I have known and worked for Photographer Ben Rice over several years, and was invited to come to the Private Viewing Evening, being held at a wonderful venue at Bell House.
It is quite a trek on a Friday afternoon to head down to be there on time when coming from mid-Bedfordshire. I chose to use the M25 and then the M4 and thence through the southern suburbs to come in via the South Circular road. It certainly is not an unfamiliar area to me since I lived in Bromley many moons ago, and the route from Central London often took me through Dulwich, which this week celebrates the eponymous Arts Week.
However, the changes wrought since those times made this a very much slower and congested journey. However, one particular memory from a mere thirty years back sprung immediately to mind as I was driving along the afore-mentioned South Circular, and it was a scene of absolute destruction of Reliant Robin, which brought a wry smile as I remember the scattered fibreglass remnants of it, but it was obviously not as amusing to the unfortunate owner all those years back! What was surprising was that I should recognise the specific site having never been back to this area since; normally nowadays I cannot remember why it was I went upstairs!
I arrived at the appointed time and took out my camera before even entering Bell House to capture something of the area in which Bell House is situated, having ascertained that Ben did not mind my taking pictures of his and his wife’s exhibition. I was warmly welcomed by a tap on the shoulder and Ben darting behind me, before offering me a drink. Everyone I met was equally friendly, and considering Ben was the only person whom I knew, I was made to feel totally at ease, and became involved in numerous conversations with several of the other guests, and though there was one person who recognised me, sadly I failed to recognise him, which always makes me ashamed.
Ben was displaying numerous very large Prints, whilst Pip had a loop running in one room showing the making of some of her pieces, as well as another with her work either hanging or mounted on the walls, and was on hand to discuss how they were achieved.
Amongst Ben's photos two that were vertical caught my eye, and I felt capturing one person looking up to its full height told the story, I also spotted some who peered right up to them to check detail, andI bent the ear of one lady, by mentioning that for many photographers, how close they come when looking at a photo, is only limited by the length of their nose!
I will let the photographs I took during the evening tell their story, and for those attending, I hope they feel that my coverage does reflect the pleasure that all the guests felt towards the work on display by the two very disparate elements of the joint exhibition; I hope that it will be visited by numerous attendees of the Dulwich Arts Week who will share in the enjoyment of both the work on display, and the house that hosts the display of Pip and Ben’s work. I certainly did, and was very pleased I made the effort to accept the invitation and the travel involved. I can enthusiastically recommend that it is well worth the visit. I wish Dulwich Arts Week every success.
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