I love huge, beautiful pieces of art, but I don't have a wall at home big enough to hang anything large, so we've started a little trade with our friends over at the Clic Gallery. We get to choose a lovely, huge photograph to adorn the front wall of our office every two months, and then we post it here and share it with you. Click below to see this stunning one in our office and find out who she is.
THE NEW GYPSIES
• Iain McKell's New Gypsies
• Clic Gallery
"musical and magical, simple, basic and self-sustaining"
"Fashion and social documentary photographer, Iain McKell has tracked and befriended a 'small tribe' of New Gypsies for over ten years. But it is 25 years since he took his first series of photographs of the travellers from which they evolved. Six of those images, that he calls 'the precursors' in the history of The New Gypsies were to remain with him. Here, starting with the six, his lens captures their personalities, way-of-life and their ideals.
The Summer Solstice in 1985 witnessed the new phenomenon of New Age Travellers in the 'Peace Convoy', double-decker buses 'with Dickensian characters sporting battered top-hats and Victorian frock-coats' - 'gangs of urban subcultures let loose in a rural setting'. Margaret Thatcher sent police to 'de-commission' their convoys.
From those beginnings have evolved the New Gypsies. Now 'horse-drawn', the New Gypsies sport elaborately decorated caravans and share a desire for freedom and the open road, self-reliance and a disdain for the trappings of contemporary life. However, these new nomads are also driven by their desire for sustainability in today's world; they embrace technology, a grapevine watered by the latest gadgets and solar power. Their roaming existence is probably greener than any other element in society.
Iain McKell's photographs of this new group of itinerants reveal his deep-seated attraction to both the people and the lifestyle, and betray mixed perceptions of a romantic life coupled with a hard one. The women exude a ragged glamour; the male subjects have a harder edge. But every photo is permeated with a wistfulness and sense of being a proud outsider.
The journeys of the New Gypsies are built around a yearly map of festivals and celebrations and much of their time is spent poring over Ordnance Survey maps. McKell's photographs map the seasons of the horse-drawn travellers' lives - from primeval celebrations of summer to the interiorised life of wintertime. His portraits often seem like a character from some ancient mystery play, symbolic of a careless purity and oneness with their natural surroundings."
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Comments (26)
Stunning!
so beautiful
Wow. Was this taken with a large or medium format camera? Those negatives blow up beautifully. Great image.
I believe they are called "Travellers", specifically "New Age Travellers". They are not Gypsies per se, as in "of Roma origin" (which I think can lead to some confusion to those outside the UK).
Lovely photos.
Really beautiful photos with a very interesting story behind them. Very, very cool.
Lovely, but as above, "gypsy" or roma is actually a people, not a life style - it's a bit like saying the new french - it doesnt quite work...
the word "gypsy" used to mean "from Egypt" and is considered a racial slur. That doesn't stop me from using it lovingly if generically. I love the "gypsy" look and lifestyle. The photo is beautiful.
How very Dorothy Lange.
The Roma are from India, probably a musician caste.
Beautiful.
Can you pls tell me what the wall color is?
so different from the travelers you see depicted in the the gypsy shows on TV
"the word "gypsy" used to mean "from Egypt" and is considered a racial slur. That doesn't stop me from using it lovingly if generically"
Um, it probably should. Because of the whole racial slur thing. Roma people aren't a fashion trend, and the name of this post is in bad taste.
I agree with Miss Heliotrope and others above. It is wrong to call these people 'gypsies'. They are New Age travellers and are not a distinct ethnic group. 'Gypsies' generally refers to English Romanies and Roma. There are also Irish, Scottish and Welsh travellers which are separate ethnic groups with different historical roots. I find it quite wrong that adopting some of the traditions of another ethnic group should somehow mean that you can label yourself as one of them. A white person who mimics Native American practices does not become entitled to call themselves a member of a Native American tribe.
I refer to Roma people as Roma (the few that I have known told me that is how their preference) and the pictured people gypsies if that is what they want to be called. Is it a racial slur if it is not applied to any particular race?
The pictures are lovely.
I agree that gypsy is a bad choice of words. Especially since the situation for and with the Romas in Europe right now is quite tense and complicated.
Another name would have been better.
OK, maybe I am not in the right place but where can one purchase prints? Any online soureces?
the artist chose the term gypsies, not AT... if there was any confusion. the photos are intriguing.
Wow, I don't understand why people LOOK for ways to be affronted.
*I* think of the word "gypsy" to be kind of similar to "bohemian" in a slang sense -- not a slur any more. I see it as more of a style sensibility than even referring to specific people. To me the "Irish Travelers" or "Romany" etc. are the people. Full skirts and hoop earrings and fancy designed horse carts are "gypsy". It's like the Johnny Depp pirate vs the Somali raiding kind -- the Johnny Depp pirate is not meant to undermine the seriousness of Somali kind -- and most people do understand the difference.
By the way, if Iain McKell spent so much time with these people, don't you imagine he chose his description with their sensibilities in mind?
When I first glanced at the image, I thought it was of a Ren fair. I've made very similar outfits as costumes (I decided long ago not to go with historical accuracy...) and was a bit suprised when I read more about the image.
@SherryBinNH: I don't think it's a matter of looking for ways to be affronted, as most people really would rather not get embroiled in this issue.However: Regardless of how we may like to use a word, if that word demeans an entire ethnic group, we should take their feelings into consideration. The fact is, "gypsy" is a slur, which is still used against my people. It's a hate-filled word, and no amount of good intentions will negate that. While some people use it as a catch-all term for a certain design or fashion aesthetic, the Romany still find it quite offensive, the same as any other racist slang is (the n-word is one which springs to mind.) It's probably better to just bury that kind of language altogether.
@ SherryBinNH - Well, just because McKell is using the name they gave themselves doesn't mean that these disaffected white people haven't appropriated someone else's culture. It's kinda like me and some friends setting up a site and calling myself a New Osage. The appropriation and glamourisation of a traditionally persecuted culture sits ill with me. They're beautiful pictures, but it's also a highly romanticised vision of what has to be a hard life. How do these people make a living? What is their access to healthcare and education? That in mind, for all of their eschewing of commercialism, they certainly seem to be okay with allowing themselves to be commercialized/commodified (the image of the leggy blonde on the caravan steps is straight up Vogue).
Agreed. Love the art, but that word does not mean what the artist thinks it means.
These are just gorgeous.
Words schmords. The photos are incredible, as is these people's way of life. I want the book.
Oh let's not be politically incorrect. Does anyone except a few anal folks really give a rats?
Insensitive gadjo.