With a spare half day, I recently headed to the American Museum in Bath to check out Carinthia West’s ‘Shooting Stars’ exhibition.  Featuring images of famous faces, notably the Rolling Stones, in the 1970s, it is a strangely engaging exhibition – particularly, I suspect, for those able to relate to that period in music and design history.

At a time when we are used to seeing technically perfect images, captured on high end digital cameras, I found it rather refreshing to view pictures taken not by a ‘professional photographer’ but by a friend of those featured.  On her own admission Carinthia West had little appreciation of the finer points of photographic technique at the time.

Taken mainly on a 35mm Canon EF film camera, these are candid images.  Blown up large, the prints testify to the limits of the format yet it is easy to forgive that they do not match today’s pixel peeping standards, or always capture the eye perfectly in focus.  The fact is they are compelling images that tell a story of famous faces in unguarded, relaxed moments.  I lingered longer than I had expected to enjoy those moments.

‘Shooting Stars’ is at the American Museum until 31 October, 2021.  Details at: https://americanmuseum.org/whats-on/exhibitions 

mfimage