Not currently on display at the V&A

Talking to Ants

Photograph
2009-2013 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Stephen Gill combines conceptual, experimental and documentary photography, producing work that takes the locality, history and atmosphere of London’s East End as its subject. His images are often concerned with the details of overlooked and discarded places or objects. He often works in series, exploring a working technique and subject in parallel. Alongside working on his photographic series, Gill has been at the forefront of the recent rise in self-publishing, creating innovative and beautifully designed photography books.

The photographs in the series, Talking to Ants were made in East London between 2009 and 2013. They feature objects and creatures that Gill sourced from the local surroundings and placed into the body of his camera, exposing the film and material inside the camera simultaneously. As he has noted:

'I hoped through this method to encourage the spirit of the place to clamber aboard the images and be encapsulated in the film emulsion, like objects embedded in amber. My aim was to evoke the feeling of the area at the same time as describing its appearance as the subject was both in front and behind the camera lens at the same moment. I like to think of these photographs as in-camera photograms in which conflict or harmony has been randomly formed in the final image depending on where the objects landed. … By having such interventions very often you are obscuring, deleting or holding back in equal amount to adding, so often there are feelings of harmony and conflict, a confusion of scale or lack of clarity. This denial of information I believe somehow offers space for other things to pass through or the subject to make itself heard.'

Gills’ experimental process allows both actual and conceptual immersion in the scene reinventing the position of landscape in the image. The title refers to a boyhood memory of his school friends teasing him when concentrated and absorbed, fascinated by looking closely and intently at the insects.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleTalking to Ants (series title)
Materials and techniques
Pigment print
Brief description
Colour photograph by Stephen Gill, 'Ruler and Woodlice' from the series 'Talking to Ants' (2009-2013)
Physical description
Photograph
Dimensions
  • Image height: 1018mm
  • Image width: 1018mm
  • Paper height: 1118mm
  • Paper width: 1118mm
Production typeLimited edition
Copy number
4/5
Gallery label
Photo London: Beneath the Surface Somerset House May 20 - August 24 Stephen Gill (born 1971) From the series Talking to Ants, 2009–2013 Gill sourced objects and creatures from the streets of East London for this series. He placed them directly into the body of his camera, exposing the film and material simultaneously. He explains: ‘I hoped through this method to encourage the spirit of the place to clamber aboard the images and be encapsulated in the film emulsion, like objects embedded in amber. My aim was to evoke the feeling of the area at the same time as describing its appearance as the subject was both in front and behind the camera lens at the same moment.’ Pigment prints Purchased through the Cecil Beaton Royalties Fund V&A Museum nos. E.643 to 645-2014 (20-05-2015 - 24-08-2015)
Credit line
Purchased through the Cecil Beaton Fund
Object history
This is a new print, printed in 2013, purchased from the artist
Place depicted
Summary
Stephen Gill combines conceptual, experimental and documentary photography, producing work that takes the locality, history and atmosphere of London’s East End as its subject. His images are often concerned with the details of overlooked and discarded places or objects. He often works in series, exploring a working technique and subject in parallel. Alongside working on his photographic series, Gill has been at the forefront of the recent rise in self-publishing, creating innovative and beautifully designed photography books.

The photographs in the series, Talking to Ants were made in East London between 2009 and 2013. They feature objects and creatures that Gill sourced from the local surroundings and placed into the body of his camera, exposing the film and material inside the camera simultaneously. As he has noted:

'I hoped through this method to encourage the spirit of the place to clamber aboard the images and be encapsulated in the film emulsion, like objects embedded in amber. My aim was to evoke the feeling of the area at the same time as describing its appearance as the subject was both in front and behind the camera lens at the same moment. I like to think of these photographs as in-camera photograms in which conflict or harmony has been randomly formed in the final image depending on where the objects landed. … By having such interventions very often you are obscuring, deleting or holding back in equal amount to adding, so often there are feelings of harmony and conflict, a confusion of scale or lack of clarity. This denial of information I believe somehow offers space for other things to pass through or the subject to make itself heard.'

Gills’ experimental process allows both actual and conceptual immersion in the scene reinventing the position of landscape in the image. The title refers to a boyhood memory of his school friends teasing him when concentrated and absorbed, fascinated by looking closely and intently at the insects.
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
E.643-2014

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Record createdSeptember 1, 2014
Record URL
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