Copy used at Howies Carnaby street exhibition

In March 2011, Jim Shannon and Toby Deveson travelled to India to photograph, amongst other things, Holi festival. The resulting images form a narrative of intense fun, intrigue, drama and tradition told in an original and surprising way.

While their passion for photography has evolved from similar roots and backgrounds, their methods could not be more different. Colour and black and white bounce off each other, complementing, and yet at other times competing with each other. Film and digital stand apart, sometimes whispering, but also shouting about their differences: subtle, painterly and almost biblical alongside sharp, honest and vivid.

Both sets of work could stand alone, successfully depicting the wonderful festival of Holi, and yet Jim and Toby have chosen to bring them together in this intriguing project, each adding dimensions and elements, not only to each other’s work but to the visualisation of the festival.

And it is the festival itself that stands to gain the most from this collaboration. A feast of exuberance, music, dance and colour, celebrating the arrival of spring and the birth of Krishna. Holi encapsulates and represents everything that is remarkable about India and is amongst the most vivid, intense and inclusive of all spring festivals.

This collaboration between Jim and Toby, this alchemy of techniques and mediums feeding off each other, truly brings the festival to life for those unlucky enough not to have been there in person.

And it is thanks to Howies that this small taster is here to tease us and to coax their larger and more ambitious show to life, details of which will be posted on their websites in the near future.

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