🔹𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐀: 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐂 𝐄𝐗𝐇𝐈𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍🔹

🔸𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠,
𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛'𝑠 "𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔" 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑐𝑒.🔸

Photo credit: Helena Berg, edit by Marti

'𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤': 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧.


“Suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 and 45,” says (rapper) Professor Green with a tremble in his voice. “Someone could be hurting inside, but if they don’t tell you about it you might never know. We must get men to talk.”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2015)


In November 2015, an exhibition of five famous London photographers was held in London on the occasion of International Men's Day.
⭐𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐀 𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐆 and ⭐𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄 are the names that are best known to us.
And what is it all about?
It's a long story.


If we remember correctly, two charity Placebo concerts took place in the English university town of Leeds. The first was in 2013 and all proceeds went to the Mercy Center in Bangkok and also in support of the Samye Ling Buddhist Temple in Scotland. In March 2015, the band donated all proceeds from the concert to ⭐𝐂.𝐀.𝐋.𝐌. - "𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲".

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

🔹💬 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐌:
“CALM is a charity that’s close to my heart because depression is a condition which I suffer from myself,” Molko told NME.
“There are various forms of help out there.
It’s a disease like any other. Depression and addiction are both recognised by the World Health Organisation as diseases. If someone had MS or cancer, you would listen to them. There’s still a stigma attached to depression, and a lot of men in particular feel that it’s a sign of weakness to talk about it. What we’re trying to do with CALM is remove that stigma in society.”
(𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜, 𝑁𝑀𝐸 𝑂𝑐𝑡. 2017)

Exhibition poster

🔹💬 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐌:
He highlights the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), which ‘is leading a movement against male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK’.
“I’ve been to very, very dark places,” he states, “and I know people who have committed suicide. It’s horrible, and I just want people to know there are other options.” .../***/
“So as a first step, if there’s no one else you can turn to, these charities are there. It’s incredible just to talk to someone who will listen and can empathise. It can do you the world of good if you’re in a dark place.” .../***/
Loneliness, he says, like addiction, does not discriminate.
“It happens to the whole spectrum of people.”
(𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑎𝑛 𝑂𝑙𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑙, 𝐹𝑦𝑛𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠, 2018)

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

However, this second concert was even more special thanks to the after-party DJ show, which Brian and Stefan attended to the delight of their fans.
Read an excerpt from an article in which the ambassador of the charity C.A.L.M. the English actor 𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝘽𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 explains the whole situation:


🔹💬 „It came about after a CALM event I’d organised in Leeds in March. Placebo kindly agreed to dedicate the Leeds show of their tour to help raise awareness of CALM, and I put together a secret after-show party in collaboration with the uni.
Both Brian and Stef from the band DJ’d, and have been amazingly supportive. I was so grateful for them getting behind the charity and their continued efforts.
Helena [Berg, acclaimed photographer responsible for much of rock band Placebo’s artwork during their 20 year career] had heard all about the event and CALM via Brian, and asked to be put in touch with me to discuss her ideas; she talked about getting a load of photographers together to do something for the charity, as the cause really resonated with her."


◾ 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝐴𝐿𝑃𝐻𝐴?
...A culture where the expectation of the stereotypical ALPHA male is relentlessly reinforced...
„The predominant model of the alpha male; strong, stoic and unfeeling, still persists in popular culture and reinforces a concept of masculinity that is pervasive and insidious – one that doesn’t allow for anxiety, vulnerability or dialogue.“
„In 2014, 4,623 men took their own lives in Britain. That works out to more than 12 deaths a day, and accounts for 76% of the total suicides in the UK in 2014. In fact, suicide is the biggest killer for men under 45 in the UK.“◾
(𝐶𝐴𝐿𝑀𝑍𝑂𝑁𝐸 2015)

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑎 𝐵𝑒𝑟𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚.. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝐴𝐿𝑀 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙.


