ATLAS GALLERY ANNOUNCE A MAJOR EXHIBITION OF CHILD PORTRAITS BY OVER 50 PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM JULIA MARGARET CAMERON TO THE PRESENT DAY
THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY overflows with images of children and childhood. It is one of the most popular, maybe the most popular subject upon which the camera has focused its lens since the invention of the medium.
ATLAS GALLERY have curated a special exhibition in aid of children, which includes some of the most well-known and celebrated images of children by many of the most famous photographers of the last 150 years. At the heart of the exhibition are photographs from the personal collection of Atlas Gallery founders Julia and Ben Burdett, who have been collecting photos of children since the gallery opened in 1994. A percentage of the print price of the sale of each work from the sale of works in the exhibition will be donated to Save the Children, ranging from 10% to 100% of the total value of each work.
THE VERY FIRST acquisition in the Burdett’s collection was a rare vintage print from the American modernist Paul Strand’s photo essay Tir a Mhurain, the seminal study of the islanders of The Outer Hebrides. The purchase led Julia, herself a professional children’s photographer, to track down and to contact the subject of the photo, Katy Morag Morrison, photographed by Strand at the age of eight, and by then living in Oban and running a B&B and to ask her about the experience of being photographed by one of the most famous photographers of the 20th century. She was not impressed! The nature of the relationship between photographer and subject, but also the role of the collector as a further collaborator in the process, has become the defining feature of all the works in the collection.
A CORNERSTONE of the exhibition is the seminal photo essay by Magnum Founder David Seymour, “Children of Europe”. This incredibly rare work of reportage photography, published in 1948 in the aftermath of the Second World War, with text written from the perspective of a child, was Seymour’s attempt to document the suffering and experience of the almost 13 million abandoned children in Europe after the War. Published by UNESCO it was also hugely influential in inspiring the growth and development of children’s charities all over the world. With tens of thousands of children currently displaced by the war in Ukraine, these images are as relevant today as they were 70 years ago.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS include rare works by Henri Cartier Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Dorothea Lange, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Roger Mayne, Edward Steichen, modern masterpieces by Chris Killip, and Irving Penn, and a host of iconic images by almost 50 different photographers from all over the world. The exhibition will be enhanced with rare first editions and archive material by many of the photographers exhibited.
WHEN ONE THINKS of photographs of children, one invariably thinks of pictures of smiling faces, games and innocence. Many of these works, shot in times of conflict, war, poverty and hardship are remarkable in that they depict scenes of undaunted children’s fun and games, which carry on despite surroundings of devastation, ruin or depravation. It is this ability to suspend the normal rules of the world which is at the heart of childhood itself, whether in war or peace.
OBSERVATIONS OF CHILD’S PLAY in its simplest form, with cardboard boxes and street games in the classic street photography of Helen Levitt and Mario Giacomelli sit next to the colourful but deeply ironic works of Julia Fullerton Batten and Arthur Elgort. Lartigue’s works shot when he was barely ten years old and using his very first camera offer a unique child’s eye view of the world. The title of the exhibition plays on the old adage about children being a charming presence, preferably not heard and by extension with no voice and thus no right to representation or opinion. The aim of this exhibition is to highlight the need for children’s voices to be heard.
“We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear.”
Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa
“Every war is a war against children.”
Eglantyne Jebb, Co-founder, Save the Children (1876–1928)
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A percentage of the sale price for each print sold (varying between 10% and 100% f or each print) will be donated to Save the Children Fund, a registered charity in England and Wales (2130890), Scotland (SC039570) and Isle of Man (199). Please see exhibition catalogue for details.
In over 118 countries, including the UK, and for over 100 years, Save the Children have supported children to transform their lives. Together with families, supporters and partners, Save the Children work to help every child get the future they deserve.
savethechildren.org.uk
