The McManus gallery in Dundee is currently staging a retrospective of Joseph McKenzie’s work documenting the city. I had not heard of McKenzie or the McManus gallery but came across both following a visit to the V&A in Dundee.
McKenzie was born in London in 1929 into a poor family and was evacuated to Doreset at the onset of the second world war. After the war, in 1947, McKenzie was conscripted into the Royal Air Force where he severed as a corporal in the Photographic Corps until 1950. In 1954 McKenzie started teaching at St Martin’s in London and ten years later he and his family moved to Dundee where he took up the new position as Head of Photography at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art. It was whilst he was teaching at the college that he produced the works on display at the gallery, Dundee: City in Transition and Hawkhill: Death of a Living Community which cover a period of over 20 years from 1964 to 1987 and which probably lead to him being referred to as ‘the father of modern Scottish photography’.
The work in the exhibition was all black & white and the prints were all produced by McKenzie himself. As well as being a skilled and empathetic photographer, he was also a master print maker.
Unfortunately there are not many of McKenzie’s images online and those that are do not convey the quality of the prints on display at the McManus.
McManus produced a series of work titled Hibernian Images which were shot in Ireland between 1967 – 69. The work contrasted the peacful life in Ireland with the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. When the work was exhibited in Aberdeen in the early 1970s, McKenzie accused the gallery of altering his catalogue statement for the exhibition, removing text that the curators though supported the idea of armed struggle against the British state. As a result of this, McKenzie withdrew from exhibiting his work for many years.
I think McKenzie’s decision to withdraw form exhibiting his work was very unfortunate as his his images and prints are well worth seeing. His work documenting Dundee is very interesting, not only for its documentary value, but also because it shows the ability to make great images from familiar surroundings, a lesson for any aspring documentary photographer.
Sources
‘Father of modern Scots photography’ Joseph McKenzie dies (2015) In: BBC News 15/07/2015 At: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-33537969 (Accessed 15/08/2021).
Joseph McKenzie (s.d.) At: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/joseph-mckenzie (Accessed 15/08/2021).
Joseph McKenzie (2018) In: Wikipedia. At: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_McKenzie&oldid=846867378 (Accessed 15/08/2021).
Joseph McKenzie’s Secret (2016) At: https://www.documentscotland.com/joseph-mckenzie-photography-scotland-peter-ross/ (Accessed 14/08/2021).
Preview: Exhibitions: A life on the edge (2011) At: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/preview-exhibitions-a-life-on-the-edge-1296115.html (Accessed 15/08/2021).
Documentary, Fact & Fiction 