The Past Is Another Country continues Nickerson’s investigation into the nature of identity and this series explores how global homogenisation has affected indigenous and local culture. Her work is driven by a passionate interest in people and their environments. She has spent the last ten years traveling all over the globe and the photographs from this exceptional series were made in Oman, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, Japan, Ireland, France, China and the USA.
The works in the exhibition – showing everyday objects and situations that we might see on a daily basis – examine a dilemma of our modern world, where we are caught in a space between tradition and modernity, the local and the global. The objects and environments depicted in the works prompt the viewer to reflect on the nature of this dilemma and invite consideration of our own society and our own environment, raising questions of sustainability and lifestyle choices. They bring us face to face with questions of what culture means to us, and both how we are developing and how we would like to develop our own culture. There is a depth of feeling underpinning Nickerson’s practice and a truth underlies every one of these unforgettable photographs.
Ornate water towers to Bedouin encampments placed beside palatial desert homes; a troupe of Chinese opera singers preparing for a performance wearing western t-shirts; a young bride, whose hands are traditionally decorated in hennaed designs holds imported lilies; a plastic bamboo tree in a traditional geisha house; a story is told, a portrait of a place is revealed, subtly illustrating the appropriation of values from other parts of the world.
The exhibition has been made possible through kind support from Craigavon Borough Council and The Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
About: Jackie Nickerson is an award-winning photographer with an international reputation. She is fascinated with all aspects of humanity and particularly in the differences and similarities of people across the globe, her work focuses on who we are and how we live.
Through her intuitive use of the camera, she examines situations of identity and culture, focusing on real and ordinary people and situations with simplicity and a strong sense of aesthetic and detail, her work presents her subjects with dignity and beauty. She has the ability to engage with those on the other side of the lens and it is this that has given her access to a diverse range of communities, enabling viewers to get an unobtrusive glimpse of people living in their own environment.
In her own words, she says that her aim as an artist is “always to see what’s really there.”
The exhibition has been created with kind support from Craigavon Borough Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
