The Art of Going Out

Remember when we used to party like it was 2019? In the good old days I was regularly taking photos professionally at parties, live gigs and events – often sweaty, crowded affairs with plenty of atmosphere. The pandemic has certainly changed things…

The theme of this year’s E17 Art Trail was ‘Possible Futures’. I thought it would be interesting to explore the possible future of partying. Is staying in really the new going out?

How was your experience of lockdown social life, especially if you live alone? How did we cope with Zoom fatigue? Will social distancing and wearing a face mask remain the norm?

Ironically I had to wait until various restrictions had been lifted before I could go and photograph people in their own homes, and so had to recreate and reimagine their lockdown experience. I’ve explored some familiar themes – the living room disco; the Zoom party; the bedroom DJ; a festival for one; ‘masking up’; and that feeling of being all dressed up with nowhere to go. It’s a snapshot into the experiences of a few friends in local places or at home.

Alongside this new work I showed some of my images from live gigs and parties, with a particular focus on a couple of local bands.

On Thursday 15th July from 7-11pm we had a ‘party night’ - All Yesterday’s Parties - with local DJs Dom Mandrell of Soul Picnic, Pat Richmond of Raising the Funking Bar, and Neel Mookherjee. I projected a slideshow of over 600 images from previous parties, live music gigs and festivals to accompany the DJ sets.

The venue was the fantastic Signature Brew brewery, just off Blackhorse Lane. Signature Brew are known for their collaborations with musicians and festivals. They’ve brewed beers with the likes of Idles and Slaves! This seemed like the ideal location to exhibit my party-themed exhibition.

I shared the space with Helen Weighell who showed photographs of local landscapes. Check out her fantastic photography on Instagram - @wheelhelen

‘The Art of Going Out’ was venue no. 4 on the Blackhorse Trail.

Check out page 13 of the July issue of Waltham Forest Echo to see an article I wrote for the paper about the show.