Tim Hetherington/Doug Rickard Exhibition

Overview

Stills Gallery can do no wrong, in my eyes. Their roster of artists is impeccable, and their exhibitions are always wonderfully thoughtful and beautifully curated. This new show is no exception. Featuring the work of Tim Hetherington and Doug Rickard, the exhibition is a collaborative effort between Stills Gallery and Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, and is part of the Head On Photo Festival.

A New American Picture presents a series of American street scenes lifted from Google Street View. Over the course of four years, Rickard trawled the website, searching for downtrodden, economically devastated areas of the US. Once a suitable vista was found, Rickard would photograph the computer screen. The result are faded, grainy pictures that look like quite cinematic. Given that they're screenshots, the images lack any great definition and many feature people and children with their faces blurred out, giving them a cool, surrealist vibe. They're terrifically interesting photographs, particularly when you consider the idea of a Rickard as a documentary photographer working remotely.

My favourite works were those by Tim Hetherington. A photojournalist, he is perhaps best known for his work as co-director on the documentary film Restrepo (2010), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Hetherington's works capture American soldiers slumbering peacefully, taken while he was stationed in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley during 2007-08. The photographs themselves are sweet and beautiful, but it feels strange to look at images of these men. They look so serene as they sleep in quite childlike positions, and then you remember that they are in a profession of supreme violence. It's an incredibly jarring contradiction. Hetherington is able to shift perspectives on war and human suffering, which is no mean feat. Sadly, he was killed on April 20, 2011, by shrapnel while covering the frontlines of the conflict in Libya.

Both Rickard and Hetherington are virtuosos of the genre and both have contributed greatly to contemporary film and photographic practices. Their images, though dramatically different, work well together. If you're a photography buff (and these days, really, who isn't?) then this is the show for you.

Image: Tim Hetherington, Kim, Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan © Tim Hetherington, courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.