Day 12:01 am

  • Jim Naughten Re-Enactors and ingrainings from other times and places…

    Jim Naughten-Re-enactors-Hotshoe-Afterhours Sleaze and DignityRe-Entactors is a book / photography project by Mr Jim Naughten wherein he photographed people who re-enact battles gone by.

    I think in part because in some of the photographs the people (actors?) do look genuine, in that they have a sense that they are of the time they represent; there is a sense of something ingrained in them, of being that battle and life scarred older chap.

    Not in all the photographs (some of the people, especially the young folk look a little too healthy and well fed) but this sense of belonging in spirit to another or separate time has been something of an ongoing reference point with Afterhours Sleaze and Dignity.

    Military_Odyssey1434People’s physicality has changed over time I suppose as diet etc has changed, which is probably in part why some vintage recreations in film etc do not fully convince or jar a little; the costumes and settings may be historically correct but the people aren’t.

    I think I first came across his photographs via a copy of Hotshoe magazine that I bought on a reduced / previous months magazines stall – always something of a favourite for a rummage and a browse, especially as often they seem to have left-of-centre independently produced magazines sat next to glossy mainstream magazines.

    All for a pound or two. Bargain indeed and you can probably pop to the nearby stalls and buy ten bananas for a pound. Food and cultural requirements on the cheap, who can say fairer than that?

    Nicely produced book by the way. Eggshell-ish paper, textured linen(?) cover with a “tipped in” photograph (a posh way of saying it has been stuck onto the cover – not to belittle it though, it’s a fine looking cover/effect).

    Jim Naughten-Reenactors-Hotshoe Gallery-Afterhours Sleaze and Dignity0005-John-Naughten-Reenactors-Afterhours-Sleaze-and-Dignity-3-431x5751

    You can see more of the Re-enactors work on Jim Naughten’s website.

    Visit Hotshoe who published the book here.

    Peruse the book here.

     

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