For most people, it's something of an ordeal; but for Australian photographer Vee Speers, a child's birthday party is artistic inspiration. It was her own daughter's bash which sparked her latest series of images, but rather than taking snaps of hyperactive, jelly-spattered children as you might expect, Speers takes a slightly more high-art approach. Using both traditional black-and-white Polaroid film and digital post-production to give an ethereal, painterly feel, Speers concentrates on their precocious predilection for role-playing and manipulation. As a result, the kids at this rather weird birthday party are subsumed by adult sensibilities - rendered sombre, self-possessed and even slightly menacing.
Holly Kyte
FIRST POSTED MARCH 5, 2008
The Birthday Party by Vee Speers, featured photographer at The Photographers' Gallery until April 6
