LISTINGS ART
George Rodger: Magnum Photographer Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh until June 29.
George Rodger is so enthralled with
people that most of his 82 years have
been spent photographing them. This is an exhibition of some of his best-known black-and-white work. Among the twenty Second World War photographs downstairs there are no charred tanks or downed planes since
3 whatRodgeriinds mostengaging isthe
way human beings cope with conflict
and upheaval. His portrait of the aftermath oi a V2 bombing at Waterloo station is emblematic. A throng oi men,
‘ their faces hidden in the collective
efiort, hold a person on a stretcher high
I above their heads. The wounded figure
appears to be looking beneath the
? blankets. A gutted bus is no more than
part of the landscape. It is the people
; and theirstrugglethatmatter.
Appalled by the professional cool
with which he chronicled the freeing of
I Bergen concentration camp, Rodger
' decided it was time to move on and so,
. in 1947, he helped Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson and others iound the photographers‘ co-operative Magnum.
Conveniently, Magnum was propelled
MAGNUM OPUS
Watchimbri Girls photgraphed by Rodgerin Kigezi, Uganda (1948)
by the same thinking that animated Rodger’s war-time photography, namely the notion that the only way forward is to promote harmony among all people. Rodgerchose the Middle
East and Airica as his workshop.
Refreshingly, the 22 photographs upstairs depict no shrivelled Africans wilting irom starvation but, rather, vigorous people living colourful lives. Having spent weeks earning their trust, Rodger did not abuse it. This is an
admiring, sympathetic and moving
tribute to a dying way oi life. A picture
oi women, under a brooding sky,
' returning single-file from market is a
. powerful affirmation oi a strong and
imaginative culture. Though each
3 woman has her own shape and
garment, and each carries on her head _ a different object, togetherthey form a
silent, self-assured column.
Rodger’s obsession with human dignity is so compelling that his photographs have long since outgrown the supercilious texts (one spread was entitled Peaceful Savage) that
accompaniedtheirpublicationinthe 405 and 50s. Honesty is the source of
the his lasting allure. (Carl Honoré)
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University of Edinburgh, Oid College, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 9YL. Tel. 031 650 2211
Until 29 June
Talbert McLean 'A Retrospective Exhibition'
Tues - Sat 10am-5pm Admission Free
Subsidised by the Scottish Arts C0unei|
(‘artier-Bresson and Robert (‘apa. I PORTRAIT GALLERY Queen Street. 556 8931. Mon—Sat lllam—Spm; Sun 3—5pm. - Scottish Photographers Abroad t'niil Sun 23 Jun. Something more than holiday snaps from the country 's most intrepid photographers. including u ine merchants 3 in Portugal. Moroccan street scenes and Ruth Stirling's recent lu/oolrk series. I QUEEN'S HALL ('lerk Street. Box ( )l'l'ice ’ (ms 201‘). Mon~Sat “lam-5pm. (ale. Artists from Kazan lfntil 3 Jill. A group show by the artists. working in \ arious media. who has e had to oyercome tremendous odds just to exhibit outside their home-cit} . Kazan. let alone outside the Soviet L’nion. I RICHARD DEMARCO GALLERY Blacktriars ('hurch. Blackfriars Street (oft High Street). 557 mm. Mon—Sat loam—6pm. Picturesfor an Exhibition: Works Collected by Brian Montgomery t‘niil 3(l.lun. A collection formed oyer the last thirty years by the creator of the London and his Angeles Art Fairs. including lidgar Negret. the Colombian sculptor. and British ayant-gardists Keith .‘siilon. Derek Jarman and John Walker. as \\ ell as
Americans l‘rank Stella. Mario [)unsky and others. The exhibition \s ill tour liastern liurope.
I ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN lny erleith Rosy. 553 717i. Mon-Sat Dam—sunset; Sun Ham—sunset. (ale. [1)].
Living in a Raintorest limit 13 Dec. A Borneo-sty le t'orest house reconstructed in the Botanics‘ lixbibition Hail and Vanishing I’urmlrse -- photographs taken
in the Venezuelan raintorest by (ieorge Bernard and Stephen Dalton.
Margaret Mee's Amazon t'niil .‘sojun. 'l'hirty superb botanical \\ atercolours painted in the Brazilian Amazonia by one of the century's most intrepid artist-travellers.
I ROYAL INCORPORATION OF ARCHITECTS IN SCOTLAND 15 Rutland Square. 23‘) 75-15. Mon-tn 9am-5pm.
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Exhibition tintil Fri 21 Jun. Illustration of the deyelopment of the ('oncert Hall. by lidinburgh firm
. RMJM. from the early designs ot Sir Leslie Martin.
I ROYAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND
(‘hambers Street. 335 753-1. Mon» Sat
lilam 5pm; Sun 3-5pm. Fish Starts Sat 15 .iun. A daring new
A new permanent exhibition
Royal Museum of Scotland Chamber Street, Edinburgh
Admission free Mon - Sat 10am — 5pm. Sun 2pm - 5pm
The List 14— 27June 199165
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