Peter Dench travelled the country this summer to capture the colourful and quirky images of a 21st Century English summer.
Me, Me, Me
Interesting art project that explores our growing obsession with beauty and the things that define people's personal identity in the modern world.
"Love Me explores the insidious power of the global beauty industry and our collective insecurity, vanity and fear of ageing."
Tom Hunter
It's unusual to see contemporary art at The National Gallery, so when we went to see Tom Hunter's exhibition it was a refreshing change.
Hunter's work was especially interesting for us as its documents the lives of the ordinary residents of Hackney (where we live), as reported in local newspapers. The stories that are taken from the local papers (which is how http://www.kidulthood.co.uk/ was written) are beautifully staged photos which are inspired by Renaissance paintings.
"In 1998 Hunter received the John Kobal Photographic Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery with 'Woman reading a Possession Order' (below), an image that first brought him to the attention of the public. Compositionally based on a Vermeer painting, the photograph reflected the reality of Hunter's life in Hackney at the time, living in a series of squats and using the people around him as his models".
