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London-based photographer David Abrahams is best known for his atmospheric shots for glossy editorials and major brands, but for his first UK solo exhibition, he is showcasing a more personal and meditative collection of work.
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‘Kyushu’, at Have a Butchers in east London from 31 August, is a collection of photographs that Abrahams took while visiting the coastal city of Karatsu on Kyushu, Japan’s most southerly island.
The images capture details that might otherwise be overlooked – a shop window, the hood of a car, an illuminated sign – and elevate them to works of art. Captured with Abrahams’ signature dreamy lighting, the ‘Kyushu’ images exude a hallucinatory, almost melancholic air.
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‘There is a strong sense of observation from a space of isolation,’ Abrahams said of the collection, ‘and as such these images take on a sort of voyeuristic, solitary approach. As a photographer, there is always an intention: when you frame something it's always about what you are trying to show or depict. There’s a fine line between documenting, idealising and culturally appropriating the place you have photographed.’
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Abrahams printed the 60 previously unpublished images at his north London darkroom, which gave him the freedom to explore a range of hues and expressive tones, emphasising some colours by printing the image five or six times before finishing it.
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‘It’s been nice to return to the moments I cherished while travelling,’ says Abrahams, ‘and have the time and space to look at it almost as a distant memory or a dream. Taking out the original context, and exploring the images I was naturally drawn to.’