Profile
Patrick Shanahan
2025
Face In Time – artist statement
I usually work on long-term photography projects, often over many years. Sometimes they are published or exhibited, other times they gestate over decades, or perhaps never see the light of day, existing only in negative files or on hard-drives.
When Face In Time is complete it will have been fifty years in the making. The earliest images were made in 1979 when I first became serious about photography. My art school tutors Geoff Holt, John Myers and John Taylor encouraged my interest and recommended I seek out the work of such practitioners as August Sander, Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, Eugene Atget and Bill Brandt. Their work still resonates with me today.
Face In Time explores the social and cultural aspects of modern living, and the aesthetic nature of photographic portraiture itself. It also pays homage to August Sander’s seminal book, Antlitz der Zeit (Face of Our Time), first published in 1929. The book attempted to portray the complexity of German people and society in the early 20th Century, no matter their ethnicity, religion, wealth, income, social status or occupation.
Sander’s book shows difference and diversity in German society of this period and not the idealised notion of an Aryan race. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 they destroyed the plates, burnt all available copies of the book and Sander himself faced intimidation and persecution.
All the images from Face In Time have been made using a large-format 5″x4″ plate camera on a tripod. Working this way means the sitter engages directly with the activity of being photographed and can present themselves as they wish to be seen. Somewhat akin to painting or drawing, it is a slow and deliberate process. Today I use a 5″x4″ brass and mahogany Gandolfi camera that was originally owned by my art college tutor Geoff Holt.
When complete, this project will cover a fifty year period, from the latter part of the 20th Century to the first part of the 21st Century – 1979-2029. 2029 will also be the centenary anniversary of Sander’s Antlitz der Zeit.
EDUCATION
2001 PhD by Project, Royal College of Art, London
1982 MA Photography, Royal College of Art, London
1979 BA(Hons) Fine Art, Stourbridge College of Art
1976 Foundation Diploma in Art & Design, Warrington College of Art
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010 ‘Rupture’, Kestle Barton Gallery, Helston, Cornwall, 30th May – 17th July
2006 ‘Paradeisos’, Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth, 4th March – 15th April
2005 ‘Paradeisos’, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, 9th July – 3rd September
‘Paradeisos’, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, 9th April – 22nd May
2004 ‘Esperantis’, Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, 20th November – 15th January 2005
‘Esperantis’, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, 6th July – 28th August
‘Esperantis’, MAC, Birmingham, 24th January – 14th March
2003 ‘Esperantis’, ‘Patio de Escuelas’, Universidad de Salamanca, 1st October – 23rd November
‘Esperantis’, TEN Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall, 16th August – 6th September
‘Esperantis’, ‘Sala Zapaterías, 40’, Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, Pamplona, Navarra, 18th March – 20th April
‘Esperantis’, Galería Antonio de Barnola, Barcelona, 27th February – 29th March
2002 ‘Esperantis’, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool. 26th October – 30th November
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 ‘RWA 172 Annual Open Exhibition’, Royal West of England Academy, 6th September – 28th December
‘Perspectives’, Newlyn Society of Artists, Tremenheere Gallery, Gulval, Penzance, Cornwall, 17th October – 2nd November
2011 ‘In Abundance’, Kestle Barton Gallery, Helston, Cornwall, 2nd July – 29th August
2009 ‘The Open West 2009’, Summerfield Gallery, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, 20th February – 27th March
‘The New Landscape’, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, 17th January – 14th March
London Art Fair, Contemporary Art Projects, London (gallery), 14th – 18th January
2008 ‘Through the Lens’, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 8th June – 20th July
‘Where Are We? Questions of Landscape’, Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery, 3rd May – 28th June
2007 ‘Where Are We? Questions of Landscape’, The Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 21st September – 5th January 2008
‘A Momentary Presence’, shown as a video projection with music, at Jazzga and Manufaktura Plaza, Lodz, Poland, during the Lodz Fotofestiwal, 18th – 19th May
‘From Where You Stand’, Independent Photographers Gallery, Battle, 3rd February – 17th March
2003 ‘La Ciutat Que Mai No Existí: Arquitectures fantàstiques en l’art occidental’, Centre de Cultura Contemporània, Barcelona, 24th October – 1st February 2004
‘Explorafoto 2003: IV Festival de Fotografía de Castilla y León’, Salamanca, 1st – 31st October
‘Images Against War – a visual statement by 402 artists’, Galerie Lichtblick, Köln, 28th February – 7th June and then international tour
2001 ‘Esperantis’, Royal College of Art Show, London. 1st June – 10th June
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Arts Council England
The Crafts Council
