Two subjects feature in Revolutionary, the photographic exhibition at The Jam Factory, in Park End Street, Oxford. One highlights the protests on Solsbury Hill in 1994, photographed by Adrian Arbib, on a battered manual Rangefinder camera.
James Hudson used a far more professional camera to depict the Brompton Bicycle World Championship at Blenheim Palace last year.
Both subjects have been taken in black-and-white, one of the many reasons they work so well On viewing Adrian’s Solsbury Hill photographs, it’s easy to understand why the battle against the Batheaston bypass became the turning point in the fight against the Government’s road building problem. It is also easy to understand why people emerged from the experience with a sense that life was richer with experience and possibility than they had imagined.
The photographs depict the committed protesters prepared to make a stand by sitting in trees, and climbing along branches on polypropylene ropes. Many looked bedraggled, some are covered in mud, but they all look determined and at times triumphant. It is an amazing collection.
James Hudson’s pictures capture the spirit of a bike race that attracted more than 700 competitors from all over the world, showing both the serious and the light-hearted sides of this thoroughly British event.
The competitors were required to begin the race with their Brompton bike folded up, then complete two timed laps of the grounds while wearing a jacket and tie. James’s photographs, which were taken while he was also competing, are both quirky, and fun. By framing them in second-hand frames he unearthed in local charity shops, the pictures become as individual and different as those taking part in this race whom he has so skilfully photographed.
Revolutionary continues at The Jam Factory until November 29.
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