Exhibition view, Tim Walker: Wonderful People, Michael Hoppen Gallery (London, 2019?2020). Photo and © Michael Hoppen Gallery, London
Tim Walker’s photographs are usually found on the glossy covers and pages of high-end fashion magazines, but his work holds a different power in a gallery setting as this latest exhibition at Michael Hoppen Gallery shows. The exhibition, entitled Wonderful People, focuses on the British photographer’s portraits of celebrities, and runs alongside the V&A‘s current retrospective show.
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The display includes over sixty portraits, spanning his entire career, and featuring the likes of Margaret Atwood, Adwoa Aboah, Tilda Swinton (Walker’s long-term muse), Helena Bonham Carter, Claire Foy and Emma Watson. As with all of his works, these individuals are cast into surreal dreamscapes, often set against otherworldly backdrops, wearing striking costumes or holding unusual props. Margaret Atwood, Tim Walker for The Sunday Times (London, 2019). © Tim Walker Studio, Courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery
Tilda Swinton in exaggerated collar, Tim Walker (Reykjavik, Iceland 2011). Fashion: Giorgio Armani. © Tim Walker Studio, Courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery
For Walker, photography is less about capturing what can already be seen, and more about enlivening the imagination. Whilst most of the faces are instantly recognisable, they appear strange, and somehow distant through Walker’s lens. The...