Can Photography be Art?

Photographer Richard Ansett talks candidly about the conscious and subconscious motives that drive his own image-making. The talk will invite discussion about how we define ‘fine art photography’, the motivations that inspire image making and the subconscious forces that influence our unique interpretation of the world around us.

This free talk is part of our exhibition Birth (25 to 30 January). The Fitzrovia Chapel and photographer Richard Ansett present an ‘iconic and iconoclastic’ portrait of the artist Grayson Perry at the chapel in January. Presented as a huge lightbox illuminating the secular, baroque chapel from its ‘impious’ placement on the altar, the portrait reworks the motif of mother and child which formed part of Perry’s recent Channel 4 series, Rites of Passage. The picture, taken by renowned photographer Richard Ansett, focuses on Perry’s alter ego, Claire. It balances the influence of centuries of art history with high-camp photographic parody, a vulgar appropriation for the 21st Century.

Event details

Exhibition dates (free entry): Friday 25 to Wednesday 30 January 2019, 11:00 to 16:00
Talks (free entry):13:00, Saturday 26 January and Tuesday 29 January

Both the talks and exhibition are free. You don’t need a ticket.