ABOUT

 

NEIL MASSEY (b.1970)

“I’ve come to think of my archive as an Odyssey. A journey, always evolving. An unconventional story, a rich tapestry of photography and art connected by an invisible psychedelic thread. My work is an instinctive reaction / an intuitive response to any given person, place or time - with an aim to capture a feeling, a spirit”

I first picked up a camera aged 15. I needed an extra piece of artwork to pass my art exam. My mate Martin suggested I do a photography piece, he would teach me - his stepdad had a darkroom. By 17, I had my own darkroom in our garden shed. I forever thank Martin for this.

I studied photography at Berkshire and Bournemouth Colleges of Art respectively. Sandwiched between my time at both Art schools, I travelled around Thailand for 3 months aged 19, this ‘trip’ recorded in a book I'm currently working on ‘OPEN UP’. 

In the mid 90’s I moved to London where I worked as an editorial photographer for the next 15 years. Magazines; The Face, Sleazenation and Q to name a few, commissioned me to travel the world documenting artists and youth subcultures- where I got to fulfil my other passions of travelling and music. During these shoots I was often a participant as well as a documentarian. My mum observed “You’re living a champagne lifestyle, on beer wages”. 

In 2009 my wife and I moved to Vietnam where we lived for the next 6 years. We fell in love with Vietnamese culture and its people - Vietnam, a communist country embracing capitalism and undergoing rapid economic and cultural development. This provided the backdrop to a series of long-term photographic projects (‘Bloody Chunks’, ‘Untitled’, ‘Song’ and ‘Monobloc’) entitled ‘The Vietnam Collection’.  This body of work explores Vietnamese life - in all its raw unadulterated beauty. My work ‘Bloody Chunks’ about The Vietnamese Underground Metal Scene won the NY Photo District News Music Moments Award in 2015.

In 2015 when we returned to London, I experienced a kind of reverse culture shock, providing me with a fresh perspective on my home city. In the same vein as ‘Monobloc’ - Projects ‘Trace’ and ‘An Ode To: The British Telephone Box’ continued to investigate man-made objects found in the street. These artefacts from the 21st Century, always treated like pieces of evidence, photographed as found. These works, though absent of people, examine human presence and the aftermath of human activities. At first glance what could be seen as inanimate objects, start to take on their own character and tell their own stories.

In 2020, when lockdown began I started to photograph my family in the confines of our London home - making a body of work entitled; ‘THE UPSIDE DOWN’. I also started scanning my 30 year body of work. Going through my archive afforded me a time of reflection and a chance to organise my archive - finding old favourites and forgotten gems. It was during this time I found photos of ‘fluro artworks’ and ‘neon body painting’ I made back in 1991 in the height of my raving days. This discovery has sent me on a psychedelic, technicolour journey creating mixed-media artworks I call: KALEIDESCAPES. This work is ongoing…