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'The World is Still Beautiful', A solo exhibition of large, medium and small photographs of spaces, cityscapes and landscapes.

A solo exhibition of large, medium and small photographs of spaces, cityscapes and landscapes at RAKE Visningsrom in Trondheim, Norway from 23th March until 28th April 2013.

The photographs were taken on large format negative film in international contexts such as Svalbard in Norway, Kalmar in Sweden, Prague in the Czech Republic, New York in the USA, and London, Margate and Orford Ness in the UK. The spatial, functional and historical aspects of these contexts were researched before and after visiting them through looking at satellite imagery and existing images sourced from the internet and literature searches in books and the internet.

Unlike the prevailing emphasis on architectural objects, my photographs seek to capture the living contexts of which architecture is always part. The photographs are laconic, visually austere and studiously conservative in their use of pictorial space,

seeking to be memorably unremarkable. The current tropes of architectural and landscape photography (particularly their emphasis on spectacle) are implicitly critiqued, undermining the confidence in construction as a measure of civilisation. If the promises of a beautiful future prove to be false, the world is still beautiful.

I have a second career as architectural photographer, with over 2000 works published in books and journals worldwide and a website www.grandorge.com on which works have been viewed over 1,090,000 times. This solo exhibition grew out of that reputation, but represent my own argument. The Trondheim exhibition (see: trondheimkunsthall.com and http://rake.trondheim.no/visningsrom) was extended by 3 weeks due to popular demand. It led to another solo exhibition in London (see submission 2) and to an invitation to give a paper and public conversation with the artist Thomas Struth at the “Constructing the View” conference in Dublin on November 2nd, 2013.