LONDON.- A new exhibition from photographer Rankin, Back in the Dazed highlights one photographer and one magazine, across one memorable decade.
From cult celebrities, to musical icons and the worlds top Supermodels, Rankin was at the forefront of Cool Britannia and the 90s style which is still popular today.
Co-founder and Dazed & Confuseds first Photographic Editor, Rankins visual style helped launch the magazine and defined the aesthetics of multiple generations of British youth.
Across 10 years Rankin photographed over 200 iconic editorial shoots for the magazine, and his work from this period forms a manifesto about how to view the world, a political statement communicated not with words but with a camera lens.
Unafraid of mainstream pressures, with Dazed, Rankin spearheaded LGBTQIA+ representation, took his camera to the street to photograph working-class kids, became the photographer for Brit-pop bands, and created defining images of emerging cult actors.
Not an artist of rarefied tastes, Rankin handed notions of high-culture to everyday people. With Dazed, he gave ordinary teenagers their voice and allowed them access to, and opinions on, everything from contemporary art to experimental music.
Back in the Dazed is the first retrospective in the UK of Rankins ground breaking works over this prescient decade. More vital than ever, through Rankins eye youre invited to explore the culture and creative community that was celebrated world-over.
Back in the Dazed is a love letter to youthful creativity, all as captured by one legendary photographer and published by one seminal magazine.
Those early years were great for experimentation. For me, just starting out, I was like a blank canvas. Because we were pretty naively fearless, we did things that ended up really changing culture.
It was from that time that I learnt that I love what I do, and I fell in love with the people around me - capturing them all on medium format film. - Rankin
To understand Rankins work you need not look any further than the pages of his first magazine, a printed record of his thoughts and reactions to the world around him. Dazed shaped Rankins photography and it in turn shaped others view of the world.
Think of your favourite young actor or pop star from the 1990s - invariably you are remembering a Rankin picture. - Ellen Stone, Curator
Rankin, a British photographer, publisher & film director. His iconic photography has captured everyone from The Rolling Stones to The Queen.
Always pursuing projects that push his limits, Rankin has stood out for his creative fearlessness. His work characteristically probes and questions social norms and ideas of beauty.
Personal or commercial, his images have become part of contemporary iconography, evidence of his frankness and zeal for all aspects of modern culture
Rankin co-founded Dazed & Confused with Jefferson Hack in 1992, and has since published AnOther and AnOther Man, in 2011 launching the magazine and digital platform, Hunger.
His work has appeared in over 40 monograph publications and has been exhibited internationally, including at The National Portrait Gallery, London, V&A, London, and at MoMA, New York.
Rankin is known for his public appearances, talks and TV work, including in 2021 hosting The Great British Photography Challenge for the BBC.
He has also produced and presented documentaries, primarily with the BBC, such as The Seven Photographs that Changed Fashion, No Bodys Perfect, and Alive: In the Face of Death, an in-depth documentary into the modern approach to death.
He is based in London.