Here We Are, an exhibition launched by British fashion house Burberry, focused on the work of more than 30 of the best social and documentary photographers from the past century.
The exhibition was curated by President and chief creative officer of Burberry Christopher Bailey and Lucy Kumara Moore with photographer Alasdair McLellan as their co-curator – who will have over 70 of his images featured.
Photographer Alasdair McLellan presents a collection of archive and unseen images of Palace Skateboards’ renowned team and its extended family in the London skate gang, the Palace Wayward Boys Choir (PWBC). McLellan has been documenting the scene around Palace since its launch in 2009. The exhibition offers a fascinating insight into the characters orbiting the beloved brutalist home of skateboarding on London’s Southbank. This is accompanied by a new video installation from Palace Skateboard’s founder, Lev Tanju. With an idiosyncratically British edge, Tanju’s anarchic videography and McLellan’s tender portraits come together to provide a dynamic picture of London and skateboarding. The show is a celebration of the deep camaraderie found amongst skaters at the Southbank. It is a testament to friendship, non-conformity and a doing-it-yourself attitude.
Since meeting the skater and artist when he was fifteen years old, Alasdair McLellan has photographed Blondey McCoy many times. His fifth book features 150 images from their 7-year working relationship.
Edited and designed by M/M (Paris), the book features an accompanying text written by former Arena Homme Plus editor in chief Jo-Ann Furniss.
“I first met Blondey in early 2013. He was really quiet when I first shot him; he was only fifteen. There are certain people you meet, male or female, who just have a power to them, you can put anything on them and they really carry it off—Blondey had that.”
Alasdair McLellan
“It was never meant to be a project or a book. It just happened that I continued to take photos of him. I’ve always been interested in rites of passage as a subject. The idea of growing from an adolescent into an adult. Blondey was coming up to his 22nd birthday. And it seemed to be the right time as I’d photographed him at every age since he was 15 and obviously you change so much between the ages of 15 and 21. And 21 is such a milestone. It seemed to be the right time to bring a book out about this period of his life. It’s rare to find one person or one subject that you photograph during those years that really shape you.”
Alasdair McLellan
Published by M/M Paris in 2013, Ultimate Clothing Company is Alasdair McLellan’s first book. With 2000 numbered copies, the book is an intimate and real look into British masculinity in McLellan’s hometown of Doncaster, England. an edition of 2000.
Published by M/M Paris in 2016, Ceremony by Alasdair McLellan features photographs taken between the years 2006-2016. McLellan’s images offer a rare glimpse into the decorated traditions of being a ceremonial troop in the British army. Numbered in an edition of 2000.
