“I am really looking forward to my Deb party”…
…Is one of many quotes you might struggle to identify with on a personal level in the book Belgravia by German-born artist Karen Knorr who shot subjects from the wealthy set of the famous London neighbourhood between 1979 and 1981 – the beginning of Thatcherism. The artist’s parents lived in Belgravia and her mother and grandmother feature in the book alongside a gamut of anonymous, multi-generational individuals, all of whom have got something to say for themselves.
The upper class pearls of wisdom, sort of Alain de Botton meets Mark Francis, can be a bit thin on useful content though one can’t quibble with this dictum on one’s home…
….or can one?
The artist has explained that, “the photographs are not about individuals but about a group of people and their ideas during a particular time in history. They are ‘non-potrtraits’ in that they do not aim to flatter or to show the ‘truth’ of these people.”
Hilarious and a tiny bit hair raising if you fear that this is the sort who are currently running our country.
Belgravia is published next month and available via Stanley/Barker. Find out more about the artist and her many fascinating projects here.
“……….currently running our country”, but maybe not for much longer if Mr Corbin gets his way!
Really enjoyed this post which I read just after watching Prime Minister’s Question Time.
Nice timing, I will have a look at that later. Will Self and Matthew Parris quite interesting about it on C4 news last night too.