Photography goes on show in Mayfair – and it’s free
Art and photography collector James Hyman's fantastic new project is open to the public
We all have the capability to capture images every day on our smartphones, from frost-covered spiders’ webs on dog walks to wonderfully ornate doorways spotted in London backstreets. Taking lots of photos doesn’t necessarily make you a great photographer but someone more than qualified to explain what does is art historian James Hyman.
A lecturer on 20th century British art with a PhD from the Courtauld Institute, James has been an art dealer for 25 years, specialising in modern British art, with the likes of Freud and Kossoff displayed in his Maddox Street gallery space. He is also London’s leading specialist in vintage photographs from the 19th and early 20th century. His latest venture is the recently-opened Centre for British Photography in Mayfair, a light, bright and incredibly inviting space for school kids, university student groups and organised art tours.
Keen to make the distinction between this and his other work, the centre was set up as a charity and opened as a public space – a free one at that. Working with his wife Claire, a specialist oral surgeon, the two-strand approach in establishing the centre was firstly to make their collected works visible to the public. With a shared passion that grew from “just wanting to find some artwork for the living room”, they have amassed an impressive collection which they are only too happy to share with the public. Secondly, but just as importantly, the aim was to provide a platform for others. James says: “For us it’s very important to have partnerships and collaborate with others and empower them to help shape it. Strange as it seems, by actively taking a step back and letting it almost run itself, I actually view that as a sign of success. Our business plan is to involve others in its direction because whilst we’ve seed-funded it privately, unless other people get on board such as the Arts Council or foundations or individuals, it won’t survive.”
The Hyman Foundation charity was established in 2020 to promote and support photography in Britain in all its diversity and the Centre for British Photography was set up to further support the cause.
James says: “With photography, there are no barriers. It doesn’t have to be part of your education or culture or class – it’s genuinely democratic and communicates with a diverse audience that a historic oil painting maybe doesn’t.”
The opening showcase was curated by an outside organisation, Fast Forward Women in Photography, a research project designed to promote and engage with women and non-binary people in photography across the globe. The playful exhibition, called Headstrong, is about women, self-portraiture and empowerment in British photography. There are works (some from James’ private collection) from Paloma Tendero and Haley Morris-Cafeiro exposing cyberbullies and dated concepts of expectations for female behaviour. James comments: “The contributors showcase huge multiculturalism in British photography, including those from Iranian, Spanish and American backgrounds. We’re really pleased to be able to provide this platform to improve the visibility and representation of women working in photography.”
Proud to reflect on his own family history, James says: “I was involved in a Holocaust project called Generations at the Imperial War Museum North, featuring an image of my mum in the back garden with my siblings and me. It really pushed me to consider my background and I found it interesting to explore these issues, as somebody Jewish, about what it means being the child of a refugee. It makes you very aware of where you’ve come from.” James cites being Jewish as a very important as part of his private identity, but not necessarily part of his public identity. “The project exposed a Jewish background that people wouldn’t necessarily have known about me, which is pretty core to who I am. Culturally. Socially. Historically. Being Jewish and British.”
Pondering on how he would define his Jewry, James says: “I keep kosher…? We married at South Hampstead Synagogue and we’re members of Norrice Lea.” James and his siblings were recently able to reclaim their Austrian citizenship, reinforcing his sentiments that cultural history is stronger than simply being a shul goer.
In a deliberate continuation of female-led works, upstairs showcases works by Heather Agyepong, Jo Spence and Fairytale for Sale by Natasha Caruana, an installation that explores wedding customs in the UK, revealing the fantasy and trophy moments of ‘the big day’. The series consists of photos showing online adverts of brides wearing their now-redundant wedding dresses, the wedding over, faces scratched out blocked out with blu tac to make the anonymous sale.
The basement space is based on Bill Brandt’s first book, The English at Home (1935) and Picture Post, a pioneering photo journalistic magazine set up by immigrants in 1938. James says: “Brandt came to England in his 20s and was very much an outsider looking in, seeing the English more acutely and critically. He responded to things perhaps taken for granted by those who lived here.”
English at Home features around 120 photographs from James’ collection, including works from Brandt and Kurt Hutton that take you on a journey from street to porch to living room. James enjoys seeing a story play out through photographs, so the work of Daniel Meadows and Martin Parr is of great appeal. As students at Manchester Polytechnic in the 70s, they wrote to 20 locals for permission to photograph inside the Victorian terraced houses of June Street, to highlight how each looks the same on the outside, but the décor inside vastly differs.
James admits to having never printed a single photo from his camera roll of over 90,000 memories, so this must make for a pretty tough decision choice of screensaver – Hockney? Bacon? Auerbach? “It’s actually a black and white photo of my three daughters at the centre’s opening.” Picture perfect.
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