work:life
26 September - 26 November 2021
BFI Southbank
Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XT
An establishment that, in 2021, celebrated it's 70th year of exhibiting films from around the world, The BFI Southbank exhibited images from my project to celebrate the people that make it what it is - an internationally renowned world cinema venue.
Gallery Introduction
Collection staff have worked with photographer Udall Evans - himself a member of the BFI team - to take a personal look at the life and make- up of the BFI Southbank community.
Evans was born and raised in London and has been a photographer for over 20 years. Following the death of a close friend, Evans started a portraiture series to better connect with the people at his place of work, finding at the BFI a sense of warmth and family.
Work: life is informed by the seminal photography of portraitist Jane Bown, using natural light and favouring black and white. Like Bown’s, Evans’ work has a profound intimacy. Centred on the architecture of the face, it also connects to place: reflections of the urban landscape and in and around central London are woven through the series.
This project looks at some of the people who have become a part of Evans through his employment life, whether through daily contact or the briefest encounter, bringing us a little closer to life at the BFI.