Fragments from the Foreshore: Michael O' Reilly
21 July - 4 November 2007
The Wall
A striking display of contemporary still-life photographs. The works feature ‘found’ objects washed up and revealed on the foreshores of the tidal Thames, and demonstrate the beauty of historical waste fragments. Weekly kayaking trips on the river over the last 10 years have given designer and photographer Michael O’Reilly special access to unusual places to explore, photograph and collect an array of discarded objects.
Composed back in the studio and photographed using natural light to showcase pattern, colour and texture, the pictures take on a powerful aesthetic quality in their own right. But they also serve to give us an insight into the history of the river Thames and its riverside communities over the centuries. Remnants of a medieval ‘Bellarmine’ wine flask might lie alongside a Victorian shoe and World War Two bottle tops whilst a selection of broken china is juxtaposed with old wooden clothes pegs.