🔹💬 To photographer and Alpha curator Helena Berg, finding out the disturbingly high rate of male suicides was a call to action.
“I was so shocked and wanted to help,” she says. “I contacted four fellow photographers and we set out to interpret different parts of the male emotional experience. We called the project Alpha to reflect the cultural pressures put upon men to live up to the stereotypical “alpha male” model ... and we concentrated on emotions that would lead a person not to speak, like anxiety, depression and loneliness."
Berg herself concentrated on feelings of isolation, by photographing men under ice and water.
“Not as a reference to drowning,” she swiftly clarifies, “but to illustrate immobilisation and the feeling of ‘being frozen’, which many depressed people experience. I used Perspex on top of the subject [Placebo’s Brian Molko] for the illusion of ice and to create photos that are haunting and tranquil at the same time.
Alpha was timed to open on International Men’s Day, says Berg, “to highlight this gender disparity issue, where three times as many men are taking their lives as women."
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2015)

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

𝐴𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑠: 𝐺𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑇𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛:
🔹💬 Music photographer Scarlet Page, daughter of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, has taken arresting portraits of Gary Numan, Frank Turner and Professor Green which have a strikingly blurry effect.
“No image manipulation has gone into any of the photos,” Page explains. “I used a special lens which gives a very shallow depth of field and keeps the eyes sharp,” she says.
“I went to Gary Numan’s soundcheck at the Forum and we took some shots outside in-between chatting. All three men have been touched by depression in some way ... I wanted them to be quite expressionless, so no conclusions were made when looking at them. I think there is a softness and vulnerability to them.”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2015)

🔹📸 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:
https://bit.ly/3FVLyCY
🔹🔹🔹

𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆:
𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆: 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔.

Post by Marti

🟨▪️𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐋𝐊𝐎’𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐇𝐈𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: 𝑴𝑰𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑬𝑳 𝑪𝑳𝑨𝑹𝑲 𝑪𝑶𝑺𝑴𝑰𝑪 𝑫𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑬𝑹▪️🟨

Once again, Brian gives us an opportunity to educate ourselves on contemporary art which he’s always been highly interested in. In the recent interview to 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏, Brian talked about the exhibition dedicated to the famous dancer and choreographer 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒌 that he visited in Dundee.
⭐️An especially interesting fact is that in 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒌’s art, there’s a direct connection to the great musician and Brian’s long-time close friend 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒙 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒉.

📢𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨: This career retrospective pretty much gathered up all the footage from Michael Clark’s history. It wasn’t unlike a Bill Viola exhibition: there were these massive video screens that took you through his development, training and personality to show how he grew into being the choreographer that he became. My highlight was when he started to work with the legend that is Leigh Bowery, and the ballet he created for the Fall called I Am Curious, Orange. His work had been quite calm and contemplative up until then, and then he hit his punk period and it got really fun, really noisy.
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑂𝑛 𝑀𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑟, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 19𝑡ℎ, 2022 / 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑏𝑦 𝐾𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑦𝑛 𝐵𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑤𝑖𝑐ℎ)

Photo credit: Mads Perch; exhibition poster / edit by Olga

🟨𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐋 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐊 is a Scottish dancer and choreographer.
Clark was born in Aberdeen and began traditional Scottish dancing at the age of four. In 1975 he left home to study at the Royal Ballet School in London, and on his final day at the school he was presented with the Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award.
Michael Clark has collaborated with fashion designers BodyMap, artists Sarah Lucas and Peter Doig, performance artist Leigh Bowery, and musicians Wire, Laibach, The Fall, Jarvis Cocker and Scritti Politti.


⭐️𝑴𝑰𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑬𝑳 𝑪𝑳𝑨𝑹𝑲 𝑪𝑶𝑺𝑴𝑰𝑪 𝑫𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑬𝑹⭐️
The exhibition represents an exploration of Clark’s crucial presence in British cultural history.
It follows his career with its unique multi-disciplinary approach that incorporates a wide range of subcultural influences since the artist’s meteoric rise as a young choreographer in the 1980s. Film, photography, and material from Clark’s practice is presented alongside his legendary collaborations across visual arts, music, fashion and film.


🟨𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐤’𝐬 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞-𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒, 𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞🟨
𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒙𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑩𝒊𝒈 𝑴𝒂𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑬. 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆: 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒌’𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟖 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑰 𝑨𝒎 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝑶𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒉-𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆, 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒓𝒕


The dance world wasn’t ready for Michael Clark. His 𝐈 𝐀𝐦 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐎𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 performance, which premiered in June 1988 at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam, was like nothing that came before it. With a classical orchestra exchanged for seminal Manchester post-punk band 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥, tutus for outlandish and outrageous costumes by 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐲 and 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲𝐌𝐚𝐩, the stage was “chock-full of nonsensical and funny images”, according to one spectator. “A huge green telephone hurried across the stage, never to reappear, a carton of McDonalds fries lowered gently from the roof, spilling its contents over the dancers who fall down dead, 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐱 [Smith, Fall guitarist] wheeled in on a giant Big Mac and, incredibly, Mark E. Smith looking downright dapper.” As much a gig or party as a dance performance, the frenetic display of 14-inch platform shoes, windmill headdresses and dancing oranges and lemons was illuminated with lighting design by video artist Charles Atlas, to a backdrop of visceral video collages by artist and filmmaker Cerith Wyn Evans.
[...]

