Belfast Exposed

Exhibitions

7th Mar - 1st Jun

Our Archive: 40 Years of Belfast Exposed

As part of this year's ongoing celebration of our 40th Anniversary, the Belfast Exposed Archive is taking over Gallery II wi...

Read More
6th Feb - 30th Mar

Navigating Queer Landscapes

We are delighted to be working with the Queer Artist Forum to bring the work of two of its members to Embrace Style, the incl...

Read More

Community

25th Sep - 7th Oct

Young People Behind the Lens

Over the summer, a group of young people from Start 360 explored the cityscape of Belfast. They found new ways to see the...

Read More
21st May - 22nd May

Showing the faces of dementia with Alzheimer’s NI

Ahead of the Alzheimer’s Society Annual Conference 2019 (ASAC19), Belfast Exposed was commissioned by Alzheimer’s NI to w...

Read More

Beaches

Gallery 1

2nd Nov 2000 to 23rd Nov 2000

About The Exhibition

Beaches produced in January 2000, is a series of colour studio portraits shot on location at various beaches in and around Cape Town. South Africa, now a fledging new democracy, the Group Areas Act being a thing of the past, is still socially and economically divided. Previously segregated areas, these beaches are now the place where integration naturally occurs and are a powerful reflection of the changing face of the new South Africa.

The project focuses on the incredible cultural spectrum that exists within these areas. The emphasis is on the artificial element, the fact that the image is a construction, a representation. A portable studio, using a mixture of sunlight and flash, creates a neutral space. The true context of the subjects is not to be found in the surroundings but in themselves. Shot against a black background, everyone from gangsters in the informal settlement of Vrygrond (situated on the beach), to the wealthy on Clifton 4th Beach were highlighted. Isolated from environment, people pictured as product, through subtle labelling reveal an informing, visceral and open portrait of a new South African community.

The Artists

Trevor Appleson