After Party 2000

Tom Hunter made this photograph, After Party, and who knows when really, or why, but it looks like it was made with a camera and a sense of humor. I mean, what a strange landscape! The scene is dominated by this super blue mattress set against the browns and greens of the grass and the dilapidated buildings in the background. There's something so matter-of-fact about how the textures are rendered, you can almost feel the grit of the urban decay. And then there’s the guy, slumped on the mattress, lost in his own world. This single figure and discarded bed take on an almost heroic quality, like a modern history painting. Hunter reminds me a bit of the social documentarians, like Dorothea Lange, but with a wink. Both are interested in everyday people, yet the composition and colours lean into cinematic storytelling. "After Party" doesn’t give us any answers, but it invites us to ask questions.