John Shand Kydd
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John "Johnnie" Shand Kydd (born 2 May 1959) is the youngest son of Peter Shand Kydd and Janet Munro Kerr. He is stepbrother to Diana, Princess of Wales. He is an internationally exhibited photographer; certain of his portraits were once exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery.
Life and work
Shand Kydd hated school.[according to whom?] He studied Art (and English) at university, but says that, by then, he had done enough painting to know that he did not want to pursue it, "There's so much crap art around and what's the point of being a mediocre artist?"[citation needed]
After working at a Bond Street art gallery selling 19th Century paintings for a number of years Shand Kydd began taking photographs of his artist friends and those in his social sphere, using an Instamatic camera.
As a participant rather than solely an observer he captured the community of the Young British Artists before they became household names. As an emerging photographer, Shand Kydd served as the silent chronicler of the movement by capturing his friends, including Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst, on film.
From March 1996 until July 1997 that work was soon collected into the book Spit Fire. The collection was featured in the Sensation show at the Royal Academy in 1997. From this portfolio the National Portrait Gallery acquired 42 prints.
The second book, Crash, documenting the progress of his friends. About 200 exposures in strict black-and-white capture art-society luminaries like Gilbert & George, Sam Taylor-Wood, Nan Goldin, Richard Prince, Juergen Teller, Maurizio Cattelan and Tracey Emin.
Shand Kydd's skill as a photographer has been enhanced by keenness to become involved with the communities he's photographing.
His most recent publications and photographic exhibitions, Siren City, is the result of eight years of photographic research in Naples, a place defined by Shand Kidd as one of the most radical cities in Europe.[1]
Publications
- Spit Fire: Photographs from the Art World, Thames & Hudson, London, 1996/97
- Crash, Damiani, 2006
- Siren City, Other Criteria, London, 2009
References