A raving girl at The Trip @ Astoria, London 1988 – PYMCA
This is one of those events you really should not miss….a rare opportunity to look into the window of youth culture throughout the last Five decades.
PYMCA is one of the most amazing and important photographic librarys specialising in British Youth Culture spanning several decades. A unique collection of photographic works taken by talented photographers covering youth culture from the 60’s Mods, 70’s Punk, 80’s Acid House, 90’s Club Culture to the Present day. You can search the websites sizable database and see images of Amnesia Ibiza in the late 80’s, Danny Rampling’s club night Shoom, The Boys Own party at East Grinstead amongst other incredible pictures.
An amazing opportunity has arisen where you can view a classic selection of these historically important images in a venue of equal historical importance. A limited chance to indulge your senses into the vivid images of British Youth Culture, a highly recommended event to put in your diaries.
PYMCA Gallery
Presents
“UNORDINARY PEOPLE”
British Youth Culture
at the
ROYAL ALBERT HALL
21st April - 24th May 2009
“These days, it’s unfashionable to be a fashion slave” Ted Polhemus.
“even if you didn’t grow up back in the day, now you can go and live it” Mixmag.
Unordinary People is brought to you by acclaimed youth culture archive, PYMCA. Celebrating the self-expression, idealism, frustrations, resilience and creative vitality of young people, the exhibition will take place at the Royal Albert Hall, as part of the venue’s reflect exhibition series.
Unordinary People will feature an eclectic selection of rare and exclusive cultural photography, archive video footage and excerpts from essays that will highlight the history, lifestyles, fashions, hairstyles, music and subcultures of British youth culture, from the 1960s to the present day. (This documentary approach provides a fascinating insight into the lives, circumstances and concerns of the subjects.)
To complement the exhibition, PYMCA will also be hosting a talk with prominent guest speaker Ted Polhemus; anthropologist, photographer and author of some of the World’s most influential style tribe books. He has spent his years documenting the culture vultures and explorers of identity that have formed youth movements over the last fifty years. Documentary photographer Paul Hartnett, famed for his exhibitions featuring Leigh Bowery’s Taboo club and ‘Midnight’s Children,’ work will also feature.
Unordinary People heralds the dawn of a new era for PYMCA with the launch of PYMCA Cultural Research. In 2009, PYMCA’s spectacular imagery collection is to be complemented by extensive research texts from respected authors including Ted Polhemus and Dave Swindells, plus a collaboration with Frank Broughton and Bill Brewster from DJhistory.com. The research archive is to be further bolstered by the inclusion of video content from the BBC Motion Gallery and will also include streamed music. This unique youth culture resource has been over ten years in the making and will now be accessible, on a subscriber basis, to consumers, educational establishments and businesses alike.
PYMCA has become renowned its for street culture exhibitions, showcasing images from their extensive archive. Having already celebrated subcultures of Rave and Skinheads, Hip Hop and Taboo club scenes, most recently hosting a next generation art competition that identified some of London’s most promising artistic talents, this exhibition will be no exception. The exhibition will feature within the Royal Albert Hall’s grand circle corridor, leading you on a unique journey through the decades and will be the first time PYMCA has displayed all its archive genres together in one showcase.
In addition to the images on display, PYMCA has selected its most spectacular and best-loved images to be available in one limited edition exhibition book, available at the PYMCA shop online.
Unordinary People – Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AP
21st April 2009 – 23rd May 2009
‘Streetstyle: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’ talk by Ted Polhemus- 23rd of April.
Starts at 6 pm and is £6.50
Public open days:
Friday 15th May 6pm – 9pm
Saturday 16th May 10am – 2pm
Sunday 17th May 11am – 3pm
Saturday 23 May 10am – 2pm
The Royal Albert Hall is one of the UK’s most treasured and magical buildings, recognisable the world over. It is a registered charity and operates without any public subsidy. Since opening in 1871, the Hall has had an unparalleled history of exceptional performances by the world’s leading artists. Today over 350 events are held in the main auditorium each year and a series for young, just signed artists takes place in the Elgar Room. The Hall also showcases world music and jazz artists through its lunchtime music series, ignite, and a free exhibition series entitled reflect.
http://www.royalalberthall.com/ <http://www.royalalberthall.com/>
PYMCA has built its reputation as the World’s leading photographic youth music culture archive, specialising in global youth culture, lifestyle and music and was established over a decade ago by Jon Swinstead. His aim was to create a collection of images that captured the real essence of life as a young person. PYMCA has been known as an independent, London-based archive, since 1997, sourcing, and collecting quality photography documenting youth and subculture fashions, movements and lifestyles from all over the world, past and present. PYMCA images are unique by delivering an intrinsic understanding of these cultures, as opposed to the typical media stereotyping and pigeonholing. Many of its photographers were deeply involved in the cultures that they captured through the lens, giving their work an added intensity and honesty and delivering a more genuine cultural insight. Over the past few years PYMCA has produced some of London’s most interesting subcultural exhibitions using images from its archive. In 2009, PYMCA continues to develop its unique offering of images to now combine more than just images. If you have a question about youth culture, go to PYMCA. Unordinary People launches its change to become PYMCA Cultural Research.
http://www.pymca.com <http://www.pymca.com>
http://www.pymcart.com <http://www.pymcart.com>
BBC Motion Gallery, offers media professionals access to the world’s most comprehensive collection of high-quality motion imagery for licensing worldwide. With more than 500,000 hours of footage, BBC Motion Gallery encompasses a wealth of content covering natural history, sport, news, locations, art, music, celebrities, historic events and more. BBC Motion Gallery is also the exclusive global representative of the CBS News Archive, and has global distribution deals with NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster, ABC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and CCTV, China’s national television station. BBC Motion Gallery operates from offices in London, New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Dubai, Los Angeles, Paris, Toronto, Sydney and Tokyo
http://www.bbcmotiongallery.com <http://www.bbcmotiongallery.com>
For further information on Unordinary People or to book your place at one of our talks please contact PYMCA on 0207 251 8338 or email info@pymca.com
