Ordinary life can be less than ordinary when viewed at the precise angle, at the precise time, in a particular mood with a particular intent. I must admit I am not the greatest advocate for photography, I have limited experience of the medium, mainly from my college days, snapping the homeless and squatters by the beach was a particular obsession for a while. Perhaps it was the interaction with strangers, or even the appropriation of their image that put me off the process. However I have great admiration for those who can take a great photo, many of the works I have appreciated in the past have been more slanted towards photo journalism, although I do possess a few vastly oversized hardback editions of Weegee – the phonetic pseudonym of Arthur Fellig (June 12, 1899 – December 26, 1968) and of course Henri Cartier-Bresson, both of which captured both the splendour and the ugly truth of the reality of life.

Plus of course I have always admired the surreal quality of Cindy Sherman’s work, who alongside Andy Warhol has had a strong influence over the direction of my own art. In particular the appropriation of iconography from Hollywood, and darker side of fame, fantasy and celebrity in general. Diane Arbus has to be on my hot list, her work is haunting and at times dreamlike in its conception. She has had a great influence in film-making in the later part of the last century and even to this day. One of her most famous pieces, Identical Twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967 is so strikingly similar to the "dead twins" in Stanley Kubrick’s interpretation of the Gothic horror novel The Shining, it’s almost insulting. I am sure the fact that it is also one of the ten most expensive photographs sold in history must offer some compensation, but sadly I doubt that Diane made more than a 100th of that price, if even that.

As you can tell it’s been a long time since I delved into the world of photography, which is why I was most gratified to have been invited to view a recent addition to the net at OneOfEditions.com conceived and managed (with a passion) by accomplished photographer Paul Avis. What particularly struck me about this collective of artists and their limited edition photographs was the subject and tone of the collection, a tour de force of suburban surrealism, a portfolio of deceptively subtle, moving, and sometimes disturbing works that have left me at times near agog with astonishment. Not only due to the sheer aplomb of their accomplished technical and artistic skill, or indeed the occasionally excruciatingly intimate, and at other times shockingly graphic imagery, but the mere fact that they have managed to capture their subjects, which would be for the most part barred from public view, has simply left me stunned.

I will feature some of the works here but I recommend you view the whole collection for yourself, I am sure you will be as amazed as I was.

Andrew Moxon is presently based in Gloucester UK, his works are hard hitting documentary-style photographs that centre around the rise in drug culture and the phenomenon of a burgeoning underclass and the aggressive and confrontational lives they must lead to survive in our present culture.

James Brittain’s photographic project "Collisions" expounds upon the cold beauty of technology, what simply astounds me is that he had access to the construction of components for the CERN nuclear research project in Switzerland. I am not a fan of machinery, and perhaps it is more due to the function of this feat of engineering than the actual form, however even I must admit the salubrious geometry of this "atom smasher" is indeed a sight to behold.

Clare Richardson offers an eye opening series of insightful photographs featuring an almost nostalgic yet somehow voyeuristic vision of the life of the agricultural worker. Her photos remind me much of my own childhod, right down to the colour process, and even the subjects seem somehow to be stuck in time, reminiscent of "hop picking holidays" in Kent for many working class Londoners of the past.

Rik Bower’s Blingers series of photographs mainly deal with the quasi-religious ceremony of the British Christmas, however I feel his work does more to serve a distance between the presented reality of the media and the unending mundanity of suburban life in Britain. When filtering the ordinary through the process of the image one is forced to consider what is the accepted norm of our age and culture, is there even such thing as ordinary any more?

Stephen Lewis presents a rather disturbing yet fascinating series of photographs that portray the process of cremation, removing the veil of religious belief and paraphenalia and replacing its icons with those of the every day, this particular image shows a peephole view of the cremation itself, voyeuristically shocking it lends itself to further metaphor. The idea that death is a taboo, the reduction of identity to chemical component, the elemental truths of mortality, the final end.

To view the rest of the collection of limited edition prints of these and many other artists visit  – OneOfEditions.com – many of the works are available at a standard dimension of 16 inches x 20 inches and limited to 50 of each image.

This post is tagged British photographers, British photography, limited edition, one off, oneofeditions, photographs, photography, suburbia, surrealism, UK