The great British enthusiast
Britain’s unheralded enthusiasts are documented in Matt Stuart’s observational street photography. As intrigued by these subjects as they are obsessed by their varying hobbies, Matt is increasingly drawn by their relentless passion and sense of community. Journeying far and wide to witness their pastimes, he has generated an amusing and astounding series of photographs, to be exhibited at Derby QUAD from 13th November 2010 to 16th January 2011.
As photography category winner of the Vauxhall Collective bursary, a scheme supporting art and design in the UK now in its third year, Matt was commissioned by Vauxhall Motors to create a series of photographs as a response to this year’s theme, ‘The Great British Weekend.’ Given free rein in a new Vauxhall Astra, Matt travelled throughout Britain as part of his ‘Enthusiast’ tour, capturing an array of weirdly wonderful weekend pursuits in action.
As one of the UK’ leading Street Photographers, Matt Stuart has the ability to tell incredible stories through photography. His characteristic humour and ability to see, and record, the world around us from an utterly unique viewpoint are just spectacular. Through capturing incredible fleeting and absurd moments in the 'everyday,' the street photography of Matt Stuart can give us inspiration and insight, in order to look again at our streets with new eyes. After all art is the ability to see the extraordinary in the ordinary – Louise Clemens, artistic Director, Quad and Format
From cyclists and marathon runners to chess champions and plane spotters, Matt Stuart’s subjects are not your middle-of-the-road fanatics. These are the lesser known ones – extraordinary people who get up early on a Saturday morning to engage in the physically dangerous, such as the parkour jumpers photographed in Waterloo, or the painstakingly patient, like the plane spotters outside Heathrow. Others featuring in Matt’s new series of photographs include runners at the Edinburgh Marathon, Stevie Wonder fans, cyclists at Southbank, junior chess champions, elderly dancers at a tea dance in Spitalfields, visitors to the Henley Regatta, kite enthusiasts in Portsmouth and participants in the 1645 Battle of Basing re-enactment in Basingstoke. After a long week at the office or at school, their versions of the Great British Weekend are like no other.
Committed himself not only to photography but also cycling and book collecting, Matt understands the fanatic’s quarry. In this extraordinary photographic exhibition, Matt invites us to celebrate each of these Great British Enthusiasts, in all their many guises.
Matt Stuart will be joining the rest of the Vauxhall Collective winners, from throughout its three year history, to participate in an exciting exhibition, Vauxhall Collective: A Retrospective. The show will cover all of the Collective’s 14 projects, spanning all of the different categories: Fine Art, Craft & Design, Photography, Film & Fashion and Theatre. The exhibition will take place at Idea Generation Gallery in Shoreditch, London, from 2nd to 7th November 2010.
