Homer Sykes

Homer Warwick Sykes (born 1949) is a Canadian-born British photographer whose career has included personal projects and landscape photography.

Life and career

Sykes's father, Homer Warwick Sykes, was a Canadian-born American of English extraction who worked for the China National Aviation Corporation in Shanghai; his mother, Helen Grimmitt, was Canadian born and raised in Hong Kong. The couple were married in August 1947, but in June 1948, in an early stage of his wife's pregnancy, Homer was killed in an accident at Lunghua airfield. Helen returned to her family home in Vancouver, and the son was born three weeks later.^[1]

When the boy's mother remarried in 1954, the family moved to England.^[2] He was a keen photographer as a teenager, with a darkroom both at home and at boarding school. In 1968 he started a three-year course at the London College of Printing (LCP),^[2] while sharing a house in St John's Wood.^[3] In the summer vacation during his first year, he went to New York, and was impressed by the work of current photographers — Cartier-Bresson, Davidson, Friedlander, Frank, Uzzle and Winogrand — that he saw at the Museum of Modern Art.^[2]

While wondering about a new photographic project, Sykes serendipitously came across a story on the Britannia Coconut Dancers in an issue of In Britain magazine.^[2] This led him to research other local festivals in Britain at the archives of the Cecil Sharp House.^[4] Sykes' photography of these festivals was inspired by that of Benjamin Stone, but he approached them with a modern sensibility and a small-format camera, "[trying] to include the unintended participants and to document the unfolding drama in a contemporary urban environment".^[5] The results were shown in exhibitions, where they were praised by Colin MacInnes,^[6] and also in the book Once a Year: Some Traditional British Customs. In this book (published by Gordon Fraser, uniform with Patrick Ward's Wish You Were Here), Sykes presents one or more photographs of and a detailed explanatory text for each of 81 customs — for example three photographs (on pp. 105–108) of the annual auction on the first Monday following St Peter's day (29 June) at the Grapes Inn of the mowing and grazing rights to Yarnton Meadow (or Yarnton West Mead), Yarnton (Oxfordshire). Once a Year has been described as "a beautifully photographed, tender and often humorous document";^[7] and, 32 years after its publication, as remaining "[p]robably the best study of English folklore and ritual".^[8] Annie-Laure Wanaverbecq of Maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau writes that "Observing his countrymen with humour and curiosity, over several years [Sykes] produced a fabulous visual archive of a nation in crisis and beset by doubt."^[9]

Sykes went on to photograph the glam rock, punk, new wave and other music/fashion scenes of Britain.^[10]

Michaël Houlette of Maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau writes:

The combination of several people in the same frame characterizes most of the photographs by Homer Sykes selected for [an exhibition of his work of the 1970s]. Often the structure of his images rests on two or three main figures who stand out and reveal themselves by an expression or attitude. There is no overly obvious direction or composition, just a keen observation and a systematic method of shooting: a short focal length, some preliminary observation and a certain English manner, frank and courteous, to come in contact with people that he sometimes photographs at very close range (surprisingly, they also seem to ignore the photographer who is at work). Present at the event, invisible in the image, Homer Sykes made discretion a real trademark. And if it's evidence of knowing how to see, it's the relinquishment of the frame to those he photographs: "My pictures are about people, what they wear, how they look, how they interact with each other, against a background that sets the scene. They are not about me".^[11]

After absorbing advice from David Hurn, then a part-time lecturer at LCP who was living nearby, as well as other photographers that he met through Hurn,^[2] Sykes moved on to photographing news stories for the Weekend Telegraph, Observer, Sunday Times, Newsweek, Now, Time,^[2] and New Society.^[4] He worked with various agencies including Viva,^[12] and from 1989 to 2005 was with Network Photographers.

Sykes also photographed the British landscape for various books published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, but found time for his own projects: Hunting with Hounds, "a closely observed documentation of another set of rituals that define a dimension of the English way of life",^[8] and On the Road Again, photographs of four North American road trips taken over three decades.^[13]

When the Grimstone Foundation invited Sykes to photograph Shanghai, the city of his conception, he jumped at the opportunity. A high point for the photographer was his discovery that the building on Jiang Xi Lu where his parents lived still existed, as the Fu Zhou building.^[1] Sykes's collection was exhibited and published as Shanghai Odyssey.

Sykes has taught in the master's course in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication.

