REVIEWERS: Kylie Ruszczynski, Sebastian Peake, Rick Bowen, Ian Jackson, Sheila Clementson, Fiona Bailey
" KATE'S photographs of Paris are taken from an insiders view. While she is not French, she has lived within the city, speaks French and is as integrated as much as an outsider can be. Now living in England, one senses her time in Paris is not quite complete. When looking at her images, the hunger and longing of 'la vie Parisienne' is evident.
As anyone who has lived here knows, the monuments are not the real attractions. The small details & the way in which the locals live are what touch the senses more than any postcard view. Kate's images are evidence of this certain 'manniere' in her other side of Paris. In her selected moments of Parisienne life, are the little moments one see's occuring all around us, but are not always so quick to capture. The reflection of a pair of legs in a cafe window, cut off at the waist by the patrons in the upper window as they sit inside. A close up of a crack in a vitrine with the word 'PLAT' painted next to it. A cat approaching a window, but unable to exit its interior world. Busy markets full of dark shapes and shadowy figures. A man ascending the immense looking stairs to the Biblioteque Nationale, preceeded by his crisp shadow. Kate's view of Paris is a passionate and patient collection of very intriguing compositions that will serve as a fabulous doccument of these current times in this timesless city. Kylie Ruszczynski, Artist - Paris
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"ON a recent visit to Paris I was introduced to the photographer Kate McLean. Her evocative black and white images of lesser-known parts of the city, included studies of wide stone steps in shadow, the gentle symmetry of metal railings rising in tandem with the adjacent walls, and figures going about their daily business. As an observer of the French capital at its most interesting I would recommend her work to anyone wanting a flavour of the place as seen with her own original eye. Sebastian Peake, Author - London
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Paris put in perspective By: Rick Bowen
EVERY so often, when reporting on arts and entertainment in Trafford, I come across somebody with an exceptional talent.
Somebody whose work is just so good it's impossible not to sit up and take notice. It doesn't happen a lot, but when it does, it's incredibly exciting. Altrincham based photographer Kate McLean is originally from London but she's fallen in love with her adopted home town and the north in general.
She also feels it's possible to bring a fresh perspective to a subject that's been photographed many times and hopes people who come to her latest exhibition, The Other Side of Paris, will come away looking at this romantic city in a different light.
"All the photographs are taken in Paris but they're not necessarily of places that people will recognise. I took photographs of everyday life in the city that most people think they know really well because they've seen so many iconic images of it already. It's the Paris that you're not normally looking for," she says.
Kate certainly has an eye for the quirky and the unusual - the exhibition features photographs of a solitary black Doc Marten boot and a very cute child's dress. Both objects, she says, fired her imagination, in completely different ways. "Walking up some steps towards the Sacre Coeur I saw one Doc Marten boot lying on one of the steps. It just jumped out as an image and I thought - what's the story here? Who does the boot belong to? Another was a little white dress that was in a window of a tailor's shop and it was just so beautiful and so small," she says.
Kate works both as a photographer and a designer and all the photographs you'll see in TOSOP were taken during her 12 months living and working in the French capital. As for her next project, she plans to train her lens on her adopted city of Manchester and she feels that not being born in the city will be an advantage.
"I don't know the city tremendously well, so I'm at an advantage, because I can walk around different places and see things that other people will walk past," she says. Rick Bowen *The Other Side of Paris is at Domino Gallery, 11 Upper Newington, Liverpool, until June 20. Kate wants to bring the show to Manchester at some point in the future. Anyone interested in finding out more should visit www.theothersideofparis.com
READ it live at The Messenger Group 4:27pm Thursday 5th June 2008.
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Liverpool artwork of the week 18. 'rue Denovez, 20e, 2007' by Kate McLean in 'The Other Side of Paris' at Domino Gallery April 30 to June 14 2008
THERE are, I think, 35 photographs in the exhibition and this is one of only 2 or 3 in colour and all but 2 (Liverpool scenes) are photographs of Paris. The other side of Paris, that is, meaning the parts you don't see in the tourist guides, magazines etc. The Eiffel Tower does appear but not from the usual perspective - a bit like our own Cathedrals, they sometimes seem to suddenly appear in view when you don't expect them to.
I like these images because they are not standard pictures of scenes, they are playful and arty, capturing bits or details of scenes at unusual angles and in interesting light.
Also McLean gets extra bonus points for being well organised, having sent us all relevant information and images well in advance and even creating a dedicated website for the exhibition.
Category: Art of the Week
Posted By: Ian Jackson - May 12, 2008 2:55 PM | READ it live at Art in Liverpool.
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"YOU will glimpse the Eiffel Tower, but otherwise see no famous sites of Paris. But what you will see are vibrant shots: splashes of colour, quirky viewpoints and unusual angles; the rush of people moving and the tranquility of stillness. These striking, surprising photos will prompt you to see beauty in the world around you where you hadn't thought of looking for it before." Sheila Clementson, Photographer - Paris
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"GREAT - very Cartier-Bresson if I may say so, all that capturing of moments and I can just smell the gitane and petrol fumes." Fiona Bailey, Gallery Owner - The White Gallery, Bollington
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