It is with great pleasure that we introduce to you British photographer Phil Griffin’s second solo exhibition. The presentation of this new series of works: Dark Matter, will take place in our NEXT DOOR space. Phil Griffin photographs man in an unorthodox way and looks for an intense relationship with his subject. For his new series Dark Matter he chose 13 men with different backgrounds with whom he built a very strong personal relationship throughout the creative process. By obtaining a deeper background knowledge of the subject before shooting, a bond of trust is created which goes beyond the superficial. Sometimes month-long conversations took place before Phil decided to photograph someone and when. By unforcedly obligating the subjects to look deeper into themselves he attempts to show the invisible power, imagination and beauty which lies in all of us. The strong bond of trust enables the subjects to open up more. Phil Griffin notices that because of this, emotions rise up that were formerly invisible to themselves and people around them. The origin of this exhibition lies in examining what colour means and what it represents in our current society. The opposition of colours we are confronted with on a daily basis like skin colour, instinctively causes a separation. The aspect ‘colour’ is the base of this series of new works. Every subject was asked to think about what colour related the most to beauty. By using this colour throughout the whole decor of the shoot, the subject suddenly found himself in this newly created landscape. The beauty was as it were taken out of the subconscious of the subject and made visible. The spectator isn’t just watching a photograph or an image, but a trace of a whole story and performance which took place between the subjects and the artist. In this way we read these 18 different pictures more like an installation rather than individual works.

Artists: Phil Griffin