In 2014, Maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau (Gentilly, Paris) holds a major exhibition of Sykes' work from the 1970s.^[9][10]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• "Traditional British Calendar Customs", Arnolfini Gallery (Bristol), 1977;^[13] Side Gallery (Newcastle), 31 August – 25 September 1977.^[14]
• "Shanghai Odyssey", Open Eye Gallery (Liverpool), 24 May – 20 June 2003.^[13][15] Festival of Photography and Contemporary Art (Biella), 2005.^[13]
• "On the Road Again", Hereford town hall (Hereford Photography Festival), 2002.^[16]
• "Green Man and Friends, photographs from the 1970s", WPS (Hastings), 2009.^[17]
• "England 1970–1980", Maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau (Gentilly, Paris), 27 June – 12 October 2014.^{[9][10][18][19]}
• "My Britain 1970–1980", Les Douches la Galerie, Paris. 5 September – 31 October 2015.^[20][21][22]

Other exhibitions

• "Personal Views 1850–1970", British Council touring exhibition, 1970.^[2]
• "Traditional Country Customs" (with work by Benjamin Stone), ICA (London), 1971.^[2][13]
• "Young British Photographers", Museum of Modern Art (Oxford), 1971.^[13]
• "Reportage Fotografen", Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts (Vienna), 1978.^[13]
• "Il Regno Unito si diverte". British Council, Milan, 1981. With Chris Steele-Perkins and Patrick Ward.^[23]
• "The Other Britain", National Theatre (London), and touring in Britain, 1982.^[24]
• "A British Eye on the World", Museum of Modern Art (Rio de Janeiro), 1986.^[13]
• "Viva, une agence photographique", Jeu de Paume (Paris), 2007.^[25][26]
• "How We Are: Photographing Britain." Tate Britain (London), 2007.^[27][28]
• "No Such Thing as Society: Photography in Britain 1968–1987", Aberystwyth Arts Centre; Tullie House (Carlisle); Ujazdów Castle (Warsaw).^[29]
• "Unpopular culture." De La Warr Pavilion (Bexhill), 2008.^[30]
• "The Other Britain Revisited: Photographs from New Society", Victoria and Albert Museum, 2010.^[24]
• "Goodbye London: Radical art and politics in the seventies", Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (Berlin), 26 June – 15 August 2010. With Stuart Brisley, Victor Burgin, David Hall, Margaret Harrison, Derek Jarman, Peter Kennard, Jo Spence, and John Savage.^[31][32]
• "Mass Photography: Blackpool through the Camera", Grundy Art Gallery (Blackpool), 6 August – 5 November 2011.^[33][34]
• "A Record of England." MAC (Birmingham), 2011. With Daniel Meadows.^[35]
• "Photo 50: A Cyclical Poem". Business Design Center (London), 2013. With Dorothy Bohm, Markéta Luskačová, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, Brian Griffin, Chris Steele-Perkins, Ian Beesley and Paul Hill.^[36][37][38]
• "Country Matters". James Hyman Gallery (London), 11 September – 7 November 2013. With Bert Hardy, Roger Mayne, Tony Ray-Jones, Colin Jones, Chris Killip, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, Martin Parr, Mark Power, Anna Fox, Ken Grant.^[39]
• "Picturing Derry". 2013 Derry∼Londonderry City of Culture. The City Factory (Derry), 31 May – 7 July 2013. With Gilles Caron, Brian Gill, Clive Limpkin, Willie Carson, Larry Doherty, Barney McMonagle, A. W. Martin, Eamon Melaugh, Seán Hillen, Willie Doherty and Victor Sloan.^[40]
• "The Male Gaze". James Hyman Gallery (London), 21 May – 7 July 2014. With Bill Brandt, Jacob Epstein, Lucian Freud, Henry Moore, Matthew Smith, Walter Sickert and Keith Vaughan.^[41]

Permanent collections

• Birmingham Central Library^[42]
• British Council^[43]
• British Government Art Collection^[13]
• Victoria and Albert Museum (London)^[44]
• Museum Folkwang (Essen)^[45]

