Peter Fraser - In context

Following on from my visit to the Tate St Ives, I went to a lecture at Plymouth University given by Mr David Chandler, Professor of Photography at the school of Art and Media. The lecture was an in depth look at the work of Peter Fraser, setting it within the context of the radical shifts in British photographic practice since the 1980s.

David Chandler was formerly the Curator of Photography at the National Portrait Gallery 1982-1988 and has held other high profile posts before coming to Plymouth.

The lecture gave an insight into the early life of Fraser, his unhappy childhood and influences to his style. Having seen the influence William Eggelston had on his work, I was interested to hear that following the exhibition at Bristol in 1984, he travelled to Memphis, Tennessee USA to work with William Eggelston. His intention was to stay for in an extended period of time, however the trip only lasted 9 weeks before Fraser returned back to the UK.

There was a look at his previous works, two blue buckets 1988, Deep blue 1987, Lost for words 2010 and his latest A city in mind 2012.

Chandler discussed other contemporaries of Fraser, such as Paul Graham, A1 The great North Road, David Hickey, Air Guitar. These were photographers that I had not heard of before and have since looked at.

Overall this was an interesting lecture and a good insight into Fraser's work and background.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fraser_(photographer)

http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/dchandler