Modern Nature: British Photographs from the Hyman Collection
13 July 2018 - 2 June 2019
For the first time in human history, more people are living in urban environments than in the countryside, yet the impulse to seek out nature remains as strong as ever.
This exhibition of photographs by leading British photographers such as Shirley Baker, Bill Brandt, Anna Fox, Chris Killip, Martin Parr and Tony Ray-Jones explored our evolving relationship with the natural world and how this shapes individuals and communities.
Drawn from the photography collection of Claire and James Hyman, Modern Nature included around 60 photographs taken since the end of the Second World War, through the beginnings of de-industrialisation to the present day.
The exhibition explored the merging of urban and rural landscapes, the rapid expansion of cities and the increasingly intrusive management of the countryside. The works on display were by turns poetic and humorous, occasionally absurd.
‘As a young gallery The Hepworth Wakefield is fast developing a reputation for curating important exhibitions of photographs, as a part of their dynamic exhibition programme, and we hope that our partnership with The Hepworth Wakefield will encourage their ambitions in this area.’
Claire & James Hyman
The Hyman Collection
The Hyman Collection is the private collection of Claire and James Hyman. The Collection seeks to support and promote British photography through acquisitions, loans and education. In 2015 britishphotography.org was launched to provide online access to British photographs in the collection and as a learning resource to increase international awareness of British photography.
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