Books

• British Image 1: Photographs by Homer Sykes, Claire Schwob, John Myers, Daniel Meadows, Bryn Campbell, Roslyn Banish, Ian Dobbie, and Paul Carter. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1975. Sykes' "Calendar Customs" appears on pp. 4–15.
• The Facts about a Pop Group: Featuring Wings. London: Whizzard, Deutsch, 1976. ISBN 0-233-96771-0. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1976. ISBN 0-207-13410-3. New York: Harmony, 1977. ISBN 0-517-52983-1. Text by Dave Gelly. About the group Wings.
  • Wie eine Pop-Gruppe arbeitet. Musik erklärt für junge Leser. Hamburg: Tessloff, 1978. ISBN 3-7886-0801-3.
• Once a Year: Some Traditional British Customs. London: Gordon Fraser, 1977. ISBN 0-900406-68-2.
• The English Season. London: Pavilion, 1986. ISBN 1-85145-035-1. Topsfield, Mass.: Salem House, 1987. ISBN 0-88162-236-2. Text by Godfrey Smith. On the social "season".
• The Village Pub. Country Series 26. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992. ISBN 0-297-83125-9. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996. ISBN 0-297-83561-0. London: Phoenix Illustrated, 1998. ISBN 0-7538-0434-4. Text by Roger Protz.
  • English Village Pubs. New York: Abbeville, 1992. ISBN 1-55859-409-4.
• Mysterious Britain: Fact and Folklore. Country Series 30. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1993. ISBN 0-297-83196-8. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995. ISBN 0-297-83453-3. London: Phoenix Illustrated, 1998. ISBN 0-7538-0432-8. London: Cassell, 2001. ISBN 1-84188-149-X.
• The Great Stones of England. Weidenfeld Country Miniatures. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1994. ISBN 0-297-83323-5. On megaliths.
• The Storm Is Passing Over: A Look at Black Churches in Britain. London: Thames & Hudson, 1995. ISBN 0-500-27826-1. Text by Roy Kerridge.
• Celtic Britain. Country Series 40. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997. ISBN 0-297-82210-1. London: Phoenix Illustrated, 1998. ISBN 0-7538-0128-0. London: Cassell, 2001. ISBN 1-84188-150-3.
• On the Road Again. London: Mansion Editions, 2002. ISBN 0-9542233-0-6.^[46][47]
• Shanghai Odyssey. Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2002. ISBN 1-899235-14-0.
• Hunting with Hounds. London: Mansion Editions, 2004. ISBN 0-9542233-1-4 (hardback). London: Mansion Editions, 2005. ISBN 0-9542233-2-2 (paperback).
• Goodbye to London: Radical Art and Politics in the Seventies, ed. Astrid Proll. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2010. ISBN 978-3-7757-2739-6. Contains a chapter by Sykes, "Grunwick was different", about the Grunwick dispute.
• This is England. Paris: Poursuite, 2014. ISBN 978-2-918960-77-5. Published to accompany "England 1970–1980" at Maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau.

Zines

• Stonehenge: 1970s Counterculture. Southport: Café Royal, 2013.^[48]
• Working Men: Club and Coal. Southport: Café Royal, 2013.^[49]
• Blitz Kids: Skins and Silver Spoons. Southport: Café Royal, 2013.^[50]
• Once a Year: 1970s Folklore in Britain. Southport: Café Royal, 2013.^[51]
• Toff's Hat Flat Cap. Southport: Café Royal, 2013.^[52]
• Brick Lane and Co: Whitechapel in the 1970s. Southport: Café Royal, 2013.^[53]
• A Tinker's Tale. Southport: Café Royal, 2013.^[54]
• Once a Year: Folklore in Britain Now. Southport: Café Royal, 2013.^[55]
• Saltaire 1981: Still a Model Mill Village. Southport: Café Royal, 2014. On Saltaire, a model village in Bradford.^[56]
• Mexico 1973: Mazatlan and Heading South. Southport: Café Royal, 2014.^[57]
• Biddy Boys Ireland 1972. Southport: Café Royal, 2015.^[58]
• Made in Roath. Southport: Café Royal, 2015. Photographs of Made in Roath.^[59]
• Running Riots and the Days After. Southport: Café Royal, 2015.^[60]
• My Britain 1970–1980s. Southport: Café Royal, 2015. To accompany the exhibition "My Britain 1970–1980" at Les Douches la Galerie, Paris.^[61]
• Sloanes & Rahs. Southport: Café Royal, 2015. Edition of 150 copies.^[62]

