SHINING brings together 14 photographers from Czech Republic and the UK. Most of them recent graduates, they represent different uses of photography and ways of captivating the ‘reality’. Staged, manipulated and purely documentary style photographs are all shown here to highlight the thin line between reality, illusions and dreams.

Jan Lesak’s unplanned documents emanate from the joy of a found situation. Yeon Lee’s nun is installed higher then usual to look down on the visitors. It is part of a series in which Lee explores women’s inequality and cultural differences. Katerina Drzkova’s colourful visual realisation of refugees’ dreams of future are juxtaposed with a small black and white images of their current life, bringing a cruel comparison.

Ben Camp’s armoured figure refers to Japanese martial art Kendo (way of sword), pointing out to the complex mental activity that goes on during a fight. Margarita Myrogiaanni’s King is plunged in darkness, leaving everything but his smart collar to our imagination. Ondrej Tkacik’s everyday objects – in this case leftovers resting on a kitchen surface – remind us of our own unsure and short existence. Martin Kamen and Magda Slezar both appear in their work – Slezar naked on the beach, next to a dead dolphin, and Kamen in an awkward mute situation. In the case of Jasmina Cibic and Terrence Smith, photographs were a by-product of their installation work but these images work on their own as well, producing new meaning. Matt Croghan’s street and nature pictures get treated in Photoshop, the resulting scenes being deceivably unreal. Similarly Dean Leivers alters indoor environment but he does so by projecting images – in this case onto a sink.

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