Photo: Black Hair and Beauty (1998), Eileen Perrier

Eileen Perrier, winner of the Space Studio’s Cultural Diversity Award 2003, showcases her latest portraits at the Angel Row Gallery in Nottingham from September 13 til November 1.

The exhibition is part of the city’s international contemporary photography festival, “Drawing with Light”, which includes two ongoing series of work which Perrier continually adds to, “6 – 8” and “Black Hair and Beauty”.

Photo: from
'6 - 8' (2003), Eileen Perrier

Perrier likes to take portraits of groups of people linked by a common thread. In 2002 it was people with a gap between their teeth for an exhibition staged by London Underground at Piccadilly Circus. Gap-toothed herself, Eileen wanted to include famous faces but unfortunately the most famous of all gap-toothed celebs, Madonna, turned her down.

“6 – 8” celebrates the humble office cleaner. Posed against the backdrop of the offices they clean, Perrier exposes the invisible world of these latter day saints. She began this project in 2000 and has been adding to it ever since. This latest showing will include new images featuring the cleaners at The Angel Row Gallery.

Photo: from
'6 - 8' (2003), Eileen Perrier

The second project on display is called “Black Hair and Beauty”. It is a selection of portraits taken at the annual “Afro Hair and Beauty Show” at Alexandra Palace which Perrier has visited every year since 1998. These portraits are styled like a fashion shoot and archive changing trends in black hair styling.

Eileen Perrier was born in London in 1974. She studied photography at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design and at the Royal College of Art where she graduated in 2000. Since then she has exhibited at The National Portrait Gallery, The Photographer’s Gallery and The Centre Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona amongst others.

“Drawing with Light” is Nottingham’s international photography festival taking place at venues all over the city this autumn. It showcases the work of internationally acclaimed photographers and emerging regional talent and aims to challenge the popular view of photography.

Other festival highlights include: Franklyn Rogers at The Art Exchange, Helen Sear at The Yard, Up Close and Personal at Nottingham Castle and Jitka Hanzlová at The Angel Row Gallery. For a programme of events or more information about individual exhibitions contact Sofia Nazar on 0115 846 7379 or visit www.drawingwithlight.org.