Notes

1. Homer Sykes, "Photographer's statement", Shanghai Odyssey (Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2002), n.p.
2. Graham Harrison, "Homer Sykes", Photo Histories, Accessed 10 September 2015.
3. Neil Lyndon, "No place like someone else's home", Daily Telegraph, 30 June 2001. Accessed 9 September 2015.
4. David Alan Mellor, No Such Thing as Society, 15, n.13.
5. "We are here: Martin Parr, Anna Pavord and others on photographing Britain", Tate etc, issue 10, Summer 2007. Accessed 9 September 2015.
6. David Alan Mellor, No Such Thing as Society: Photography in Britain 1967–1987: From the British Council and the Arts Council Collection (London: Hayward Publishing, 2007; ISBN 978-1-85332-265-5), 15.
7. Simon Roberts, "Once a Year: Homer Sykes", We English, 22 September 2008. Accessed 9 September 2015.
8. Peter Hamilton, "Now the time returns again", British Journal of Photography, 18 November 2009. Archived 12 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine..
9. Annie-Laure Wanaverbecq, "Homer Sykes: England 1970–1980", Maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau, 2014. (French) Archived by the Wayback Machine on 14 July 2014. Accessed 9 September 2015. (Observant ses concitoyens avec humour et curiosité, il produit pendant plusieurs années une fabuleuse archive visuelle de la vie ordinaire dans un pays en crise et en proie au doute.)
10. Michaël Houlette, "« England 1970-1980 » par Homer Sykes à la Maison de la Photographie Robert Doisneau", Actuphoto, 11 April 2014. (French) Accessed 9 September 2015.
11. Michaël Houlette, "« England 1970-1980 » par Homer Sykes à la Maison de la Photographie Robert Doisneau", Actuphoto, 11 April 2014. (French) Accessed 9 September 2015. (La réunion de plusieurs personnages dans un même cadre caractérise la plupart des photographies d'Homer Sykes sélectionnées pour ce projet. Bien souvent la structure de ses images repose sur deux ou trois figures principales qui se distinguent et se dévoilent par une expression ou une attitude. Il n'y a pas de mise ou scène ni de composition trop évidente, juste une observation fine et une méthode systématique de prise de vue: une focale courte, quelques repérages préalables et une certaine manière anglaise, franche et courtoise, d'entrer en contact avec les personnes qu'il photographie parfois à très faible distance (étonnamment, celles-ci semble d'ailleurs ignorer le photographe qui est à l'œuvre). Présent à l'évènement, invisible dans l'image, Homer Sykes fait de la discrétion une véritable marque de fabrique. Et s'il fait preuve d'un "savoir voir", c'est pour laisser le champ libre à ces sujets. . . .)
12. "Viva, une agence de photographes: 1972-1982", Jeu de Paume, 2007. (French) Accessed 9 September 2015.
13. Homer Sykes biography, How We Are: Photographing Britain from the 1840s to the Present, ed. Val Williams and Susan Bright (London: Tate Publishing, 2007; ISBN 978-1-85437-714-2), p.221.
14. Description of poster, Amber Online. Accessed 9 September 2015.
15. Joanna Pitman, "Ghost of the Past: Homer Sykes's portrait of Shanghai old and new captivates", Times (London), 21 May 2003; archived by the Wayback Machine on 15 June 2011. Accessed 9 September 2015.
16. Exhibition notice, Hereford Photography Festival. Accessed 22 January 2010.
17. "Photography & the Archive Research Centre", Facebook. Accessed 2 July 2010. (registration required)
18. "Homer Sykes: England 1970–1980", British Council France. Accessed 9 September 2015.
19. Claire Rodineau, "L'Angleterre punk d'Homer Sykes s'expose à Paris", Le Figaro, 7 July 2014. (French) Accessed 9 September 2015.
20. Press kit for "My Britain 1970–1980", Les Douches la Galerie. Accessed 9 September 2015.
21. "Homer Sykes: My Britain 1970–1980", Time Out Paris. Accessed 9 September 2015.
22. Sarah Moroz, "Homer Sykes: Photographers are lemmings", The Guardian, 9 September 2015. Accessed 9 September 2015.
23. Exhibition record at the Wayback Machine (archived 12 May 2006), British Council. This does not specify the place(s) of exhibition, but (as of 9 September 2015) the OPAC of the libraries of the Province of Prato lists a publication titled Il Regno Unito si diverte that specifies Milan.
24. "The Other Britain Revisited: Photographs from New Society", Victoria and Albert Museum, 2010. Accessed 9 September 2015.
