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"The great single picture is emotionally satisfying, whereas getting a good journalistic story is more about being a professional" (Ian Berry)
About the British Magnum photographer, Ian BERRY (b. 1934, in Lancashire)
Ian BERRY moved to South Africa in 1952. There he worked for several newspapers and journals, among them the magazine Drum. The recipient of many awards, including the Arts Council's first major photographic bursary in 1974 and Nikon's Photographer of the Year Award in 1977, Ian Berry is a member of Magnum Photos and has exhibited worldwide.
The Englishman who first made his way to
South Africa as a teenager, has spent four decades documenting ordinary
lives in extraordinary circumstances. After photographing the
Sharpeville riots of 1960 - a pivotal event - he elected to concentrate
not on 'the violent concentration between black and white, but the
society that gave cause to it.' His efforts to get 'under the skin' of
that tense society have resulted in a rich and enlightening chronicle of
segregation that recalls the powerful photojournalism of W. Eugene
SMITH. Henri CARTIER-BRESSON invited Ian BERRY to join Magnum in 1962 when he was based in Paris. He moved to London in 1964 to become the first contract photographer for the Observer Magazine. Since then assignments have taken him around the world: he has documented Russia’s invasion of Czechoslovakia; conflicts in Israel, Ireland, Vietnam and the Congo; famine in Ethiopia; apartheid in South Africa. The major body of work produced in South Africa is represented in two of his books. His last years projects have included child slavery in Ghana and the Spanish fishing industry.
Photo books by, on and with works by Ian BERRY (a selection)
'Book on black stage musical, King Kong' (1960); 'The English' (1978); 'World Photography: 25 Great Photographers (1981); 'Black and Whites. L’Afrique du Sud' (1988); 'In Our Time: The World As Seen by Magnum Photographers' (1990); 'Living Apart' (1996); 'The Sea' (2008); 'Sold into Slavery' (2008)
Awards
- 1959: Nikon World Photo Contest Awards, 1st and 3rd; British Press Pictures, Feature Photographer of Year Award
1960: British Press Pictures, Feature Photographer of Year Award
1969: Art Director’s Club of New York Award
1974: Awarded British Arts Council’s first major photographic bursary (led to his book 'The English')
1977: Nikon Photographer of Year Award (first ever)
1981: Pix of Year, magazine news, Award from Missouri School of Journalism and National Press Photographers of America
1990: Made Honorary Fellow, University of Lancashire
1996 Made Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society
2005: National photography magazine award for lifetime achievement in photography
Exhibitions
- 1970: 'Personal Views', British Council Exhibition
1972: 'Photographers’ Gallery, London
1973: 'Inside Whitechapel', Whitechapel Art Gallery
1976: 'The English', Photographer’s Gallery, London & Solo colour exhibition, Paris Photo Fair
1977: Exhibition Hamburg Culture House
1979: Participated Magnum Exhibition, Tokyo
1982: 'Year of India', joint exhibition at National Theatre
1983: Geographic colour prints at Olympus Galleries, Paris and Hamburg
1984: 'Britain in 1984', National Museum of Photography
1985: 'Contemporary British Photography,' Museum of Modern Art, Paris
1986: 'The English', XYZ Gallery, BE & 'South Africa', FNAC Gallery, Paris
1995: Visa Pour L’Image, Perpignan
1996: 'Living Apart', Royal Photographic Society, Bath
1997: Aix en Provence literary week
1998: Museum of Photography, Bradford
2001: 'English Revisited', Focus Gallery, London
2004: 'Living Apart', the Royal Armoury Museum, Leeds & 'South Africa', Brunei Gallery, London
2007: 'Cild Slavery', Visa Pour L’Image, Perpignan; 'Water', The Lowry Gallery & 'The North', The Lowry Gallery; 'A Look at Colour Magazines', Guardian Gallery
2009: 'South Africa update', Wales