The Painter in the Van
Photographs by Paul Carter • Paintings by Bryan Whitfield
14th - 29th April, 2018
Sat-Sun: 11am - 5pm*
Mon - Fri: by pre-arrangement
* or, by agreement, outside these hours, weekdays or weekend
1 Burnham Chase, Bitterne, SOUTHAMPTON, SO18 5DG
About the Exhibition ⬇︎
The root of this exhibition is a chance meeting between Paul and Bryan in 1969 on a beach in Torremolinos, southern Spain. Bryan was travelling with his family in a van. Paul took photographs of them and of the local people who were living through a moment of change as Torremolinos was being transformed from fishing village to Costa del Sol resort.
In 2016 Paul and the Whitfield family published a book documenting their time on the beach. "The Painter in the Van" develops that collaboration, showing Bryan's recent paintings, images from the book and more of Paul's photographs from his time in Spain.
Although the first shoots of this exhibition started sprouting in 1969, its flowering came more recently when the younger generations of the Whitfield family wanted to know more about that epic trip. Paul scanned all the photos he had taken of the family and the images were shared among Bryan and Catherine's children and grandchildren.
The idea then grew to publish the pictures as a book. To begin with it was mainly seen as a family history project and a showcase for the photographs, but it was eventually understood to have some significance as a comment on the social history of the late 60s and the emergence of Spain as a tourist destination. Everyone involved wrote down their memories to give the pictures some context and in 2016 "A Moment in Time - Spain 1969" was published. It contains sixty four photographs.
Margery Clarke of "The First" Gallery decided to stock the book and while looking through it, she came up with the idea for a joint show of Bryan's and Paul's work. The book is for sale at the gallery.
Paul Carter
Paul’s half of this joint show stems mainly from the book above, plus images from other parts of Spain that same spring. In hindsight he realises how much the photographs mark the changes in the air then – for the villagers’ traditional ways, for the Whitfields, for the spirit of the 60s, for photography and for him.
- Born in Leicestershire in 1948.
- Emigrated with his father, mother and brother via Southampton to Canada in 1954.
- His father had to learn photography as part of his Royal Canadian Air Force police training, and became an enthusiastic amateur photographer in his own time.
- When Paul was ten he made his father teach him how to use a proper camera and how to develop and print.
- He continued to develop his photography skills in his spare time through his teenage years, mainly spent on Canadian Air Force bases in France and Germany. He was drawn to the idea of doing social documentary work through seeing work in photographic magazines done by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eugene Smith, etc.
- Paul returned to Canada in 1967 and was accepted on to a photography course in Toronto. He felt that the course had a very old fashioned approach to photography so he left after a couple of months and fairly quickly managed to get some work as a photographer.
- He returned to Europe late in 1968 and travelled through Germany, France and Spain during the first half of 1969.
- He decided to settle in London in late 1969.
- Paul worked in several roles for the British Journal of Photography magazine, including the job of editor on a sister magazine, "Photo News Weekly".
- In 1973 he set up “The Blackfriars Photography Project” near Waterloo station in London, one of the first “community photography" projects in the UK, using grants from the Arts Council and Kodak.
- In 1977 he moved to Winchester to join his partner there and started freelancing. They moved to Southampton in 1980.
- Paul was asked to be a member of arts committees at the Arts Council in London and Southern Arts in Winchester.
- He continued to work as an editorial, PR and corporate photographer since the 80s. His clients included magazines, public authorities and businesses. He largely specialised in the areas of education, health and the arts.
- He has had several local exhibitions during that time.
- In recent years Paul has semi-retired from commercial work to concentrate on personal projects, including "We Do It in Public", a collaboration with a local midwife focusing on issues around breastfeeding, particularly breastfeeding in public.
Bryan Whitfield
Bryan trained at Manchester and the Slade. He continues to paint daily, at 83. He kept no Spanish work, though a piece in the show from the ’70s bespeaks his change in style. Most of this display is recent: canvases, using composition and colour in subtle ways, plus finished drawings and sketches. His works are quietly intense, their impromptu feel belying the considered input of e.g. how one stroke relates to the next, with shades of Morandi, Derain and Gustave de Smet, among others, never far away. Bryan's work is in several private collections.
- Born in Yorkshire, 1935
- Family moved to Manchester after the death of his father, 1937
- Evacuated to a farm during the war
- Went to work on a farm, aged 16, 1951
- Did National Service plus 3 years in the Air Force. His drawing ability was recognized, so during his service he went part time to art schools wherever he was stationed, including Australia, 1953 to 1958
- Manchester Art School, 1958
- Slade, London,1959
- Trip to Italy to study Old Masters, 1961
- Had the use of a studio at Kennington Art School where he met his wife Catherine, 1962
- Trip to south France working and sketching, 1963
- Lived in Cromer and painted the sea, Winter 1963
- Moved to London and worked cutting alphabets for Letraset, et al., 1964
- Headed south in the van with 3 children and painting equipment, 1967
- On returning, bought and lived on a narrowboat in Aylesbury, 1969 to 1979
- 1980s onwards, continued to paint and work.
- Moved to a house and went travelling, with painting trips to Majorca, France, Spain, Portugal and Ireland
- Exhibitions in Oxford, Warwick and Aylesbury
"The First" Gallery is also a private house in Bitterne, Southampton, believed to be the first such dual-role venue in the world, where the Clarke family have for over forty years provided a venue for good but often little-known artists and craftspeople to show and sell their wares. They also have an important role in promoting the work of a previous generation of local artists and in keeping their memories alive. The late Leo Stable, the founder of the John Hansard Gallery, was an associate, and Southampton City Art Gallery maintains close links.