 The Jeweler © Neal SlavinPORTUGAL 1967 Starting on October 24, we will present an exhibition of photographs of Portugal taken in 1967–1968 by the American photographer and filmmaker Neal Slavin during his tenure of a Fulbright Fellowship. These photographs are included in a book he published with Lustrum Press in 1971. Extract from the preface of the book: I lived in Portugal as a Fulbright Fellow in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War. While my main project was to photograph archeological surveys, I couldn’t help seeing the plight of the people living under the extreme nightmare of Salazar’s dictatorship. Even though it was against the government’s stated wishes, and in some cases its laws, I was drawn to photograph the Portuguese people, who I came to love. Salazar managed to be hated by everyone in Portugal – the right, the left, the poor and the rich. The one class that didn’t hate him was the middle class, because there was none. Few people outside of Portugal knew or cared about this dictatorial tyrant who wielded power on the Iberian Peninsula alongside his more well-known Spanish Fascist contemporary, the despot Francisco Franco. These are not pictures of people at war but of people in submission. There are no military strong-arm pictures here but instead pictures of a class divide of great magnitude. – Neal Slavin  Girl on a Train © Neal SlavinNEAL SLAVIN Neal Slavin is a photographer and filmmaker best known for his pioneering work in the field of colour group portraits, which he began in the 1970s. He has published three books on this subject: When Two or More Are Gathered Together (1976), Britons (1986), and a new edition of the first, released to mark its fiftieth anniversary and published by Damiani Books. His work on Britons was created using a massive 20 x 24-inch Polaroid camera. In 2001, Neal Slavin directed the feature film Focus, adapted from a novel by Arthur Miller, and has just completed a feature-length documentary titled Saudade—A Love Letter to Portugal. Slavin’s works are held in major art institutions around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Neal Slavin will be with us during Paris Photo week. We are hosting a reception for him on Saturday, November 14, 2026. On this occasion, he will be signing copies of the book When Two or More Are Gathered Together.  Funeral Car © Neal Slavin Men on Tivoli Street © Neal Slavin Girl with Long Hair © Neal Slavin  LAST DAYS ! JOHN CLARIDGE / REMEMBERING AUTOCHROMES UNTIL SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER EXHIBITION PORTUGAL 1967 24 OCTOBER – 13 DECEMBER 2026 VERNISSAGE IN PRESENCE OF NEAL SLAVIN SATURDAY 14 NOVEMBER FROM 5PM TO 9PM |
Categories
© John Claridge
© Neal Slavin
© Neal Slavin