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exhibitions^ 12-18 Aug 2017^ guide^34

Anatomy of an artwork Quentin Blake’s The Photo, 2007

Collected Shadows Derry

The 200 photographs in this

show are culled from the vast

collection of the Archive of

Modern Conflict (AMC) and

seem to span anything and

everything. As its name suggests,

this organisation based between

the UK and Canada began with

a focus on war photography,

especially amateur images taken

around the two world wars.

Its remit has since expanded,

however: here – in addition to

work by some of photography’s

biggest names such as Robert

Frank, Walker Evans and Brassai

• you’ll find spirit photography,
  Victorian studies of the moon,
  ethnographic images and film
  stills, as well as the snapshots
  of everyday photographers.
  Part of the AMC’s mission is to
  interrogate how we understand
  history through photographs and
  to challenge dominant narratives.
  The breadth of work on show
  here is testament to the myriad
  ways photography tells stories
  about the past. Skye Sherwin
  Void, Sat to 7 Oct

Feelgood factor

Thanks to his work

with Roald Dahl,

the illustrations of

Quentin Blake are

so well known that

it’s easy to take

them for granted.

We all recognise

the scratchy, loose,

improvised lines

and the good-

natured mood. Yet

his work’s range

can be surprising.

Bird brain

The Photo, from the

artist’s unpublished

personal collection,

is one of many

images he’s

created of birds.

According to Blake,

our feathered

friends are “a

kind of illimitable

repertory company

able to deal

with all sorts of

human situations”.

Haven’t we met

before?

Like all great

cartoons, The

Photo seems to

sum up something

fundamental that

we know about our

fellow travellers.

Yet while this

scene suggests

a stereotype

• tourists on
  holiday – it’s
  also open-ended

enough to set

our imaginations

to work.

Life lessons

The parents

have bodies

on which life’s

disappointments

and struggles are

gently written, her

slumped shoulders

and shapeless

clothes, his

ungainly skinniness.

The son combines

their physical

qualities in a soft

echo of Larkin’s

famous line about

what your mum

and dad bequeath

to you. Its pathos

is startling, yet

lightly worn. SS

Part of Quentin

Blake: The Life

of Birds, House

of Illustration, N1,

to 1 Oct

 Flappy snaps

Blake’s birds

have a lightly

worn pathos

QUENTIN BLAKE