Overview participating exhibitions
Multivocal Histories
2009
Multivocal Histories
Julian Germain
STEELWORKS (Great Britain, 1990)
For almost a century-and-a-half Consett, in County Durham, England, was a centre for iron and steel production. That is, until the factories closed their doors in 1980. These were the early days of Thatcherism, a period when massive cuts were being made in Britain's old industries, without the least concern for the social consequences. In his book Steelworks Julian Germain recorded the collapse of Consett. To do this he combined his own work with that of a local news photographer, Tommy Harris, and family snapshots and journalistic reports. Unintentionally, this approach put Germain in the vanguard of a new movement in documentary photography. Germain contrasted the naive optimism of the past with the loss that speaks from his own colour photographs and the news reporting of the day, creating a harrowing picture of a devastated community.
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STEELWORKS (Great Britain, 1990)
For almost a century-and-a-half Consett, in County Durham, England, was a centre for iron and steel production. That is, until the factories closed their doors in 1980. These were the early days of Thatcherism, a period when massive cuts were being made in Britain's old industries, without the least concern for the social consequences. In his book Steelworks Julian Germain recorded the collapse of Consett. To do this he combined his own work with that of a local news photographer, Tommy Harris, and family snapshots and journalistic reports. Unintentionally, this approach put Germain in the vanguard of a new movement in documentary photography. Germain contrasted the naive optimism of the past with the loss that speaks from his own colour photographs and the news reporting of the day, creating a harrowing picture of a devastated community.
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STEELWORKS (Great Britain, 1990)
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STEELWORKS (Great Britain, 1990)
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STEELWORKS (Great Britain, 1990)
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STEELWORKS (Great Britain, 1990)
Biography
Steelworks (1990)
For almost a century-and-a-half Consett, in County Durham, England, was a centre for iron and steel production. That is, until the the factories closed their doors in 1980. These were the early days of Thatcherism, a period when massive cuts were being made in Britain's old industries, without the least concern for the social consequences.
In his book Steelworks Julian Germain recorded the collapse of Consett. To do this he combined his own work with that of a local news photographer, Tommy Harris, and family snapshots and journalistic reports. Unintentionally, this approach put Germain in the vanguard of a new movement in documentary photography. Germain contrasted the naive optimism of the past with the loss that speaks from his own colour photographs and the news reporting of the day, creating a harrowing picture of a devastated community.
Julian Germain (Great Britain, 1962) studied photography at the Royal College of Art in London. With his first book, Steelworks, he underlined the importance of 'functional' or amateur photography, as he would also do in his For Every Minute You Are Angry You Lose Sixty Seconds of Happiness (2005), which had already been shown at Noorderlicht in 1997. Germain is a co-founder and member of the editorial committee for Useful Photography. He is presently at work on a large-scale project on education.
