Mike Hoban - Photographer.
Little, as the name suggests is a small private gallery space in the town of Lewes, East Sussex, England. It is the showspace for the photography of Mike Hoban, for 25 years a commercial photographer in live music and theatre, he now specialises in expired film photography, working primarily with expired Polaroid materials.
Mike says...
My images have been described as 'visual poetry'.... I can live with that.
These are my personal images, and this is why. None of them have been commissioned or influenced by outside parties. I created these images because I was not able to do so in any other area of my career. They are an antidote to the mass produced imagery of the digital capture era. As a reluctant commercial photographer, when each new, more 'advanced', digital camera was released, a little part of my creative soul died, and so I had to turn ever more to analogue equipment and film to satisfy my creativity. I have no interest in making you feel good about what you are looking at. On the surface of things, the world is full of pretty pictures, it is easy to see them and you don't have to try very hard to question or understand them. I prefer to scratch the surface, to look rather than see, to analyse rather than view, to study rather than watch.
Working in the dark of the theatre for 25 years, I grew accustomed to the technical challenges of working with little or no light. It seemed natural to carry this through into my personal work. I like dark images, I like dark imagery. I get satisfaction from being challenged in the analogue world, where there is no safety net of post production. Working with such an unpredictable and unstable medium as expired Polaroid, the chance encounter is not only literal within the scene, but equally unpredictable in the outcome on film. It might work, it might not. It might get damaged in the process, it might not. Environmental artifacts, dust, sand, earth, rain, all of these things can become part of, and integral to, the final image.....It is all about the magic of chance. The images can be both delicate but powerful, inviting but restrained, gentle but disturbing. Ultimately it is the viewer that decides.
Once scanned, whatever is on the surface of the print, and what appears on the screen, apears on here. They are not subjected to any manipulation. The original images, as unique objects, are delicate, fragile and vulnerable. They are small, being only 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches. On screen, they simply do not work. They really do need to be seen in reality. When elnlarged, and I blow them up big!, they take on a whole new life apart. They also have to be seen in the flesh. If you would like to see them, properly, please do get in touch. I hope you won't be disappointed, I do hope they will challenge you though.
Little Photography and Contemporary Art.
Little is also a private client gallery space.
Little offers for sale, by appointment only, Contemporary Art and Photography by some of the leading figures in those fields today. Little is open to viewings on a flexible, but appointment only basis. In the past twelve months we have placed works by Tracey Emin, Andy Warhol, Bridget Riley, Damien Hirst and Julian Opie.
Little also provides a discreet and confidential art sourcing service. We can act on your instructions at auction or deal direct with galleries, companies and individual sellers to secure your desired artworks in total privacy.
Please contact info@littlelewes.co.uk for more information.
I no longer hold any Glyndebourne Opera images nor The Hoban Gravett Archive. For enquiries regarding these images, please contact, biddy@arenapal.com
Image, Me, Birling Gap, East Sussex, by Ilona Domnich.