FLIPP photographer Jonathan May returns to Australia after 6 months in Africa – set to launch “Awake” exhibition in Paddington from May 22

Best known as the awarded photographer that creates quirky, creative, concept-driven advertising imagery, Jonathan May is returning this week from a 6-month stint in Africa, with amazing new personal material and fresh ideas.

hEAd oN has selected him as a finalist in the prestigious Portrait Prize for the fourth consecutive year.  As part of the hEAd oN Festival, May will also be presenting a solo exhibition titled “Awake”, at Queen Street Gallery in Paddington from May 22nd.

Click here to see some of May’s work.

Working with president Alassane Ouattara in the Ivory Coast, prime minister Raila Odinga in Kenya, the Criminal Investigation division in Mauritania, Botswana and South Africa, May gained access to parts of Africa that are rarely seen or celebrated.

May (left) sought to shed what he believes is the West’s misshapen image of Africa: a combination of the doom and gloom that is usually portrayed. Typical images of Africa from the media and the multitudinous imagery provided by photojournalism, focus on its injustice, poverty, war and political horrors, the aggregation and repetition of which informs a limited view of a continent steeped from coast to far flung coast, in misery and human suffering. In contrast, the alternate view of Africa is of tourism images that are shallow, one-dimensional images of wildlife and tribes that do not scratch the surface of this amazing continent.

Without denying the darker side of Africa’s persona or the edifying role photography can play in bringing our attention to the prevalence or frequency of its human tragedies, May’s experience informs a broader view. May was drawn to the Africa dotted with a vast and beautiful culture and history seldom celebrated.

“Awake” probes the often rugged, unforgiving landscape of Africa to capture its warmth, seeking out the light that occupies its shadows, and always with respect and admiration for its cultures. It is refreshing to see a story of Africa that feels more celebratory than exploitative. We become students, soaking in the beauty, gazing into these people’s lives, learning and engaging on a human level.

Also exhibiting is May’s internationally acclaimed blind series “Thika” which highlights the struggles of blind children at a small African school. By providing the viewer with a sense of what it feels like to be visually impaired, each photo the viewer ‘sees’, is ironically as though they become the child in the photo, and the percentage of blindness that they experience.

However, as he returns to Australia, he is excited to delve back into advertising land and collaborate on some interesting briefs.

May’s advertising clients include, Snickers, Google, Comm Bank and NAB, Sony, MTV, Lion Nathan, Vodafone, Telstra, Optus, Luna Park, Bell Shakespeare and Salvos.

For enquiries and bookings please contact Joclyn via email here or Edwina at FLIPP Management on 02 9043 3350.