Mead Carney is popping up in Porto Montenegro once more this summer with a signature blend of highly acclaimed photography artworks. Open from late June until mid-September 2015, the 'Summer Group Show 2015' brings together some of the London gallery’s most recent photography exhibitions.
'Wonderland' is a project created over the course of five years as an homage to the artist's mother who tragically passed away in 2008. Having worked in fashion for a number of years, Kirsty Mitchell understood the constructed and filmic nature of the photographic image. Building on this, she incorporated childlike whim through the creation of her favorite fairytales that her mother read to her as a child. With minimal support and finances, she built what can be likened to a film set in order to stage each frame. The tailor-made dresses and make-up add an element of high fashion into the work. However, props such as ships, headdresses and books transform the image further; each item carefully built and placed so as to convey a personal sense of imagination.
‘Agua Nacida’ is a presentation selected from the first London exhibition by internationally acclaimed photographer Hugh Arnold. This truly unique collection of hauntingly beautiful large-scale images, shot underwater on location in Fiji and Gozo, offers an evocative exploration of nature, beauty and sexuality interpreted through an ambitious and highly accomplished series of underwater nudes. Overcoming the considerable technical difficulties of photographing underwater, Arnold's models Polina Barbasova and Nika Lauraitis are freed from the restrictions of gravity and, floating weightlessly, they imbue this latest work with an ethereal, otherworldly beauty.
The exhibition also features works by British Fine Art photographer Tim Hall who specialises in travel, landscape and portraiture. His work is a lyrical response to the places that he has visited and shows his deepest interest in the natural world.
Kirsty Mitchell received a Higher National Diploma from the London College of Fashion and a Bachelor’s degree from Ravensbourne College of Art. She interned at the studios of Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan. Before leaving fashion to pursue photography, she worked as a senior designer at Karen Millen for over ten years. Following her mother’s illness and passing, she began to create what is now known as ‘Wonderland’. The images warranted coverage from BBC News, Italian Vogue, and Polish Harper’s Bazaar, to name a few. She won a number of awards including the grand prize for visual storytelling by LensCulture in 2014 and a place as the Nikon Ambassador of Fine Art Photography.
Kirsty intends to publish the highly anticipated ‘Wonderland’ book in collaboration with esteemed British book designer Stuart Smith for Christmas 2015. She will be launching a major Kickstarter campaign backed by the photography platform LensCulture before the end of the summer, and will document its progress through a series of video diaries throughout its development.
Hugh Arnold was born in Chester, England and trained as an actor before being enticed into the world of photography by the light and natural outdoor elements of Australia. After being offered a contract by Australian Vogue, he returned to Europe, doing his first job exclusively with Armani for Per Lui and Lei with Franca Sozzani in Milan. He met Hamish Bowles at the collections in Paris who asked him to shoot Carla Bruni for Harpers and Queen and he subsequently worked for magazines including Vogue, Tatler, Glamour and Conde Nast Traveller. Soon after, he started shooting worldwide beauty campaigns for L’Oreal, Pantene, Wella, Max Factor, Nivea and La Perla.
Hugh’s exploration of photography as an art form has allowed him to develop creatively without commercial constraint, photographing ‘Underwater Nudes’. His editorial and advertising images, as well as celebrity portraits, have appeared in the fashion industry’s leading publications spanning numerous continents.
Tim Hall is a British Fine Art photographer who specializes in travel, landscape and portraiture. His drive to see the world through the lens of a camera was inspired by the romance of 19th century travellers and more recently, national geographic photographers. The work is a lyrical response to the people and places that he has visited and shows his deep interest in the urban and natural world. The influence of painting in his work stems from his studies of Art History at Manchester University. The intention to strike an emotional or spiritual chord is evident in much of his landscape work, which is inspired by Rothko and Turner.