WIND SCREEN: A Visual Study from a Motor Vehicle

OPENS 10.4.25 - PENZANCE - CLOSING 3RD OF MAY

Curated by Matt Martin, TONER.

"WIND SCREEN: A Visual Study from a Motor Vehicle" invites viewers to explore the intimate, often fleeting, and elusive landscapes captured through the lens of photographers looking out from the confines of a moving car.

This group exhibition assembles a diverse body of work that stretches the boundaries of travel, motion, and perception, bringing together photographs taken from the unique vantage point of a motor vehicle — where the view is constantly shifting, fragmentary, and fragmented by the speed of movement and the frame of the window.

The act of photographing from a car is not new. In fact, it finds its roots in the mid-20th century when photographers such as Robert Frank and William Eggleston began to explore the theme of American highways and the culture of travel through their car windows. Frank's iconic The Americans and Eggleston's early colour photographs captured both the mundane and the poetic within the context of a moving, shifting world. These early works established the car as a mobile studio, a lens through which the rapidly changing world could be observed, both distant and intimate. The transient nature of the car window as a frame allowed for an exploration of the fleeting moments that otherwise might escape our attention -fragmented scenes of life as it happens, whether on highways, side streets, or city backdrops.

In "WIND SCREEN," contemporary photographers continue to explore this tradition but with fresh perspectives. The exhibition features work from Archie Robinson, Ben Weller, Becky Tyrrell, Bryan Schutmaat, Bryony Good, Charlie Jay, Chris Mann, Ed Templeton, Ingrid Pop, James John Midwinter, James Meredew, Jackson Whitefield, Jack Johns, Jon Denham, Jamie Hawkesworth, Laura McCluskey, Max Searl, Matt Martin, Nick Pumphrey, Rosie Kliskey, Valerie Phillips, and Vanessa Winship. Each photographer brings their personal vision and narrative, resulting in a rich and varied collection that highlights the intersections of technology, mobility, and the human experience.

In the context of Cornwall, the act of photographing from a vehicle takes on a distinct resonance. The rural roads, winding coastal paths, and dramatic landscapes of Cornwall are themselves a kind of photographic journey-one that mirrors the essence of the traditional photographic road trip. Yet, unlike the expansive highways of the American West or the wide-open roads of Europe, Cornwall's narrow lanes, picturesque villages, and ever-changing weather patterns offer a more intimate, often more challenging, encounter with the landscape. In this sense, the road trip in Cornwall becomes not just a physical journey, but an emotional one. The experience of driving through this unique region-sometimes isolated, sometimes surrounded by the sea-resonates with the work of the photographers in this exhibition, who similarly navigate between moments of connection and solitude, speed and stillness, presence and absence.

From the blurred lines of passing streets to the stark, distant horizons seen through rain-speckled windows, these images evoke the simultaneity of speed, isolation, and connection. There is a tension in photographing from a car, where the photographer is both a passive observer and an active participant, constantly aware of the world slipping away behind them as they race forward. This sense of movement, of what is missed as much as what is captured, is a central theme in much of the work presented here.

As you move through the exhibition, you will witness the delicate balance between intention and spontaneity. From the uncanny calm of Ingrid Pop's wide-angle vistas to the raw, unsparing observations in the work of Ed Templeton, the exhibition highlights the diversity of approaches to this shared theme. The images reflect an ever-changing world-one that is constantly evolving, filled with movement, light, and fleeting moments that only a motor vehicle can frame.

"WIND SCREEN: A Visual Study from a Motor Vehicle Opens on the 10th of April at TONER, 61-62 Chapel Street and will be on display from the 11th to the 20th of April. Please email info@tonerpz.com for any other information.