Blog
Jon Archdeacon, 'Pageant: A Spectacle of Photographs' 25/08/2024
Pageant shows us what it is to embrace all that there is in life.
Pageant Show at Blyth Gallery
In Jon Archdeacon’s first solo photography exhibition, the viewers are treated to an encyclopaedic yet esoteric collection of work. The exhibition encompasses a huge variety of portraits, such as those of Bede Day Centre visitors, performers at Duckies Cabaret night, artists in their studios and images of friends and family, notably Sarah Archdeacon. His avid interest in life and all of its facets is transfixing. When asked how he chose whom to capture and what to include in Pageant, Archdeacon says, ‘If I find them compelling, I’ll happily include them in my show’. He explains that this was a take away from his fine art education; every addition contributes to the other images. There is no right or wrong. For Archdeacon, the motivation behind the portraits is getting to know people. Having worked with many of the subjects over an extended period of time, the images are not only odes to life but to friendship. This show is a celebration of art, of exuberance and of joyful humanity.
Archdeacon employs a huge depth of references in his photos: personal, artistic, filmic and musical. Every work in Pageant has a context of who / what / where but this is only as relevant as the viewer chooses. There are stories behind every shot, but so much of this narrative is told by the photos themselves. Archdeacon will happily admit about works that ‘in my head, it’s a nod to …, but nobody necessarily needs to see that’. His studio is filled with books by his photographic inspirations: Chris Killip, Richard Avedon, and Irving Penn, nestled in shelves by the editing desk. But for Archdeacon, it is only important that the viewer finds their own points of reference and connection within his images.
Rarely spotted without two or three cameras hanging around his neck, weaving in between crowds or light fittings, Archdeacon employs both traditional and more modern techniques. For him, the differences are the same as with anything in art: the medium makes some decisions for you but the rest is up to you. Black and white photography is his preferred format since it allows him to explore the power of greyscale. He enjoys producing both images with no absolute black or white and those which play on the presence of them both. Although the photos in Pageant are a mixture of film and digital shots, film photography will always possess a certain magic for Archdeacon. For him, the subtle depths of the shots always remind him of the ‘dreamy softness of the needle on the record’.
His knowledge of painting is eminently visible. Archdeacon believes that painting and photography work in opposite ways: with painting you see the plastic qualities of the work and are led back to the real world, yet with photography, you know what a photo is of but see the more visual and abstracted qualities. These dualities spring to life especially in portraits of artists in their studios and performers withing their spaces. The photographs become a parallel creative process, reflecting the feelings of the artists in that particular moment, rather than documenting what is simply there.
Pageant shows us what it is to embrace all that there is in life. Many of his portraits focus on the peripheries of society and celebrate them. Over the past five years, Archdeacon has worked with people all over the country and created beautiful, long-lasting images that represent not just him as an artist, but the community and friendships behind the works. This Spectacle of Photographs presents to you the wonder, the creativity, the comedy and the sheer joy of the pageant of life.
We have chosen a few of the photos to exhibit here - you may see some familiar AP Fitzpatrick faces!
Text by Emily Godwin, photos by Jon Archdeacon.
Archdeacon employs a huge depth of references in his photos: personal, artistic, filmic and musical. Every work in Pageant has a context of who / what / where but this is only as relevant as the viewer chooses. There are stories behind every shot, but so much of this narrative is told by the photos themselves. Archdeacon will happily admit about works that ‘in my head, it’s a nod to …, but nobody necessarily needs to see that’. His studio is filled with books by his photographic inspirations: Chris Killip, Richard Avedon, and Irving Penn, nestled in shelves by the editing desk. But for Archdeacon, it is only important that the viewer finds their own points of reference and connection within his images.
Rarely spotted without two or three cameras hanging around his neck, weaving in between crowds or light fittings, Archdeacon employs both traditional and more modern techniques. For him, the differences are the same as with anything in art: the medium makes some decisions for you but the rest is up to you. Black and white photography is his preferred format since it allows him to explore the power of greyscale. He enjoys producing both images with no absolute black or white and those which play on the presence of them both. Although the photos in Pageant are a mixture of film and digital shots, film photography will always possess a certain magic for Archdeacon. For him, the subtle depths of the shots always remind him of the ‘dreamy softness of the needle on the record’.
His knowledge of painting is eminently visible. Archdeacon believes that painting and photography work in opposite ways: with painting you see the plastic qualities of the work and are led back to the real world, yet with photography, you know what a photo is of but see the more visual and abstracted qualities. These dualities spring to life especially in portraits of artists in their studios and performers withing their spaces. The photographs become a parallel creative process, reflecting the feelings of the artists in that particular moment, rather than documenting what is simply there.
Pageant shows us what it is to embrace all that there is in life. Many of his portraits focus on the peripheries of society and celebrate them. Over the past five years, Archdeacon has worked with people all over the country and created beautiful, long-lasting images that represent not just him as an artist, but the community and friendships behind the works. This Spectacle of Photographs presents to you the wonder, the creativity, the comedy and the sheer joy of the pageant of life.
We have chosen a few of the photos to exhibit here - you may see some familiar AP Fitzpatrick faces!
Text by Emily Godwin, photos by Jon Archdeacon.