Guest blog post by Ally Manock
On Saturday 11th June, I visited the opening party for the Gentlemen of Bradford exhibition at the Impressions Gallery in Bradford. Gentlemen of Bradford is the result of an Impressions Gallery education project and is part of Art in Yorkshire (supported by Tate).
The exhibition is an exploration of male fashion, identity and style with six young men (Mohammed Abaas, Ramzan Alyas, Mohammed Baqar Azam, Ali Butt, Bailey Lal and Hasam Sheikh) aged between thirteen and nineteen all discussing their ideas about image, style and how appearance can influence the way you see yourself and the way others see you.
“I want to look unique, All Saints is my fashion.”- Ramzan (19)
“Bright colours are so trending right now – but I don’t really like them anymore.” – Ali (14)
I was excited about this exhibition for two reasons; I love fashion. I’m not saying I’ve always been fashionable, don’t get me wrong! From an early age though, I noticed that if I was happy with what I was wearing that day, it made a difference to the way I felt and behaved. Despite telling ourselves “never judge a book by it’s cover”, as humans we are inherently trained to judge by appearances, it is a trait that carries through from our hunter-gatherer days when the ability to make snap-judgements could mean life or death. These days, we often form opinions on what a person is like just by looking at the clothes they are wearing.
The second reason is that it was my first visit to the Impressions Gallery. I’m an amateur photographer and always very interested in seeing good photography.
Mohammed, Ramzan, Mohammed, Ali, Bailey and Hasam worked with award-winning photographer Paul Flloyd Blake and the resulting images show the young men’s influences; from weight-lifting to Lady Gaga. I particularly liked the photos of one of the young men in Gaga-style sunglasses, that when flipped open (to become ‘normal’ glasses) give the wearer a ‘Mikey Mouse’ look! Those shots were contrasted by poses in cherry blossom filled parks, suburban settings with chunky knits and jeans and traditional Indian shot with beautiful composition.
The exhibition was officially opened by Saleem Kader, Managing Director of Bombay Stores who talked to us about the background to the project, including where the inspiration came from – the book Gentlemen of Bacongo, which depicts a group of flamboyant and elegantly dressed men from the Congo who use fashion to express creatively their values and identity.
I loved seeing the young men in Gentlemen of Bradford showing their passion for style and fashion, they were pictured in great detail and the quality of the images were excellent. I would like to see how the young men develop as they grow older. Will they still want to look unique by wearing All Saints clothing? (surely that’s an oxymoron!). I’m sure their style will evolve, as it does with everyone. Celebrity culture, their chosen professions, future partners, peers and many other factors will influence their appearance. Who knows what they will look like in ten years time? Hopefully they will still retain that smart, experimental and open approach to fashion that they have today.
The exhibition continues until 27th August 2011. Other current exhibitions at the Impressions Gallery include The Prospect of Immortality.
Image credits: the Impressions Gallery & the very talented photographer Jitesh Mistry