World Press Photo Exhibition & MPB present: Eddie Otchere & Simon Wheatley

The World Press Photo Exhibition London and MPB present: Eddie Otchere & Simon Wheatley

BEYOND PHOTOJOURNALISM

London’s two most iconic music photographers Eddie Otchere and Simon Wheatley come together to explore their documentary roots and cultural fruits as they trace their evolution from students inspired by the great photojournalists into the most influential chroniclers of nineties and noughties urban youth cultures. Their work has been exhibited in and collected by galleries and museums internationally and been published in some of the world’s leading magazines.

Eddie Otchere will present work from his first decade in photography, when he emerged as one of the great hip hop photographers with his portraits of the biggest American rappers of the nineties. His book ‘Spirit Behind the Lens’ is a powerful autobiographical account of a photographer on a heartfelt mission to document his passions and his own identity as an artist from within the cultures of black music.

Simon Wheatley is the defining photographer of the birth of grime who made his mark with his documentation of the social conditions that spawned the genre as much as with his portraits of the emcees who came to be its stars. His landmark book ‘Don’t Call Me Urban! The Time of Grime’ has become the essential visual record of the era and is recognised as the most influential UK photobook of this century.

Together, these two close friends known for their uncompromising approach and candour will reflect on the spaces they have shared, as they discuss their influences and inspirations and the extraordinary scenes they have witnessed during their long and outstanding careers.

TICKETS ONLY £5 + BF

Tuesday 22nd September from 18:30

MPB Gallery
42–44 Bermondsey Street
London SE1 3UD