COLLECTORS FOR PARTNERS MAGAZINE // /  by sophie green

I photographed collectors who participate in extreme collections in Tokyo for the first issue of the recently launched Japanese magazine 'Partners'.

Yomoko -
“Since I was very young I have always liked fancy things. My grandmother used to take me out and buy me all kinds of toys, she liked teddy bears and all cute things. It's all her influence."

Shirutaro -
"I like looking at the CD jacket and thinking ‘man, that’s cool’. It’s really my hobby. There’s something to be said for having something physical. It makes me feel good just knowing it’s there."
 

Yamada -
“I like to look at the patterns of stones and their natural shapes. A lot of stones are homogeneous and aren’t very colorful but there are actually a surprising number in the world that have diverse colors and shapes. Stone collectors tend to be seen as freaks for doing something so useless, but it’s no different from the way people are drawn in by paintings or ceramics."
 

Wefts & Tracks published in The Financial Times Magazine // /  by sophie green

‘Wefts & Tracks’ is my latest on going personal project and was featured within an editorial for The Financial Times Weekend Magazine. I have been working with journalist, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff to reflect the stories of the bubbling community of afro hair salons on Blenheim Grove, Peckham in South-East London, one of the capital’s most diverse communities where many of the salons have been thriving since the 1990s.

There is no getting away from the importance of hair - for centuries black women have been battling with the pressures of Eurocentric beauty standards, straightening and taming their hair in ways unknown to most white people. But the significance of the salons extends beyond beautification and a place to work; they act as impromptu community centres, babysitting venues and everything in between. Above all, they provide a sense of belonging at the centre of daily life. 

Friends pop in for cups of tea and coffee, salesmen display their wares to unimpressed laughter, and hairdressers bop to dancehall or languidly watch their favourite Nollywood dramas as they wait for clients, In some of the more informal premises babies crawl around the floor; voices are raised in languages and accents from all over Africa and the Caribbean and gestures replace speech as clients are moved from mirror-fronted styling chairs to washbasins where creamy white chemical straightener is rinsed out before it begins to burn, or newly plaited braids are dipped and sealed in steaming pots of boiling water.

Now a plan to relocate some of the salons in the name of regeneration is causing controversy…

See the online article here; https://www.ft.com/content/90c2e798-f305-11e6-8758-6876151821a6

London Art Fair // /  by sophie green

My series 'A Day At The Races' - a project which has taken me to car festivals and racetracks to document the maligned subculture of ‘boy racers’, has been selected as part of the Photo50 exhibit at London Art Fair which is running from the 18th-22nd January. Get down and see it. In the meantime thank you to The Guardian for featuring the work; https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2017/jan/17/local-customs-the-high-octane-world-of-boy-racers-in-pictures

Dented Pride // /  by sophie green

'Dented Pride' published by Ditto Press in collaboration with LAW Magazine, supported by Carhartt, is a limited edition of ten A2 high gloss prints, housed in a screen-printed metallic cover and vacuum sealed. Edition of 300, November 2016. From £25.00.

DENTED PRIDE - OUT NOW // /  by sophie green

‘Dented Pride’ is a series of Banger and Stock car surface abstractions and was shot in conjunction with my series ‘Bangers & Smash’ which focuses on the Stock Car and Banger racing subculture.

This racing community creatively liberate spare car parts to reconstruct vehicles purposefully stripped of glass, airbags and interior comforts, leaving behind the bare necessities of the car so they can race across the finish line as fast as possible. Once a banger is destroyed, the parts that are rectifiable are salvaged and the rest is sent to scrap. The most notorious and highly anticipated race is the ‘Destruction Derby’ where cars are encouraged to smash into each other - the winner is the last car in motion. 

Where some would maybe just see damage and destruction - I saw beauty in the dented, scratched and textured surfaces of the car exteriors. Covered in funny and charming slogans, including nicknames and messages to girlfriends, each car forms a unique work of art in its own individualistic way. As the cars compete, the wear and tear builds layer upon layer as a result of the collisions and crashes creating new compositions which are made completely by chance.

'Dented Pride' published by Ditto in collaboration with LAW Magazine, supported by Carhartt, is a limited edition of ten A2 high gloss prints, housed in a screen-printed metallic cover and vacuum sealed. Edition of 300, November 2016.

See the full series on my website.

DENTED PRIDE LAUNCH // /  by sophie green

My 'Dented Pride' publication launches Thursday 24th November. Published by Ditto Press in collaboration with LAW Magazine. Supported by Carhartt. Edition of 300, November 2016.

Girlgaze Exhibition, Los Angeles // /  by sophie green

Very happy to be a part of the 'Girlgaze: a frame of mind' exhibition at The Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, America. Opening 22nd October until March 2017. 

Girlgaze has a mission to support girls behind the camera to represent the intelligence, creativity, complexity, and diversity of girls' experience—across nation, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation and economic background. Curated by Collier Schorr, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Inez van Lamsweerde and more.

SSAW Magazine // /  by sophie green

I photographed Willie Walters for SSAW Magazine, the longtime lecturer and fashion director at Central Saint Martins who has now retired after 24 years of teaching fashion’s top future talents. See the full series here.

Gypsy Gold - Fotografia Magazine // /  by sophie green

Fotografia Magazine interview me on my series 'Gypsy Gold'. Check out the feature here; http://fotoroom.co/gypsy-gold-sophie-green-introduces-us-to-the-eccentric-culture-of-the-travelers/ "The main calendar events of the Traveller world are horse fairs. The lives of horses and gypsies have always been strongly intertwined going right back to their very origins as Travellers. Whilst nowadays cars and modern caravans have largely replaced the traditional horse and cart, the horse still remains an integral part of the Travellers’ DNA. I felt the horse fairs would provide me with an interesting window into Traveller culture and a different environment to that normally featured in photographs of gypsies—their campsites often being a large focus. Communities on the fringe of mainstream society are fascinating to me because they have their own rules and moral code. At the fairs, horses are traded, girls search for husbands and friends and family from far and wide reunite. I love the vibrancy and colors of the fairs, they are totally mesmerizing—you can find incredible faces, theatrical outfits, traditional carts, gleaming horses, cockerel fights, singing birds and fortune-tellers. Whilst shooting I often felt like I had gone back in time. I became obsessed with the small details: fashion, makeup, eyebrows, hairstyles, market fakes, leather, bits and whips. It’s a series of fun incidentals which create a visual story."

JOURNEY BY DESIGN EXHIBITON // /  by sophie green

Really happy to be a part of 'Journey By Design' - an original exhibition curated by Richard Mortimer for The British Fashion Council during London Fashion Week, BFC Showspace alongside photographers Ellen von Unwerth, Alice Hawkins, Tom Craig, Danielle Levitt, Miles Aldridge, William Selden, Robi Rodriguez,  David Hughes, Andreas Larsson and Norman Jean Roy. 'Material World' - features within a fashion editorial for 1 Granary magazine, shot in London's Shepard's Bush. The project focuses on the fabric shops and multicultural community as a source point for both materials and inspiration for many of the industry's up and coming fashion designers.