Scott Mead, investment banker, philanthropist, photographer and former Partner
at Goldman Sachs, is to exhibit his fine art photographs to raise money for Great
Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. Mead studied photography under
renowned American photographers William Eggleston, Emmet Gowin and Minor
White in the mid-ˇ1970s, prior to his banking career. A series of original works from
this time, Looking Back: Pictures from the Attic, will be on display at Hamiltons
Gallery, London, from 16 to 18 September.
All profits raised from the exhibition, supported by Hamiltons Gallery, will be
donated to help create a new Gene and Cell Therapy Laboratory, providing a
vital diagnostic and treatment service for children requiring a life-ˇsaving Bone
Marrow Transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Mead's son, now 18, was treated for and cured of life threatening leukaemia as a baby at the hospital.
Since then Mead has been a deeply involved supporter of the hospital and
served as an associate non-executive director from 2004-ˇ09.
Mead captured the striking black and white photographs of New England
landscapes, trees and domestic interiors while studying at Harvard in the mid-
1970s. They employ a distinctive circular perspective inspired by his one-ˇtime
Professor Emmet Gowin. The photographs were taken using a traditional large
format 8x10 film camera, which he fitted with a lens from a smaller 4x5 camera.
The result is that the image recreates what the eye sees, making the viewer a
true observer.
When he rediscovered the 8x10 negatives in his attic in 2008, Mead was
immediately taken back 30 years to a period when he thought his career might
be in photography rather than banking. As a student, however, he did not have
the time or resources to take the work to its final level. He reluctantly catalogued
the negatives and stored them for another time and place.
Mead always carried a camera with him during his financial career and finding
the images encouraged him to take up photography as a serious vocation once
again. In the new 30"x25" prints he has employed the latest digital darkroom
technology. This, in conjunction with the quality and detail of the large format
negatives, creates a range of tone, scale and mood which would have been
virtually impossible in the days the images were made.
Mead comments: "My grandfather was a press journalist and photographer. I
was given one of his old cameras around the age of 13 and began spending
significant time taking and printing pictures. I was lucky enough to study with
several exceptional teachers and have the benefit of their guidance and
experience. Many years later, rediscovering those negatives was like becoming
reacquainted with a long lost friend. I have now been able to close the loop on
this period of work as I embark on new projects, and raise money for Great
Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, one of the worlds great medical
institutions"
Taking his cue from his mentors, Gowin and Eggleston, Mead's photographs
frame seemingly ordinary yet beautiful tableaux of everyday life in rural 1970s
Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont. Each required hours to set up, shoot and
process. He observed the sites many times and waited for the perfect light
conditions and moods. The deserted landscapes and empty interiors are given
an image tonality and scale which create a sense of silence, reflection and
contemplation. In May 2010, two of the works, What Happened Next and
Choices, were shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
Mead's original 8x10 large format camera will be on display at Hamiltons Gallery alongside the photographs and a catalogue will be published to accompany
the show. An exhibition of his more recent photography and additional work
"from the attic" is being planned for 2011/2012.
Scott Mead, Evening Light, 1975 © Scott Mead