16 April – 4 September 2011

The Lowry
Salford Quays
Manchester
M50 3AZ
thelowry.com

The Lowry has curated a new exhibition from award winning, internationally renowned photographer Nadav Kander, featuring work that has never been exhibited before, including striking images of Eric Cantona and Cheryl Cole. Other works exhibited for the first time include photographs that were part of a sensational shoot with Tinie Tempah for The Observer magazine this February, and head shots of Take That for their latest album, Progress.

London based Kander is celebrated for his portraiture and landscape works, many of which exist within National collections such as the National Portrait Gallery and the V&A Museum. His images are readily seen within high-end editorial press as well as in contemporary art galleries and museums across the world, capturing subjects as diverse as Barack Obama's administration, and life alongside the epic Yangtze River in China.

Also featured are internationally acclaimed actors such as Sir Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee, as well as David Lynch and Spike Jonze, who make performances come to life behind the camera. The photographic portraits included in this show are a selection from Nadav Kander’s extensive collection dating from 1999 to present day. It includes singers Lily Allen, Michael Stipe, Nick Cave, Richard Ashcroft and Boy George. Nadav comments, “My main intention when photographing celebrities is making work that is unique and personal to that human being, even when the person in front of you has a fixed idea of how he or she wants to be portrayed.”

Kander manages to capture a well known face in a new, and often vulnerable light, using the lens to peer into the soul of the subjects he photographs, as well as his own. The remarkable effect of this process is displayed within this unmissable exhibition.

He comments, “My portraits are about how I respond to an individual and how I express my perception of a person through my portraiture, how we interact and how they present themselves to me will always have an influence on the final photograph; the shot becomes a photographic dialogue between the sitter and myself. Which ultimately extends to the viewer.”

Kate Farrell, The Lowry’s Curator of Special Exhibitions, comments: “We are really excited to work with Nadav Kander on this newly curated exhibition. We have carefully selected photographs from his vast archive of intriguing portraits of actors, directors and musicians; subjects that we are all familiar with, shot in a truly unique, and subtly beautiful way.”

Installation Pictures © Ben Blackall