“The Game is Killing The Game”
The Salt Yard
Hong Kong, China
opening: 28 Jun – 24 Aug 2014
featuring:
David Chancellor
curated by Steve Bisson
exhibition design by Max Foytik
see also: the salt yard
The Salt Yard, an independent art space, will exhibit
David Chancellor’s “The Game Is Killing The Game”, a documentary series
on hunting safaris that he photographed in South Africa over the years.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, East African hunting safaris
has became a fashionable pursuit among members of the privileged classes
in Europe and the United States. It was also a source of revenue for
the British colonial government and produces a group of professional
hunters who especially served these privileged classes. Big-game hunting
is still vibrant recently but it now exists in the form of the
so-called game ranching that habitats of livestock farming are turned
into venues for wild animals in captivity and places for tourists
enjoying hunting. These ranches are now popular in South Africa and are
authorized in many African countries. The documentary series of David
Chancellor fully revealed the various perspectives of South African
hunting safaris, including the hunter and the hunted as well as the
displaying of stuffed animals as trophies. People hunted in order to
fill their stomachs or make a living in the past but now they hunt for
pleasure. Chancellor’s works call for a reflection of this ancient and
uncivilized “sport” when animal right is a hot topic in the globe.
An opening reception will be held between 6pm and 8am
on June 28, whilst a seminar will be held between 4.30pm and 6pm on the
same day. Curator Steve Bisson will share with us about the
representation of animals/faunas in the history of art with a specific
outlook in photography. Members of the public are welcomed to
participate.
David Chancellor, born London England, works and lives in South Africa.
He has participated in numerous group and solo
exhibitions, exhibited in major galleries and museums around the world.
Named Nikon photographer of the year three times. In 2009, he won the
National Portrait Gallery London’s Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. In
2013, he received a number of awards including World Understanding Award
in the Pictures of the Year International competition from the US, the
Kuala Lumpur International Photo Award for portraiture, the Vienna
International Photo Award for documentary photography, and the Kontinent
Award for documentary photography.
In recent years, Chancellor has increasingly turned
his focus onto documenting man's commodification of wildlife. He
released his first monograph 'hunters', in which he explores the complex
relationship that exists between man and animal, the hunter and the
hunted. One of the series, “Elephant Story” won the World Press Photo
Award in 2010.’
