ARTISTS TALKING

'West', Ffotogallery's new-format open biennial show, succeeds on many levels. Selecting less artists than previous years has left room for a natural thematic to emerge between individual works. The show succeeds as a survey of new work raising a discourse about the role of photography. There is a heavy presence of landscape in the show and much of this has evolved from social questions about regeneration/degeneration. There are also works that cannot be characterised but which form specific relationships with other works.

Stuart Lee's Reserve is essentially a study into the nature of looking. Laying low, spying a bird hide, the viewer is put in the position of watched. Camera trained on the hide, Lee sets up a mirror image not only of hunter and hunted, but of photographer and subject – here however the photographer is in the position of hunted. Lee examines the power of the gaze and the desire to interact with nature without the interaction. Safe from the outdoors, in a purpose-built hut, the watcher experiences without experiencing. Andrea Liggins' work From Without turns this concept on its head. Her intimate images illustrate a struggle to understand and form a personal relationship with unknowable environments. Pursuing a process of rediscovery in her own garden Liggins then travelled to unknown countries seeking to draw a sense of familiarity from them. This resulted in her gaining a sense of belonging in places she would only ever be an outsider – a clear notion in her work that was instantly experienced on an emotive level.

Shipwrecked by Marc Arkless is a journey into image perception. Five beautiful prints of the sea draw the viewer into an unknown world. The seascapes work within a Romantic aesthetic of the sublime and it's only when the accompanying text is read that a narrative forms about the images – they are all places where shipwrecks occurred. The beauty of this work is in this sudden realisation, when the images change from static prints to scene of crime documents or remnants of past trauma.

The work of Phil Martin and Jonathan Crane sets up a whole new dialogue. Placed side by side in the gallery they look like opposing works. Martin presents a vision of Zen-like banality. Cold prints in serious monochrome present an empty vision of urban regeneration. The work brings into question the nature of cultural regrowth in areas with previously abundant culture. Jonathan Crane's work couldn't look much different; sunny panoramic landscapes smack of holiday photos, yet at second glance are found to be littered with rusty burnt-out cars and other evidence of a rural culture in conflict. The work inevitably questions the perceived notion of the rural idyll by replacing harmonious landscapes with a subtle vision of desolation.

This debate is echoed in Pete Bobby's Non-Space and Jamie Davies' Turf. The latter focuses on the movement of Irish culture to British shores and the replication of a culture away from home. This manifests itself in a series of community centres representing all that is home. The work is a similar format to that of Bobby, who focuses on places not yet humanised, spaces that exist as designed interiors before habitation.

'West' also focuses on a strong element of documentation broaching questions about the relationship between photography as document and image, and the fine line that occurs between. This is highlighted in the work of Tina Carr and Annemarie Schöne who tread a path of social documentary but show work that develops an empathy with the inner life of the subject. The viewer approaches the work as documentation but is lured into a personal relationship with the subject through quirky technical devices that somehow reveal more of the subject than a straightforward image.

It is not possible to sum up with conclusions about such a rich and varied show, nor is it possible to discuss all fourteen works. However every piece included seemed to contribute equally to a show that is representative of contemporary practice in photography.