25. "Viva, une agence photographique", Jeu de Paume, 2007. (French) Accessed 10 September 2015.
26. Mathieu Menossi, "Ethique photographique: Exposition Viva, une agence photographique au Jeu de Paume", Evene.fr, via Figaro.fr, February 2007. (French) Accessed 9 September 2015.
27. Blake Morrison, "Think of England", Guardian, 19 May 2007. Accessed 9 September 2015.
28. Benjamin Secher, "Portraits of a strange land", Daily Telegraph, 14 May 2007. Accessed 9 September 2015.
29. Press release for the exhibition, British Council. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 17 July 2008.
30. Cathy Lomax, "Grayson Perry: Unpopular culture", Daily Telegraph, 3 June 2008. Accessed 9 September 2015.
31. "Goodbye London: Radical Art and Politics in the Seventies", NGBK. Archived 10 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine..
32. "Goodbye London: Radical art and politics in the seventies", art-report.com. Accessed 9 September 2015.
33. Sean O'Hagan, "Mass Photography: Blackpool through the Camera" review and slideshow, Guardian, 31 July 2011. Both accessed 9 September 2015.
34. "6/08/2011—5/11/2011: Mass Photography: Blackpool through the camera", Grundy Art Gallery. Accessed 9 September 2015.
35. Mac Birmingham Summer Brochure 1011, issuu.com. Accessed 9 September 2015.
36. Hazel Johnson, Photo 50 ‘A Cyclical Poem’ curated by Nick Hackworth, Photomonitor. Accessed 9 September 2015.
37. Rob Alderson, "Interesting group photography show questions nature of time and change", It's nice that, 16 January 2013. Accessed 9 September 2015.
38. "Photo50 at the London Art Fair", AnOther, 17 January 2013. Accessed 9 September 2015.
39. "Country Matters", James Hyman Gallery. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 14 July 2014.
40. "Picturing Derry", cityofculture2013.com. Accessed 10 September 2015.
41. "The Male Gaze", James Hyman Gallery. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 14 July 2014.
42. Pete James, "Art Fund Award for Birmingham Library", British Photo History. Accessed 10 September 2015.
43. Homer Sykes in the British Council collection. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 7 August 2011.
44. As was found on 10 September 2015 by entering the photographer's name in the Collections search page.
45. List of photographers collected, Museum Folkwang. Accessed 10 September 2015.
46. Polly Corrigan, "Road works", Daily Telegraph, 23 October 2002. Accessed 10 September 2015.
47. Peter Marshall, "Cowboys, cars, and the road." In pp. 4–7. The Journal of London Independent Photography, Autumn 2002 issue (PDF file). Accessed 10 September 2015.
48. "Stonehenge: 1970s Counterculture", Café Royal Books. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 26 October 2013.
49. "Working Men: Club and Coal", Café Royal Books. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 26 April 2013.
50. "Blitz Kids: Skins and Silver Spoons", Café Royal Books. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 26 August 2013.
51. "Once a Year: 1970s Folklore in Britain", Café Royal Books. Accessed 10 September 2015.
52. "Toff's Hat Flat Cap", Café Royal Books. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 26 October 2013.
53. "Brick Lane and Co: Whitechapel in the 1970s", Café Royal Books. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 26 October 2013.
54. "A Tinker's Tale", Café Royal Books. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 22 September 2013.
55. "Once a Year: Folklore in Britain Now", Café Royal Books. Accessed 10 September 2015.
56. "Saltaire 1981: Still a Model Mill Village", Café Royal Books. Accessed 10 September 2015.
57. "Mexico 1973: Mazatlan and Heading South", Café Royal Books. Accessed 10 September 2015.
58. "Biddy Boys Ireland 1972", Café Royal Books. Accessed 10 September 2015.
59. "Made in Roath", Café Royal Books. Accessed 10 September 2015.
60. "Running Riots and the Days After", Café Royal Books. Accessed 10 September 2015.
61. "My Britain 1970–1980s", Café Royal Books. Accessed 10 September 2015.
62. "Sloanes & Rahs", Café Royal Books. Accessed 15 October 2015.

External links

• Homer Sykes at Photo Shelter
• "Homer Sykes: Once a Year: Some Traditional British Customs", Luminous Lint, September 2007. Forty of Sykes' images from the book Once a Year, with shortened versions of the texts.