The photographer staring death in the face
- Text by Saoirse O'Leary
- Photography by Ben Gore
A cat in a bathtub. A creepy flea market. A dad sunbathing on the beach. Goodbye, Blue Monday is the follow-up to photographer Ben Gore’s celebrated photoboook Second Adolescence.
Citing Jim Goldberg and Larry Clark as major influences, Ben has used photography to re-examine how he looks at the world around him. With themes of maturity and mortality, he uses a familiar lens to face our greatest fears: growing up and growing old.
“[Going freelance] made me hyperaware of the passing of time,” Ben says. “I’m now fully in control of how I spend my time, but I’m also fully responsible for the good or bad I do with it. It’s only on me. The preoccupation with death in the book comes from that ethos. Death is the final full stop on your time and I’ve got a drive to make the most of my time while I’m here.”
Goodbye, Blue Monday will be shown from 21-24 July at the Doomed Gallery Dalston, and is available to preorder now.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
“Music can save you for a day”: Touché Amoré on social media and subcultures
To celebrate a new album and reflect on a decade and a half of being themselves, frontman Jeremy Bolm chats about opening up via lyrics, subcultures in the internet age, and the hardcore re-revival.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Meet the Paratriathlete who cheated death twice
A near fatal training crash ruined British Paralympian George Peasgood’s Paris 2024 plans. As he recovers, his life and outlook are changing – will LA 2028 be part of his future?
Written by: Sheridan Wilbur
A glimpse of life for women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule
‘NO WOMAN’S LAND’ has been awarded the prestigious 14th Carmignac Photojournalism Award and will be exhibited at the Réfectoire des Cordelieres in Paris this autumn.
Written by: Isaac Muk
In Photos: A decade growing up in pre-gentrification Lower East Side
A new photobook provides an up-close-and-personal look at the life of a Puerto Rican family, documenting them growing up as the world changed around them.
Written by: Isaac Muk
This summer taught us everything is... marketing
Months of historic political violence, memes, auras, and, of course, ‘brat’ has newsletter columnist Emma Garland asking if anything is real anymore?
Written by: Emma Garland
Rick Castro’s intimate portraits of love and remembrance
Columbarium Continuum is an ongoing exhibition of photographs displayed inside the two-story art nouveau columbarium of the iconic Hollywood Forever cemetery.
Written by: Miss Rosen