PHOTOGRAPHY REVIEW: Unordinary People - Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall may be one of the most traditional and oldest buildings in London, and the favourite venue for all things operatic and classical, but this has never prevented it from relating to younger generations, having hosted some major gigs in its confines, from The Stones and The Beatles in their heyday, to Siouxsie and The Banshees, and more recently Pete Doherty and The Killers. Following in its tradition, it now presents a must-see exhibition, ‘Unordinary People’, which previewed on April 21st, before running for a month until May 24th. The show was curated by youth snapper in-chief, Ted Polhemus, who introduced it as “a celebration of today’s multicultural, multi-class and multi-ageist British youth”. A perfect description for this collection, which compiles shots dating back from the 1960s to nowadays, annotated with a chronological timeline of key events in British culture (the introduction of the contraceptive pill, the first Notting Hill Carnival, the abolition of death penalty, the legalisation of abortion, the formation of the UK National Front, Margaret Thatcher’s election as Prime Minister, and the assassination of John Lennon, to name a few…).

However, although this selection is full of interesting content, only a handful of shots are truly iconic (notably, ‘Woman Standing in the Street by a Wall Painted with Revolution Poetry’, and ‘A Group of Children in the Street in Notting Hill’, both taken in 1964, as well as ‘Mick Jones and Paul Simonon backstage in 1977’, and ‘Bez With Big Eyes’ circa 1986-7) and will catch the viewers’ eye instantly.

As expected, the show documents youth subcultures, from Mods to Punks, Goths to Ravers, etc… And while, given its focus, one can understand that movements such as Grunge and skateboarding may have been left out of the equation for emanating from other borders; as well as Britpop, which as its name suggests wouldn’t tick the box, it is somehow disappointing not to see clones of Morrissey (circa 1986) or Ian Brown (circa 1990) get caught on film….

Undoubtedly so, the 1960s to 1980s series (the exhibition is split into five decades starting from the 1960s) outshine the 1990s and the 2000s, almost making them look boring, predictable and unpurposely ordinary, as they lack in real identity and personality, be it by the fashion they “model” or the settings in which they are captured; mainly mimicking previous trends- 1980s leggings and fluorescent jumpers remain street style uniforms as we speak, don’t they?
This said, if anything, this show manages to make one want to have been young earlier if not forever….

‘Unordinary People’ is available for viewing at the Royal Albert Hall for all ticket holders to the performances, with free public access on the following dates:
Friday 15th May 6pm - 9pm
Saturday 16th May 10am - 2pm
Sunday 17th May 11am - 3pm
Saturday 23 May 10am - 2pm

More info on www.royalalberthall.com