exhibition reveal waning industrial powers, claustrophobic domestic scenes, and menacing nocturnal activities.

The exhibition brings together a selection of renowned images alongside lesser-known photographs, drawn primarily from the Martin Parr Foundation Collection. Together, they reveal people and places that are both resilient yet often haunted, charged with both fear and desire. Throughout the exhibition, the Gothic principle that horror thrives in close proximity to the familiar resonates, uncovering the uncanny within the everyday.

“Interest in the Gothic resurfaces during times of uncertainty, and documentary photography itself is in a dark moment, with its purpose and role in question, public distrust of ‘photographers’, and the existential threat posed by Artificial Intelligence. This moment of turmoil presents intriguing conditions to explore the Gothic imagination as a relevant lens through which to re-examine the medium, while also reveling in the ambiguity of images and the multitude of meanings they evoke.” – Isaac Blease, Curator

The exhibition includes work by Kjell-Åke Andersson, Bill Brandt, Anna Fox, Robert Frank, Don McCullin, Lee Miller, John Myers, Akihiko Okamura, Sue Packer, Martin Parr, Charlie Philips, Sarah Pickering, Alice Poyzer, Jo Spence, Janine Wiedel and Donovan Wylie amongst others.

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