Only The Sunny Hours
Contemporary Photography with a Brownie 127

Curated by Cally Trench

Roger Perkins

Only The Sunny Hours


Brownie 127 photography by Roger Perkins

Roger Perkins, 127 Cornwallis Road (2015)
Black and white 127 film

Brownie 127 photography by Roger Perkins

Roger Perkins, 127 Cowley Road (2015)
Black and white 127 film

Brownie 127 photography by Roger Perkins

Roger Perkins, 127 Cricket Road (2015)
Black and white 127 film

Brownie 127 photography by Roger Perkins

Roger Perkins, 127 High Street (2015)
Black and white 127 film

Roger Perkins writes: has taken photographs of every house he could find in the City of Oxford whose house number is 127. He has noticed how often snapshots from the 1950s and 60s feature people standing outside their houses.

He adds: There is now a 'romance' about analogue prints. They somehow reassure us of better, simpler times when things were more haptic. There was the reassuring click of the camera, the winding on of a physical film, the posting of the negatives and the expectant wait for their return. However inexpertly composed and framed and frequently dull in subject matter to all (except the taker of the picture), they were, above all, personal and specific.

The digital world is removed from that. The image is instant and viewed on a screen and deleted at will - rarely are they printed, mounted and framed. But they are shared between countless people. They have become transient images unlike their analogue predecessors. Unless I told you, could you tell the difference between a digital and an analogue print? Does it matter?

A dull image is a dull image after all.

Roger Perkins is a visual artist working across variety of media. Some times 2D, most times 3D, the central idea of the work determines the material outcome. Exhibition and installation venues have included churches, shop windows, parks, forests, and the top of a college tower as well as the more conventional gallery. He has co-founded a number of artist-run organisations and taught in many colleges here and abroad. He currently teaches on the Professional Practice Course for artists at the Warehouse Art School, OVADA in Oxford. He is also Vice Chair of OVADA, an artist-run space in central Oxford. He continues his practice in the hope that, at some point, the world will make some sense to him. A recent time-lapse video, in collaboration with artist Tila Rodrigues Past, can be found on his website.

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