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A Photographer Explores Love, Loss, Life and Death
akkedis, prince albert, karoo, south africa
fallen giraffe, somerset east, eastern cape, south africa – from the series ‘the fallen’
I once saw a box. Simply a Tupperware container actually, only slightly grander than that. It was indistinguishable from many other boxes of the same nature other than the fact it had a strip of white surgical tape on its lid. Written in ‘sharpie’ were the words ‘handle like eggs’. ‘What’s in there?’ I asked, ‘it’s a heart…and ice of course to keep it alive’.” – David Chancellor
Based between South Africa and the UK, David Chancellor has travelled extensively throughout his career as a documentary photographer. With a deep commitment to wildlife conservation, he has documented a wide range of pressing issues from the elephant poaching crisis in Africa to a mountain lion hunt in Utah to deer stalking in Scotland.
This March, Francesca Maffeo Gallery is pleased to present ‘Handle Like Eggs’, which brings together Chancellor’s documentary work and his personal work, where the focus switches to his immediate family: his beloved wife and son. Although the subjects represent disparate worlds, they share the common themes of love and loss and as Time Photo Editor Myles Little says, these two entities become “intertwined forever” in his images. The photographs also meditate on life and death; as life departs one frame, new life enters another, and there is a general sense of fragility and tenderness to his images. Although a stark antidote to his documentary practice, the personal photographs are allowed to exist in parallel, as this is how they exist for Chancellor; family permeates the landscape of wild animals, whilst the ‘lingering scent and memory of hunts’ punctuate the domesticity of home.
‘Handle Like Eggs’ by David Chancellor will run from March 4, 2017 until April 15, 2017. Full details of the show can be found on the gallery website.
bed and light, kalama community conservancy, northern kenya – from the series ‘with butterflies and warriors’
finlay @ 16.34h, 27.08.08, cape town, south africa – from the series ‘family’
the death of georgina thomson, brunstane, edinburgh, scotland – from the series ‘family’
untitled # I – from the series ‘cape storms’
us all, zurich, switzerland – from the series ‘family’
xhosa huntsman with lynx # I, south africa – from the series ‘hunters’
All images © David Chancellor, courtesy Francesca Maffeo Gallery
