Video and photography - Art - British Council

Image: Healing Sport. Artist: Tim Hetherington

	Photography and video

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 ... more...

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... more...

Image: From series Falling by Sam Taylor-Wood



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British Council Collection

Black Box Recorder

We have organised several major photography and video exhibitions to showcase the diversity and breadth of these disciplines across contemporary UK practice. No Such Thing As Society documents British photography from the late 1960s until the late 1980s, providing a raw and timely appraisal of these turbulent decades. You have not been honest surveys how British artists working today are using the language and structures of film to new ends. Through exhibitions like Common Ground audiences can explore social documentary, portrait and landscape photography, whilst the stunning 1930s studio photographs of Madame Yevonde add a historical perspective to our work.

Common Ground

Eight young photographers have been commissioned to produce new bodies of work exploring the range and diversity of British Muslims’ experience of life in the UK.; their approach embraces the full breadth of photography practice – from social documentary, portrait, landscape and conceptual strategies.

ArtSchool Palestine

Video works presented on three large ‘cinema’ style screens with surround-sound, enabling a journey through the social landscapes of corporate commerce, fashion, youth and club culture, religion, employment and the interconnected information flow of the 21st century city.

Tim Hetherington

The award-winning young British photographer runs photography workshops for young semi-professional photographers living and working mainly in countries within Africa. The workshops aim to enhance existing skills and develop a keener sense of good visual literacy as manifested in photojournalism and documentary practice.

Sam Taylor-Wood

For her first exhibition in Russia, Sam Taylor-Wood is presenting three photographic series alongside three video projections. Produced over the past two years, this body of work continues the artist’s exploration into the physical and emotional limits of individuals operating in contemporary society.

Madame Yevonde

A solo exhibition of photographs featuring the work of Madame Yevonde, the pioneering photographer who set up her first studio in London in 1914 and developed a method of producing vivid colour prints, particularly associated with her famous portraits of society women as Greek and Roman goddesses.

New Young Europeans

Our exhibition explores the experience of young asylum seekers in several European countries. With each stop in a new city, more photographs and testimonials are added. Find out more here.

Archived Photography and Video projects

Cecil Beaton: The Dandy Photographer

Exhibition of 108 modern prints on loan from Sotheby’s archive tracing Cecil Beaton’s career as a dandy photographer, concentrating on his treatment of glamour and artifice.

Search through archived Photography and video projects