Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/simon-fleury-17686" aria-label="More by Simon Fleury" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Simon Fleury</a>
Hyde Park London
Gift Eric and Louise Franck London Collection 2015
<p>These ten black and white photographs by Simon Fleury are all portraits of people encountered in London’s Hyde Park. In some images, the figures depicted appear to be caught unaware of the camera, but in most cases the figures pose for the photographer.</p>
paper print photograph gelatin silver paper

Untitled, Hyde Park, London
image: 303 × 305 mm
Gift Eric and Louise Franck London Collection 2015
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<p>These ten black and white photographs by Simon Fleury are all portraits of people encountered in London’s Hyde Park. In some images, the figures depicted appear to be caught unaware of the camera, but in most cases the figures pose for the photographer.</p>
<p>In one image an elderly figure leans on a shopping trolley while surrounded by pigeons. In another, a young man in shorts bounces a football on his chest. Two men are pictured taking a break from raking leaves, while in another full length frontal portrait, an elderly couple carrying shopping bags appear slightly awkward as they pose for the photographer. Similarly, two women are pictured standing facing the photographer, one with an umbrella. There is a stiffness to their postures that indicates a slight self-consciousness despite their obvious willingness to be photographed. Fleury also captures a young couple sitting on the grass with their limbs entwined. They lean in towards each other with their foreheads touching; the man has his head dipped, while the woman calmly returns the gaze of the camera. In another image, two elderly women are photographed from behind, linking arms as they walk through the park; they both wear headscarves and long coats and carry similar handbags, as if mirror images of each other. Another woman, bathed in sunshine, is depicted reading a newspaper while resting on a bench with her bicycle leaning alongside it. </p>
<p>Fleury also documents the dog walkers of Hyde Park with his image of an elderly woman leaning on a walking stick, with two white poodles at her feet. Hyde Park is presented in these photographs as a place of recreation where people engage in disparate activities.</p>
<p>Helen Delaney<br/>January 2015</p>
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Summary
2024-02-02T00:00:00
summary
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