I've always known William S. Burroughs for his writing, just as I've known David Lynch as a leading film director behind cult classics like Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. The same goes for Andy Warhol, whom I've always thought of as a painter, filmmaker, and colorist who only dabbled in photography. But three new exhibitions at London's Photographers' Gallery––each showcasing a broad selection of their photography work––drastically went against all of my expectations.
The first show, The Factory Photographs, featuring David Lynch's collection of gloomy, black-and-white photographs of derelict factories in Europe and Germany, brings to mind his films Eraserhead and Dune. Taken while scouting for film locations, the eerie images are perfect examples of the filmmaker's fondness for strange worlds. Put on display, they serve as a surprising, super-special peek into Lynch's research and creative process.
As it turns out, photography also played a role in William S. Burroughs's writing. His exhibition, Taking Shots, is a mixture of vintage photographs, collages, and assemblages alongside other found objects that inspired him, like issues of Time magazine, postcards, and book covers. In his photographs, the novelist captured heroin addiction, an obsession with firearms, and his contemporaries Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Brion Gysin—literary icons of an age in America that has always fascinated me. Burroughs's photographs were processed cheaply and treated as disposable icons. As with Lynch and his films, imagery informed Burroughs's creative process––especially the character-building for his novels. As he said in a 1976 interview with J. E. Rivers, "I pay a lot of attention to photographs because of characters. I'll say, 'Well, that picture looks something like one of my characters.'"
The third exhibition, Andy Warhol's Photographs Between 1976-1987, is the first UK display of Warhol's barley known photographs. The images, significantly different from the filmmaking and screen-printing he is best known for, are a result of Warhol acquiring a 35mm point-and-shoot camera. His images of New York street scenes, cityscapes, signage, and consumer products (a fascination that carried over from his paintings), are unique insights into the everyday life of a man immortalized for his glamorous, iconic imagery.
As disparate as the exhibitions and their subjects may seem, there is an underlying connection: none of the photographs on display were ever intended to be part of the creatives' canons. Rather, they offer glimpses of the things that only tangentially informed their work. The subjects they chose to photograph reflect personal choices of themes that, ultimately, influenced what they would became known for.
David Lynch: The Factory Photographs, Andy Warhol: Photographs 1976-1987, and Taking Shots: The Photography of William S. Burroughs will run through March 30th, 2014
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS' GALLERY
16-18 Ramillies St,
London, W1F 7LW
map
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William S. Burroughs, Midtown Manhattan, 1965 C-type print, 7.3 x 5.9cm,
,© Estate of William S. Burroughs,
Courtesy of the Barry Miles Archive
![]()
William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Tangier, 1957
, Silver gelatin prin
The first show, The Factory Photographs, featuring David Lynch's collection of gloomy, black-and-white photographs of derelict factories in Europe and Germany, brings to mind his films Eraserhead and Dune. Taken while scouting for film locations, the eerie images are perfect examples of the filmmaker's fondness for strange worlds. Put on display, they serve as a surprising, super-special peek into Lynch's research and creative process.
As it turns out, photography also played a role in William S. Burroughs's writing. His exhibition, Taking Shots, is a mixture of vintage photographs, collages, and assemblages alongside other found objects that inspired him, like issues of Time magazine, postcards, and book covers. In his photographs, the novelist captured heroin addiction, an obsession with firearms, and his contemporaries Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Brion Gysin—literary icons of an age in America that has always fascinated me. Burroughs's photographs were processed cheaply and treated as disposable icons. As with Lynch and his films, imagery informed Burroughs's creative process––especially the character-building for his novels. As he said in a 1976 interview with J. E. Rivers, "I pay a lot of attention to photographs because of characters. I'll say, 'Well, that picture looks something like one of my characters.'"
The third exhibition, Andy Warhol's Photographs Between 1976-1987, is the first UK display of Warhol's barley known photographs. The images, significantly different from the filmmaking and screen-printing he is best known for, are a result of Warhol acquiring a 35mm point-and-shoot camera. His images of New York street scenes, cityscapes, signage, and consumer products (a fascination that carried over from his paintings), are unique insights into the everyday life of a man immortalized for his glamorous, iconic imagery.
As disparate as the exhibitions and their subjects may seem, there is an underlying connection: none of the photographs on display were ever intended to be part of the creatives' canons. Rather, they offer glimpses of the things that only tangentially informed their work. The subjects they chose to photograph reflect personal choices of themes that, ultimately, influenced what they would became known for.
David Lynch: The Factory Photographs, Andy Warhol: Photographs 1976-1987, and Taking Shots: The Photography of William S. Burroughs will run through March 30th, 2014
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS' GALLERY
16-18 Ramillies St,
London, W1F 7LW
map
William S. Burroughs, Midtown Manhattan, 1965 C-type print, 7.3 x 5.9cm,
,© Estate of William S. Burroughs,
Courtesy of the Barry Miles Archive
William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Tangier, 1957
, Silver gelatin prin