Press: photojournalist displays 40 years’ of award-winning work in London
“HE faced down riot police at the height of the 1980s miners’ strike, was injured in the siege of Sarajevo and was there to document the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War and the election of Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s first black president.
Now, Tom Stoddart has created a jaw-dropping exhibition to mark his 40 years as an award-winning photo journalist, giving him a chance to share these moments in history with thousands of people . . . ” (article link)
TOM STODDART’S PERSPECTIVES – MORE LONDON RIVERSIDE
BELOW: A visitor from Arizona records the exhibition just two hours before the Olympic Torch passes by the Perspectives site. Viewers responses to the pictures can be found at: www.youtube.com/user/78perspectives
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PERSPECTIVES by TOM STODDART: 25 July – 11 September 2012
Pictures by Glyn Strong & Daniela Sbrisny
VISITORS VIEWS & LINKS
Tired of London, Tired of Life
ICRC Director-General Yves Daccord speaks at Perspectives event in London
Health Care in Danger: what is it and why is it important?
ICRC Director-General Yves Daccord gives his personal view as he attends a photo exhibition on the theme during the London Olympics. Images by Tom Stoddart show the dangers facing medical staff and patients in war zones.
Last Day
A familiar sight for many weeks, the Perspectives exhibition closed on 11 September as dark clouds gathered over the site.
The visitors below came to see an image of the Royal Marines in Iraq . . . sadly they arrived a day too late.
So here it is again!
Plans of the build identifying where each image was to be sited are redundant now . . .
. . . the huge black and white prints are removed from their display towers and carefully stacked for storage by the Standard 8 team.
Final Week
September 4th
Many children ask questions about the images.
September 3rd
September 2nd
September 1st
The first day of September and just 11 days before the Perspectives exhibition ends. More than 35,000 visits to our video feedback site 78 Perspectives on You Tube - and still you keep coming to the site. Thanks from ‘the team’ for your interest, comments, questions and compliments – and to those working alongside us who kept the area so clean. Tom Stoddart, Glyn Strong, Gilvanio Bragagnolo, Daniela Sbrisny and Sha Bainbridge.
August 30th
August 29th
August 28th
Not everyone appreciates
the pictures !
August 27th
Bank Holiday Monday . . .
August 26th
Visitors of all ages find something in the exhibition to hold their attention.
August 25th
Sunshine and showers start the Bank Holiday weekend.
The official symbol of the 2012 Paralympic Games, known as the Agitos, now hangs from Tower Bridge.
August 24th
August 23rd
At the exhibition site rain fails to deter visitors determined to study the pictures.
August 22nd
Even at dusk when the
exhibition is quiet the
photographs have a
presence.
Some images are particular favourites.
August 21st
August 20th
August 19th
August 18th
August 17th
Different times of day – different visitors; all drawn to linger over the haunting images.
August 16th
Sunshine and showers, but the visitors keep coming . . .
The ICRC Health Care in Danger Campaign delivers a powerful message.
August 15th
Time to reflect. A quiet period between the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
August 14th
August 13th
A disgruntled dog waits impatiently while his owner views the exhibition.
The Olympic Games are over - soon Tower Bridge will be adorned by the red, green and blue ‘agitos’ crescents that are the symbol of the Paralympics.
August 12th
Outside and inside the exhibition – the South Bank is crowded.
Life and death – celebration and despair; the images represent snapshots from history over the past four decades.
August 11th
Signature pictures – signed by the photographer.
Just across the Thames from the Tower of London visitors to Perspectives pause to refelct on the powerful images of life and death.
August 10th
Some visitors pause to ask about the ICRC Health Care in Danger Campaign . . . .
Others are drawn to images that have personal resonance for them like the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Some view the pictures impassively – others remain transfixed for many minutes.
August 9th
August 8th
Early morning and at dusk – the exhibition space is quiet
August 7th
Moments of happiness are captured in the most unlikely places.
August 6th
The exhibition site from another perspective – flanked by HMS Belfast and an Information kiosk in front of The Scoop at More London.
August 5th
A young visitor unconsciously mimics the pose of the exhausted boy sleeping in the refugee queue in the image to his left.
