Artists' Film and Video
Often referred to as lens-based art, this area of contemporary practice has been explored by a growing number of British artists over the past two decades. Whilst earlier British artists, such as Gilbert & George proved influential in beginning to explore this field, a new generation of artists emerged in the nineties, most notably Douglas Gordon, Sam Taylor Wood, Gillian Wearing and the Wilson twins. Using a variety of strategies, from the appropriation of iconic feature films (such as Gordon’s 24 hour Pyscho) to directing their own actors within a contemporary drama (Sam Taylor Wood, Gillian Wearing), these artists have greatly expanded the possibilities for the medium’s content and formal treatment. Ambitious multi-screen video installations, such as those by Isaac Julien and Steve McQueen, designed for either gallery or cinema environments now form a regular part of contemporary museum programmes, alongside single or multi-channel video-monitor works. Have a look at Video Art: The Early Years to view a new chronology of key screenings, exhibitions and related events in the first two decades of British video art.

Photography
Independent photographers, who prefer to work within the photographic medium alone, continue to build upon Britain’s pivotal role as the birthplace of photography. The strong documentary impulse, and its corollary, photo-journalism which has been the backbone of much of British photography continues to thrive both within independent practice and commercially (through agencies such as Magnum, Network). During the 1970s, a new generation of photographers began a radical reappraisal of the documentary tradition, introducing a new  ‘subjective’ colour documentary, epitomised in the work of Martin Parr. Subsequent generations of British photographers, many influenced by the development of structuralist theory have continued this investigation into the meaning of photographic representation.  Within the last decade, the boundaries between photography and other forms of fine art practice have been eroded with the emergence of artists such as Wolfgang Tillmans, Richard Billingham and Catherine Yass. At the centre of contemporary debate, the realist paradigm remains one of the most contested issues, resulting in a range of responses from artists operating across both photography and video.