MESSUMS WILTSHIRE

Sophie Green

Showtime

22 October – 28 November 2021

In October 2021, Messums Photography presented ‘Showtime’, a solo show of young documentary photographer Sophie Green in our Wiltshire venue. Green’s photographs celebrate the joy, uniqueness and eccentricities of under-represented subcultures in Britain, often in playful and humorous ways. Merging portraiture and still life images, Green’s photographs are imbued with a feeling of surprise and a love for the unexpected. Her work pushes the boundaries of traditional social documentary with a balance of spontaneous realism and styled constructions. Combining works from the series ‘Gypsy Gold’, ‘A Day at the Races’ and ‘Dented Pride’ in a unique display, the exhibition ‘Showtime’ will offer a glimpse into the colourful and refreshing photographic practice of Sophie Green.

Sophie Green (b. 1991) is a social documentary and art photographer based in London. Her work largely explores aspects of British culture and communities who are drawn together by shared identity or mutual circumstance. She strives to seek out the glue that unites these individuals together as a collective; leading her to explore the realms of Aladura Spiritualist African churches and congregations, afro hair salons, banger & stock car racing, streetcar culture, arm wrestlers, British cowboy culture and travellers. Many of her projects develop over several years to honour the subjects’ lives. Green is drawn to the details that surround her subjects as a way of revealing a deeper story of person and place.