Jack McVann

 

Photography for me began at the age of fifteen, when I was lucky enough to be able move to India. I guess living overseas isn’t really an opportunity that many young people get, so I didn’t hesitate to take it. I’d say that being surrounded by a completely juxtaposing culture and environment to England is what initially inspired me to start taking photographs; photography was just a way of documenting the chaos that was happening around me through single frames. Although I was constantly taking photographs digitally, purely for how instantaneous it was, I was always more interested in the analogue side of photography. Digital photography is much more convenient, especially when working towards deadlines, but the process of shooting, processing, and printing your own film is a much more pleasing, and so when I returned to England I decided to focus solely on film photography. I had one of my photographs exhibited in the Fallout Factory in February as part of the Culture Forum. The Fallout Factory is a local gallery on Dale Street, which if you haven’t heard of then you definitely need to check it out. After meeting the people who worked there, I became a volunteer myself. Being able to network with other artists and photographers is something that not only enabled me to meet pleasant people but also encouraged me to start collaborating with other artists. I have more recently started volunteering at The Open Eye Gallery, which again is another galley worth checking out. I started working for a company ran by a few friends of mine called Blak Hand, which is a company where bands can get everything that they need, including: Logos, Posters, T-Shirts, Cover Artwork, Photographs, Videos, and all the rest. One of the highlights of last year for me, photography wise, was being able to photograph some of my favourite bands at the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia. I was asked by one of my friends over at Silent Radio to be their photographer, which obviously was an opportunity I jumped at. Being able to photograph the likes of Moon Duo, Fuzz, Clinic, and Dead Meadow was a huge privilege, and very enjoyable too. Collaborating with other people and companies is beneficial for both sides of the party and is something I’d encourage everyone to do. I’m definitely going to carry on doing what I’m doing and plan to carry on experimenting with different aspects of analogue photography. Although recently I have been focusing on photographing bands, both for promotional shoots and live events, I have decided to start working more with other artists, and incorporating their medium into mine, which is what has led me to this exhibition. My friend Alex Wynne is an illustrator, probably the best one I know of, and also runs Blak Hand. A while back I asked him to illustrate over one of my photographs, and the response from the image was much greater than anticipated, and this is what led us to making a series out of them.

 

Alex Wynne

 

My name is Alex Paul Wynne, I am an illustrator, working mostly with pen and paper to produce stylised psychedelic drawings. This led me to working with Joel Gion (Brain Jonestown Massacre) and other bands and musicians around Liverpool. I also started my own design company (Blak Hand) producing clothing, videos and photography and a record label. After starting this company, I was introduced to fellow artists who worked in different mediums with whom I could incorporate into my work; such as Jack McVann. After knowing Jack as a friend, and knowing his photographic capabilities, I decided to recruit him, which has since worked in both of our favours. Doing this has created a creative family producing work for clients and our own artistic endeavours, such as this work featuring in the 1978 exhibition. Working with fellow artists and bands is something which has inspired us to take into account the individuality and expression that comes with a wide variety of people, and this is something we have tried to illustrate into our work in this series.