Nick Berkeley
Encyclopedia
Nick Berkeley is an English photographer, film maker and writer. He was born in London in 1956, the youngest son of the composer Sir Lennox Berkeley
and brother of Michael Berkeley
, the composer and broadcaster.
emerged, and by 1979 was involved in a band with Raymond Watts. He was signed as a song writer to a number of companies, including Chris Blackwell
's Blue Mountain Music. However, by the late the 1980s Berkeley's casual interest in photography had become the focus of his creative life. He studied photography at the Arts Institute, Bournemouth, and subsequently taught there. The 1990s were a fruitful period at the college: fellow photography students and lecturers included Nick Knight
, Wolfgang Tillmans
, Martin Parr
and Melanie Manchot
The two emergent preoccupations in Berkeley's work are the perception of time and the primacy of aesthetics. Time After Time (1997), shot on a slit scan race finish camera, depicted time elapsed represented spatially. It utilised archive material of race finishes and was widely exhibited. This body of work, printed by Berkeley on a specially constructed enlarger, appealed to other photographers and film makers: Berkeley has said that they were the only people who actually collected his prints. Two of them - the photographer Rankin
and the cinematographer John Mathieson
- went on to work with him. The Women (1999) - featuring strips of enlarged still images of ecstatic women shot at five frames per second on a 16mm movie camera - gained national radio and TV coverage, and Berkeley suddenly found himself on the front of broadsheet review sections. Despite their non explicit nature, the look and intensity of the ecstatic seconds was overshadowed by the fact that the subjects were masturbating. That the end result was more significant than the means employed temporarily became a lost distinction.
Berkeley subsequently made two short films, one of which - WARMOVIE - exclusively utilised archive footage, much of it shot during the course of a Lancaster Bomber raid over Germany. It was first shown at the Imperial War Museum, London. WARMOVIE and SPINNING WORLD - a short film about the experience of viewing, utilising Berkeley's trademark lush aesthetics - have been shown at festivals throughout Europe and the UK, including the Berlin Film Festival. In 2000, Berkeley completed a journal shot exclusively on a Polaroid SX70
camera using the fabled Time Zero film. The idea was ultimately to produce a book for Dazed and Confused, as a retrospective diary of that year, featuring an image taken on each day. The prints were scanned, and the book designed, before the originals were stolen en masse from a briefcase in the back of Berkeley's parked car. Despite the existence of the scans, Berkeley halted the project, by then known as THE BOOK OF HOURS.
In 2005 Berkeley gave up visual media altogether, removing his website and other virtual links, citing the sheer proliferation of images in a world saturated with imagery as being central to the decision. In 2008 Berkeley reportedly began - and continues to work on - a novel, in which the representation of time is further addressed. In 2010 rumours surfaced that Rankin was planning to publish an online, tenth anniversary edition of THE BOOK OF HOURS.
A passionate motorcyclist, Berkeley regularly contributes to BIKE magazine. He has two children, an actress daughter Flora Berkeley and a musician son Jack Berkeley. Their mother is Berkeley's long term partner, Tess Moffatt, a psychotherapist.
Lennox Berkeley
Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley was an English composer.- Biography :He was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Gresham's School and Merton College, Oxford...
and brother of Michael Berkeley
Michael Berkeley
Michael Berkeley is a British composer and broadcaster on music.-Early life:His father was the composer Sir Lennox Berkeley...
, the composer and broadcaster.
Life and work
Unsurprisingly, given his background, Berkeley was initially involved in making and recording music. He grew up around the West London proto-punk scene from which The ClashThe Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
emerged, and by 1979 was involved in a band with Raymond Watts. He was signed as a song writer to a number of companies, including Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
's Blue Mountain Music. However, by the late the 1980s Berkeley's casual interest in photography had become the focus of his creative life. He studied photography at the Arts Institute, Bournemouth, and subsequently taught there. The 1990s were a fruitful period at the college: fellow photography students and lecturers included Nick Knight
Nick Knight (photographer)
Nick Knight OBE is a British fashion photographer, documentary photographer, and web publisher—as director of SHOWstudio.com.-Life and career:Knight studied at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design....
, Wolfgang Tillmans
Wolfgang Tillmans
Wolfgang Tillmans is a German Fine-art photographer and artist. His comprehensive and diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. In 2000, Tillmans was the first photographer and also the first...
, Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parr is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take a critical look at aspects of modern life, in particular provincial and suburban life in England...
and Melanie Manchot
The two emergent preoccupations in Berkeley's work are the perception of time and the primacy of aesthetics. Time After Time (1997), shot on a slit scan race finish camera, depicted time elapsed represented spatially. It utilised archive material of race finishes and was widely exhibited. This body of work, printed by Berkeley on a specially constructed enlarger, appealed to other photographers and film makers: Berkeley has said that they were the only people who actually collected his prints. Two of them - the photographer Rankin
Rankin (photographer)
John Rankin Waddell, working name Rankin, born 1966, is a British portrait and fashion photographer.-Life and career:Waddell was brought up in St Albans, Hertfordshire. At the age of 21, whilst studying accounting at Brighton Polytechnic, he realized that his interests lay elsewhere and dropped...
and the cinematographer John Mathieson
John Mathieson (cinematographer)
John Mathieson B.S.C. is one of a group of film makers who emerged out of the music video industry of the late 80's and 90's. His peers include cinematographers Tim Maurice Jones and Seamus McGarvey BSC and directors Michel Gondry and David Fincher...
- went on to work with him. The Women (1999) - featuring strips of enlarged still images of ecstatic women shot at five frames per second on a 16mm movie camera - gained national radio and TV coverage, and Berkeley suddenly found himself on the front of broadsheet review sections. Despite their non explicit nature, the look and intensity of the ecstatic seconds was overshadowed by the fact that the subjects were masturbating. That the end result was more significant than the means employed temporarily became a lost distinction.
Berkeley subsequently made two short films, one of which - WARMOVIE - exclusively utilised archive footage, much of it shot during the course of a Lancaster Bomber raid over Germany. It was first shown at the Imperial War Museum, London. WARMOVIE and SPINNING WORLD - a short film about the experience of viewing, utilising Berkeley's trademark lush aesthetics - have been shown at festivals throughout Europe and the UK, including the Berlin Film Festival. In 2000, Berkeley completed a journal shot exclusively on a Polaroid SX70
Polaroid SX-70
The SX-70 is a folding single lens reflex Land Camera which was produced by the Polaroid Corporation from 1972-1981.- History :Though Polaroid had considered a Henry Dreyfus-designed SLR for its Colorpack film, the SX-70 was the first instant SLR and the first camera to use Polaroid's new SX-70...
camera using the fabled Time Zero film. The idea was ultimately to produce a book for Dazed and Confused, as a retrospective diary of that year, featuring an image taken on each day. The prints were scanned, and the book designed, before the originals were stolen en masse from a briefcase in the back of Berkeley's parked car. Despite the existence of the scans, Berkeley halted the project, by then known as THE BOOK OF HOURS.
In 2005 Berkeley gave up visual media altogether, removing his website and other virtual links, citing the sheer proliferation of images in a world saturated with imagery as being central to the decision. In 2008 Berkeley reportedly began - and continues to work on - a novel, in which the representation of time is further addressed. In 2010 rumours surfaced that Rankin was planning to publish an online, tenth anniversary edition of THE BOOK OF HOURS.
A passionate motorcyclist, Berkeley regularly contributes to BIKE magazine. He has two children, an actress daughter Flora Berkeley and a musician son Jack Berkeley. Their mother is Berkeley's long term partner, Tess Moffatt, a psychotherapist.