Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-09-13)

22 7 September 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

A

tthebackofWexPhoto

Video,foundonan

industrialestateatthe

edgeofManchestercity

centreis anexhibitionspace.I arrive

herejustbeforetheopeningof

‘Northerners’,a showofphotographs

byRoryLewis,whois fastbecoming

oneofBritain’sleadingportraitists.

Despitethelaunchbeinga few

hoursaway,a coupleoftheportraits

stilllieonthefloor,whilethemain

manis practisinghisspeechfor

theguestswhowillbearriving

soon. Nevertheless he welcomes me

ALL

PICTURES © RORY LEWIS

King

WhatdoTonyBlair,IanMcKellenandAntandDec

haveincommon?They’veallbeenphotographedby

RoryLewisforhiscaptivating‘Northerners’project.

Amy Davies heads to Manchester to discover more...

DAVIDWARNER‘Hewasdifficultbecausehedidn’t

liketobedirected.I liketodirectmysubjectsandtell

themexactlywhattodo.WithDavid,hesaid,“just

tellmewhatyouwant.”Hewentaway,puthishand

onhisheadforfiveminutesandcameback– this

imagewasshotnumberone.Thisnefarious character

was what I was going for, though.’

SIRPATRICKSTEWART‘Thisportraitwasbasedon

a portraitofSirThomasMore,bythepainterHans

HolbeintheYounger.WithPatrickI wantedtokeep

allthesebags,linesandmarkstoshowthathe’s

a tirelessactor.He’scapturedin thisneutralpose

becausehe’sabouttobecomesomethingelse, he’s

about to assume another role as an actor.’

North

of the

warmly,and,aftera dayofcatching

upwiththelocalpress,seemshappy

totalktosomeonewhois perhapsa

littlemoreinterestedinphotography

thanthecelebritieswhoare

adorningthewallsaroundus.

TheLiverpool-born,Chester-raised

Roryis a confidentandaffablechap

• thisis a manwhocouldcertainly
  talkforBritain.I takeadvantageof
  thepauseshetakesforbreathto
  insertsomequestions,although
  mostofthemheanswerswithout
  meevenhavingtogothrough the
  trouble of asking them.

Hemighthavebeenexcitedto

havea chataboutphotographic

techniques,but– firstthingsfirst–

I’mkeentofindoutexactlywhat

constitutesa ‘Northerner’.A

contentiousissue,witha North–

Southdivideseeminglyasstrong

asever,butasa MidlandermyselfI

takenosidesandremainresolutely

andannoyinglyneutralonthe

matter.ForRory,thecutoffstarts

‘assoonasyouhitYorkshire’,but

alsoincludes– inwhatwillbea

controversialchoiceformany–

Scotland.Afterall,Roryasserts,

‘it’sasfarNorthasyoucango...’

Roryhasencounteredallofthese

peopleoverthepasteightyears,

stretchingbacktowhenhewasfirst

startingoutonhisphotographic

journey.Someofthemhavebeen

photographedexclusivelyforthis

project,whileotherscomefrom

commissionsbutjusthappentofit

thebriefandcanbeincludedhere.

Roryis a bigfanofprojects,and

‘Northerners’is farfromhisonly

thematicbodyofwork.There’salso

beena seriesonthemilitary,entitled

‘Soldiery’,andhe’sworkingon

anothersetsimplycalled‘Portraitist’.

Inspirationfor‘Northerners’

‘Northerners’is likelytobe

somethinghe’llalwaysreturnto,

havingfirstgottheideawhile

watchingGameofThrones. ‘There

wasa lotofemphasisonbeing“from

theNorth”,youknow“Kingofthe

North”andsoon.I thoughtI’dlike

todosomethingclosetohome,

photographingpeoplefromwhere

I camefromandcapturethemin

mystyle.I drewupa listandI wrote

letterstryingtogetanybodyI could

possiblymustertogether.

‘ThefirstonewasDavidWarner

(seetopleft),whohadn’tsatfora

portraitfor 36 yearsatthetime.

Thelastpersontophotographhim

beforemewasCecilBeaton– my

picturehassincebeenacquiredby

TheNationalPortraitGallery.’

Ratherthana photographic

background,Rorystudiedfora

degreeinMedievalHistoryatKing’s

College,London.It’shardlya

surprisethereforetofindthathis

maininspirationscomefromthe

worldofRenaissanceandpre-

Reformationpainting,ratherthan

photography.Holbein,vanDyck,

Caravaggio,TitianandThomas

Lawrencearejustsomeofthenames

thatcomeupduringourchat.

Youcanseethethreadofthis

stylethroughallofhiswork– it’s

simpleandclassical,andeven

if it’s hard to put into words,

‘Northerners:An

ExhibitionbyRoryLewis’

is ondisplayat Wex

PhotoVideo,Unit4,

DowningStreetIndustrial

Estate,CharltonPlace,

ManchesterM126HH.

It runsuntil 31 October,

andentranceis free.See

events.wexphotovideo.

com for more details.