Monday 11 November 2013

Stuart Griffiths: Closer at MAC Birmingham


On the 11th of November 2013, I went to see a photography exhibition at the MAC Birmingham, called Closer (by Stuart Griffiths).  

The exhibition was about a man who had taken a camera to war and taken photographs, as well as visited many ex-soldiers after the war to take photos of the serious injuries and after-effects that had happened to them. The impact of the exhibition as a whole was immense; you got a huge insight to the actual happenings of war, especially since the Government cover things in these sort of areas up, meaning that we don't always know possibly the extent of what has actually occurred during something like a war. 


Although at some points I felt like some text would have been needed, the fact that none of the photographs had descriptions or even names had a huge emphasis in itself; you could clearly see what was happening and then interpret it for yourself. 

Every photo was photographed extremely well; and they all had a certain significance. Apart from the main section of the exhibition, there was a sectioned off block (due to strong language) which had some photographs but also some reproductions of letters and drawings that the soldier had done throughout the war, where we could see the feelings of the specific soldier. We could almost see that by the near end he didn't want to be at war; that the pride had worn off and he couldn't see, ultimately, why he was doing it. 



Overall, this exhibition was thought-provoking, and the insight I got towards war was phenomenal. I definitely couldn't have got that from a news report or a school textbook; and that, for me, was amazing. 

You can see a video of my group talking about the exhibition HERE

Charli 



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