Photo credit: Placeboworld

The piece has an entire room devoted to it in the [...] exhibition on Clark, featuring the original props from the performance. “This ballet marks the culmination of Clark’s flamboyant, humorous, rich visual language on stage,“ says its curator, Florence Ostende. “He choreographed the work as an all-encompassing environment merging historical references and borrowed imagery from popular culture.”
𝐈 𝐀𝐦 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐎𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 was the pinnacle of Clark’s collaboration with 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥, who released the soundtrack music in an album entitled 𝑰 𝑨𝒎 𝑲𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑶𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒋 the same year. (He had been working with the band for some time, famously appearing on The Old Grey Whistle Test with them in a bottomless unitard. “That was very funny because all the parents of the group were waiting, because it was the first time we were on TV ... and all they get is Michael showing his arse off,” said 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐄. 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 in a later interview.)
“For me, I Am Curious, Orange goes much further than a radical deconstruction of Clark’s ballet vocabulary,” says Ostende of its enduring power. “It is a key artwork of 1980s British art.” Furthermore, the work reflects Clark’s unprecedented gift for introducing dance to new audiences; fans of music, fashion, art and film – perhaps even of football, given the Celtic and Rangers references. Embodying the angelic and the demonic, the classical and the punk, the piece captured the spirit of the late 1980s, embracing subculture, club culture and gender politics alike. He made contemporary dance pop – in both senses of the word.
(𝐴𝑛𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 9𝑡ℎ, 2020)


🟨𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐊𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐉 (1988) is the eleventh studio album by English post-punk band 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥.
The music was mostly pre-written by 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐱 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 and bassist 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐲. A live version was recorded during an Edinburgh Festival performance of the ballet, and issued in 2000 as I Am as Pure as Oranj.
𝐈 𝐀𝐦 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐎𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐣's title is derived from Swedish director Vilgot Sjöman's films I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) and I Am Curious (Blue) (1968).

⭐️By the way, at 𝐕&𝐀 𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞, the exhibition is opened until September 4th, 2022, so some of you have a chance to see it!

Post by Olga

Brian Molko Collaborate With Award-Winning Photographers for Exhibition Exploring Masculinity and Mental Health

Brian Molko Collaborate With Award-Winning Photographers for Exhibition Exploring Masculinity and Mental Health

Photo credits Helena Berg

Professor Green, Gary Numan, Frank Turner and our beloved Brian Molko Collaborate With Award-Winning Photographers for Exhibition Exploring Masculinity and Mental Health

AWARD-WINNING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND MUSICIANS COLLABORATE TO CREATE ALPHA EXHIBITION EXPLORING MASCULINITY AND MENTAL HEALTH ON INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY  (The Campaign Against Living Miserably)

Includes support from and portraits of Gary Numan, Frank Turner, Brian Molko and CALM patron Professor Green

‘ALPHA’ is an exhibition by five London-based photographers in aid of the charity CALM (The Campaign Against Living Miserably). CALM aims to prevent male suicide in the UK, and offers support to men who are living with depression or are in crisis. Suicide is the single biggest killer of men aged 20-45 in the UK, and CALM aims to keep men alive by talking.

This exclusive body of work has been produced by the artists to coincide with International Men’s Day and East London International Photography Festival (Photomonth) in an attempt to raise wider awareness of these issues.

The exhibition intends to start a dialogue about a subject often too difficult to acknowledge in today’s culture. A culture that in 2013 saw 78% of suicides in the UK carried out by males. A culture where the expectation of the stereotypical ALPHA male is relentlessly reinforced.

 A mix of unknown and known faces including Gary Numan, Frank Turner and Professor Green are the subject of Scarlet Page’s portraits of men that have lived with depression or difficult life events. Captioned with imaginary words, some poignant, some comical, they highlight the emasculation men can feel when trying to express their emotions or talk about their experiences.


Helena Berg’s images almost trapped or frozen underwater, including Placebo frontman Brian Molko, evoke feelings of isolation and separateness; the inability to be in action.

Sources: Posted on November 5, 2015 by The Planet Of Sound


Read more here

ALPHA runs from Friday 20th November until Friday 27th November at theprintspace Gallery | 74 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DL