29 Nov 2012: ‘I like to photograph things that people don’t generally photograph in places that they don’t generally go to,’ says Andrew Gurnett about his debut exhibition at Artistry Gallery this month. Born and raised in the UK, the part-time photographer has had a camera for as long as he can remember, but credits his move to Singapore in 1995 as the catalyst for beginning to take his art seriously – among his earlier shots is a series of macro-lens works inspired by dragonflies at the Botanic Gardens, close to where he used to live. Still, during the day, he continues to pay his bills as the director of his self-founded corporate training company The Right Angle, making time to take photos on weekend ambles along the various back streets and alleys around town.
The exhibition features 12 images, all of which were taken between 2004 and 2011. The photos reveal a fascination with the traces of industry left behind in more weathered areas of town; cropped and framed without any outside context, they possess an abstract quality and it’s often difficult to determine the scale of the photo or even exactly what the subject is.
The title of his exhibition reflects the philosophy behind the images: ‘They look like something that someone would’ve deliberated created,’ says Gurnett. ‘I imagine that I could be walking past an art gallery and see these hanging on the walls in there as paintings. And yet they’re not made – they’re just there.’
‘The best shots are always the ones where you don’t anticipate them,’ he continues. ‘Same with the best things in life, you know? You always find them when you don’t set out looking for them.’
GWEN PEW 