Stephen Gill's Hackney Obsession: London Chronicles at Galerie

Stephen Gill, born 1971, has spent nearly fifteen years documenting Hackney, northeast London. Curator Raphaëlle Stopin presents his series from 2002 to 2013 in the monographic exhibition 'London Chronicles', a rare French showing. Gill's work explores territory, place, and photography's boundaries through congested arteries, pedestrians, buildings, pavement details, and billboard backs. A central series, 'Hackney Kiss' (2013), comprises studio shots of kissing couples selected from 9,000 negatives bought on eBay from a former Hackney photographer, creating an archive and serial device. Other series like 'Off Ground' and 'Billboards' offer simple frontal images of stones or billboard reverses, while 'Talking To Ants' and 'Hackney Flowers' involve adding debris, twigs, leaves, or soil into the camera body or rephotographing images with added flowers or fruit from Hackney. Gill also buried some images in Hackney to let the place imprint on them. Playing with scale, large-format prints evoke unease, comparing London chronicles to Martian chronicles. The 'Pigeons' series uses a pole to photograph frightened pigeons in inaccessible urban nesting boxes, highlighting adaptation and struggle.