Pierhead Building, Cardiff Bay
Mon 5-Fri 30 Nov
words: TRYSTAN KENT
How much notice do you take of the people around you? We pass hundreds of new faces every day, but rarely do we pay them much attention. This, however, is the aim of Ceri Vale’s first major exhibition of street portraiture, I to Eye; to bring us personal portraits of those around us, often with disarming intimacy. Citing the father of street portraiture Henri Cartier-Bresson who described the art as “[putting] your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt,” Vale’s portraits are deeply personal, celebrating the details of his subjects as they naturally appear. Often aware of the camera, yet seemingly unabashed by its presence, these are not posed portraits, nor false portrayals of real people, but rather a telling insight into the lives of those we so regularly ignore in our busy schedules. As is definitive of street portraiture, the candid settings and haphazard compositions seem to reveal to us an essence of life itself, occasionally perhaps with some irony in its tone. From a raised perspective overlooking a child as he notices a homeless man on the street, to an elderly woman strolling past giant posters of shirtless, airbrushed supermodels, there is both affection and a bitter wit in Vale’s depictions of day-to-day life. The scenes can be joyous, incidental, troubled, harsh, but most often the impression is affectingly poignant. Their greatest strength lies in their ability to bring into focus the characters and lives of those around us and, perhaps, that of our own. Admission: free. Info: www.vale-images.co.uk