AN EXHIBITION about death and mortality by the world-renowned photographer Rankin will open at the Walker Art Gallery in May.
Alive: In the Face of Death features portraits of people who have been forced to rethink life after being diagnosed with terminal illnesses.
The show, a highlight of Liverpool’s Look 13 photography festival, will also include images of people who have pulled through against all the odds.
Rankin, 46, said: “This is one of the most challenging projects I’ve ever been involved in and looks at life in the face of death.
“I’ve met some amazing people and I think each portrait brings out the vitality of each subject, their humour and unique qualities.”
Rankin, who likes to give his subjects control of how they are portrayed, has shot images for global brands including Nike, Swatch, Dove, Pantene, Diageo, Women’s Aid, and Breakthrough Breast Cancer as well as covers for Elle, German Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Esquire and GQ.
A collaboration with the BBC, Alive: In the Face of Death will be the second time he has worked with National Museums Liverpool.
In 2009 he visited World Museum as part of his Shoot Me, Rankin project in which he photographed 1,000 people to form a portrait of modern Britain.
Museums and galleries across Liverpool are hosting exhibitions as part of the month-long Look 13 festival, which launches on May 17.
Its opening coincides with the city’s Light Night, when venues will open late into the night with a programme of special events.
Highlights of Look 13, which is based on an overall theme of “Who do you think you are?” include a working Chinese tearoom created by Hong Kong-based photographer Kurt Tong at the Victoria Gallery & Museum, a group exhibition questioning identity in the contemporary Arab world at The Bluecoat and French photographer Charles Fréger’s images of costume and ritual at Open Eye Gallery.
The festival will also host the sixth National Photography Symposium in conjunction with Manchester-based photography network Redeye.
Look 13 will run until June 15.
