Tim Walker: Dreamscapes photography exhibition Bowes Museum ...

Tim Walker: Dreamscapes photography exhibition Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle Tim Walker, renowned for his fashion editorials for both Vogue and Vanity Fair, is revealing a different side to his photographs in this innovative exhibition at the Bowes Museum. The exhibition specifically focuses on Walker’s photography which takes its inspiration from traditional English landscape painting. Walker lives in Northumberland, not far from where the exhibition is being held, and his love for the architecture and landscape from this region is shown in his photographs. Many of the photographs involve scenes inside and around stately homes, usually with a surrealist twist like a bath filled with plants or a stream running through a living room from the fireplace. Walker creates his whimsical photographs using props, nothing is added later in post-production. This only adds to the brilliance of his surrealist, fantastical creations as fashion models stand beside larger than life-size skeletons and creepy china dolls and Victorian tea table scenes are hung from trees by visible ropes like a scene from Alice in Wonderland. This exhibition is particularly unusual as, for the first time, Walker’s photographs are displayed in light boxes. This is a really innovative way of exhibiting the photographs as the smallest details are brightened and highlighted, giving a better viewing of the whole scene. As the pictures are backlit, the gallery room is in complete darkness. This really enhances the gallery experience as this dark setting heightens the mystical, fairy tale quality of Walker’s photographs. This exhibition is a great introduction to Tim Walker’s photographs, and for those already familiar with his work in fashion it is a wonderful collection of his most impressive works. The exhibition is on until 1st September.