August 4th
More than 6,400 video feedback films recording public reaction to Perspectives have been recorded to date. Thank you all who took the time to share your thoughts about the exhibition. They can be found on:
www.youtube.com/user/78perspectives
August 3rd
Just yards away from the Perspectives exhibition crowds watch Olympic highlights.
Inside the atmosphere is very different.
August 2nd
Chernobyl
August 1st
Visitors come and go throughout the day and into the evening.
July 31st
Mohamed from Sierra Leone was moved by the image of the exhausted child who fell asleep standing up in this queue of refugees,
July 30th
July 29th
Here comes the rain!
From sunshine to downpour – clearing the Perspectives site in seconds!
The first real test for the ‘weatherproof’ build . . .
. . . and a much bleaker view of the exhibition that only moments earlier was filled with visitors.
ABOVE: The ICRC display is of particular interest to British Red Cross workers Lorraine and Eric Brown from Tyne & Wear.
BELOW: A police officer pauses to look at the exhibition.
The ‘Twitterati’ are spreading the word about Pespectives, echoing sentiments expressed by visitors at the site. Some of the most significant accolades come from fellow photographers and journalists. The Greatest Living Geordie?
Visitors pause to view the ICRC Health Care in Danger campaign pictures.
Every picture invites comment.
Some viewers have stayed at the exhibition for several hours.
July 27th
Photographer in the frame: Political movements of the 1930s, or pop culture of the 1960s; from historical images created in the early 1800s to more contemporary 1990s imagery – the Hulton Archive collection offers a wealth of socially significant, historical stock photos, editorial shots and more. Today’s filming acknowledged Tom’s contribution to that tradition.
Crowds rush to the riverbank to see the Olympic Torch arrive at Tower Bridge, just yards from the Perspectives exhibition.
Tom recently visited South Sudan to capture images for the ICRS’s Health Care in Danger Campaign. The girl digging for water is just 8-years-old.
Tom recently visited South Sudan to capture images for the ICRS’s Health Care in Danger Campaign. The girl digging for water is just 8-years-old.
July 26th
Perspectives was launched with the participation of the International Committee for the Red Cross and at the heart of the exhibition a giant red hexagon describes the its Health Care in Danger Campaign. Tom Stoddart was commissioned to shoot the images featured; the only colour pictures on display.
Namibia 1989 – A black rhinoceros killed by poachers in Etosha National Park. Rhinos are critically endangered in the wild as their horn us sold to dealers in the Far East where it is wrongly believed to be an aphrodisiac.
This exhibition offers different perspectives of world events; some are heartbreaking, some are shocking . . . and some are celebratory. Twenty years after the Siege of Sarajevo the child in this picture is a young woman, studying law at university. She still brings a radiant smile to her mother’s face.
A red hexagon at the heart of the exhibition shows images shot by Tom for the ICRC Health Care in Danger Campaign.
They illustrate graphically what happens when hostilities prevent medical and humanitarian aid reaching victims of war and conflict in time.
Day 4: The last day and time for the final touches. The team will be working ’til late to make sure that Perspectives opens on time.
The signage is up – Tom and the team start to see the concept become a reality. It’s hot work for the build crew.
The vacant panels will soon be filled as the pictures start arriving – each carefully marked-up to match its designated place in the plan.
Day Three: The build nears completion.
At last the purpose of the giant towers is explained when the exhibition title appears. With just a day to go before it opens to the public the Standard 8 team will be busy putting finishing touches to the structures and mounting the huge pictures – 74 black and white images surrounding the colourful central hexagon dedicated to the International Red Cross Health Care in Danger Campaign. These, too, were shot by Tom Stoddart before his most recent visit to South Sudan.
Nestling in the shadow of City Hall the monolithic towers stand like sentries as the day draws to a close and the crowds go home.
Day One: Tom Snell and the team from Standard 8 arrived at More London prepared for three days of hard work, unloading and assembling the structures that will showcase Tom Stoddart’s images.
As the day progressed curious passers by stopped to watch the towers, and the footprint of the build, take shape.