English Heritage
Ffotogallery
Kestle Barton
National Library of Wales
National Media Museum
Open Eye Gallery
The Royal Academy of Arts
Royal Cornwall Museum
University of Southampton
Victoria & Albert Museum
AWARDS
2008 Shortlisted for the Man Group Photography Prize 2008, Royal College of Art, London
2004 Arts Council England, ‘Grants for the Arts’ (A Momentary Presence project)
2003 Arts Council England, ‘Grants for the Arts’ (Paradeisos project)
‘Paradeisos’ shortlisted for the 2003 Jerwood Photography Awards
Arts Council England, ‘Awards for Artists’
2002 ‘Esperantis’ shortlisted for the European Publishers Award for Photography 2002
Research Award from Falmouth College of Arts towards exhibition catalogue landscape photography
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY (Reviews, Journals, Catalogues, Books and Web)
2011 ‘Patrick Shanahan, Rupture photographs, 2010’, Super Massive Black Hole, issue8/2011 ‘Scarred Landscape’ (ISSN 2009 2288), pp.32-40 (9 photographs and short text)
2009 ‘Rupture’, driftingwest.co.uk, issue 1, September 2009 (3 photographs and statement)
2008 ‘An Uncanny Reality’, David Brittain, Eye, vol.18, Autumn 2008 (Image Portfolio Supplement), front-cover & pp.4 – 9, 40 (8 photographs and essay)
Ancient+Modern, Yolanda Szredski (ed.), (InSite Arts Limited, Harbury), exhibition catalogue, (ISBN 978-0-9547300-4-8), pp.38-47 (7 photographs and text)
2007 ‘Patrick Shanahan A Momentary Presence – Tales from New Europe’, Joanna Lowry, Portfolio, no.46, November (ISSN 1354-4446), pp.16-23 (8 photographs and essay)
2006 Twilight: Photography in the Magic Hour, Martin Barnes and Kate Best, (Merrell Publishers Ltd, London), exhibition catalogue, (ISBN-13:978-1-8589-4353-4), pp.21(1 photograph and short text)
2005 ‘Artificial Paradise’, Jonathan Clarkson, Planet, no.171, June/July, pp.121-23 (exhibition review and 2 photographs)
“Paradeisos’ Patrick Shanahan’, Jesse Alexander, Source, no.43, Summer, p.61 (exhibition review and 1 photograph)
“Paradeisos’ Patrick Shanahan’, Kate O’Leary, Buzz, May, p.36 (exhibition review and 1 photograph)
‘Digging the scene’, Stephen Foster, Western Mail, 29th April, pp.14-15 (exhibition review and 5 photographs)
2004 ‘‘Esperantis’ Patrick Shanahan’, Rhia Lewis, Buzz, November 2004, p.34 (exhibition review and 1 photograph)
‘Patrick Shanahan, Southampton’, Jessica Lack, The Guardian: The Guide, July 10-16, p.37 (exhibition review and 1 photograph)
Mooch Manual, plates 47 – 50, (Facto Ltd.) (4 photographs)
2003 ‘Cuatro visiones de la fotografía en Explorafoto 2003’, El Mundo de Castilla y Leon, 7 de Octubre (exhibition review and 2 photographs)
‘La vuelta al espacio urbano en estado puro con “Esperantis”’, La Gaceta, 2 de Octubre (exhibition review and 1 photograph)
‘Fotos de paisajes irreconocibles Ilenan el Patio de Escuelas’, El Adelanto, 2 de Octubre (exhibition review and 1 photograph)
Explorafoto 2003: IV Festival de Fotografía de Castilla y León, ed. David Arranz, (Festival de Fotografía de Castilla y León), October 2003 (exhibition catalogue, pp.44-57, 6 photographs and text by F. Javier Panera Cuevas)
‘Soma, Esperantis’, Paul Tebbs, Source, no.35, Summer, pp.62-65 (book review and 1 photograph)
‘Cornwall’s corny image upturned’, British Journal of Photography, vol.150, no.7424, April 10th, p.11 (1 photograph with caption)
‘La sala Zapatería, 40 de Iruñea acoge la muestra “Esperantis”, de Shanahan’, Gara: Kultura, 2003 martxoa – 19 asteazkena, p.57 (exhibition review)
‘Patrick Shanahan fotografía playas asoladas por el ocio’, Diario de Navarra, 19 de Marzo, p.37 (exhibition review and 1 photograph)
‘Shanahan documenta la transformación de las playas y costas en espacios de ocio’, Diario de Noticias, 19 de Marzo, p.42 (exhibition review and 2 photographs)
Esperantis, Patrick Shanahan, F. Javier Panera, David Brittain, (Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, Ayuntamiento de Pamplona), March 2003 (45 photographs and biography) ISBN No.: 84-7800-716-4
‘Take Me, I’m Yours’, Francesca Gavin, ArtReview, December/January 2003, vol.LIV, pp.68-83 (1 photograph with caption)
2002 ‘Esperantis, Liverpool’, Robert Clark, The Guardian: Guide, November 2-8, p.34 (preview and 1 photograph)
‘Esperantis’, EXIT, no.4, Spring/Summer, pp.58-69 (6 photographs)
2001 Royal College of Art Show 2001, Royal College of Art, p.29 (1 photograph and biographical details)
Esperantis: Theorising the Post-Landscape, London: Royal College of Art, 2001 (doctoral thesis including 36 photographs)
2000 ‘Esperantis’, Portfolio, no.32, December, pp.56-59 (4 photographs and biographical details)
‘Esperantis’, Hotshoe International, no.111, November/December, pp.14-16 (5 photographs with artist statement)
‘Italian Cultural Landscape of the Modern Period’, History of Photography, vol.24, no.3, Autumn, pp.190-228 (guest editorship, including introduction and biographical details)
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
2005-2007 ‘Princesshay Commission’, Exeter: Land Securities Ltd and InSiteArts Ltd. Three photo-based works: ancient+modern I, 5m x 30m PVC banner consisting of 6 photoimages, sited in Broadwalk Gardens; ancient+modern II, 6 Perspex laminated photoimages sited at the Archaeological Visitors Centre; Riverwalk, a continuously changing exhibit of 72 Duratrans mounted in 12 light-boxes, situated in Paris Street.
