RVCA Australia welcomed Keegan Gibbs to Sydney this week to present ZUMA, a series of new photographic works at the RVCA Downstairs Gallery, Paddington.
In this body of work, Keegan has set out to replace the human subjects of his photography with an industrial gesture, the beach umbrella. This series is part of an exploration of singular objects acting within the frame as the point of focus in meditation, not only for the viewer, but for the photographer in the act of shooting. The elements that would normally take precedent in a beach scene fall secondary to the industrial form of the umbrella.
Simplicity and nostalgia sets in as you view the series in whole, and you start noticing the relationship between the form (umbrella), the people, and the environment itself, the beach. Each frame has its own story. Continuing on the motif of shooting from behind his subjects that is prevalent in much of his other work, he takes out the element of peoples faces, forcing the viewers attention first to the umbrella, then to the small details of the frame: a brand of sunscreen, the array of beach accessories, and the body language of the people, who were shot without knowledge of the photographers presence.
The series was shot in one day on two rolls of 35mm negative film at Zuma Beach in Malibu, California.
Thank you to our sponsors Kirin Cider, Santa Vittoria and to Uber Sydney for getting the RVCA team there.
Video by Trevor King, Music: Love is not Allowed by Gap Dream and Let me in by Habibi courtesy of Burger Records.
