This London photography exhibition is all about intimacy

What happens when three photographers (Finnegan Travers, Jesse Glazzard and Celia Croft) walk into a darkroom (Assembly in Dalston, East London)? When they’re as good as this lot, you get an evocative exhibition that’s definitely worth a visit.

Finn, Celia and Jesse have teamed up for Clutching at Ornaments, which is showing at East London’s Gallery46 until 20^th July. Without being tethered to any specific theme, Finn, Celia and Jesse were motivated by a desire to show some of their most personal photography.

A lot of the exhibition’s material had been stashed away as prints in boxes in the photographer’s homes. ​“I am in fact currently looking at two stacks of boxes, each about three feet tall, full of photos,” says Finn, who has shot for a number of issues of THE FACE. ​“Prints take up so much weight in our lives, but they also really force you to think about the physicality of images and where they belong.” And so, in freeing their images from their dusty prisons, the trio have treated us to visual diaries, sentimental photos and never-before-seen works.

For Finn, that means village bell-ringers, crows fighting on a beach in Ireland or cutting his naked girlfriend’s hair. Jesse, who photographed THE FACE’s queer Ukrainian soldiers cover story, is most interested in capturing the people around him as directly as possible, ​“creating as little distance between [them] and the camera,” as he puts it. “[These photos]” are about fucking, loving and rest.”

Celia, similarly to Finn, was most interested in capturing the quiet and calm in moments that are ostensibly loud, like wrestling matches or the chaos of a junkyard. “[The work I’m showing is] about intimacy, touch and life,” she says. ​“Our work is quite different, but it’s tied together by documenting life as it unfolds. And we love physical stuff!”

The exhibition’s title, Clutching at Ornaments, refers to the sentimental weight these images carry, as they’re finally shown in their physical form. ​“London can make people feel like it’s impossible to put on an exhibition,” Finn says. ​“You’ve either got to be quids in or the child of some famous person, but it’s really important to show this work in real life. I’m glad we did.”

Clutching at Ornaments is showing at Gallery46 until 20^th July