Softening the corners of Brutalism

Contributing to Brutalist Plants by Olivia Broome & Hoxton Mini Press

“Work”

Many years ago I tried my hand at being “professional” and soliciting photography work, and soon found it sucked the fun out of something I loved.

Since then, intermittently publishing work by various means has brought me immense joy, and still, nearly 30 years after the internet became mainstream I get 100x the satisfaction of seeing my images in print compared to on a screen.

Brutalist Plants

Being a product of the middle of the 20th century, and the son of an architect, I’ve often been fascinated by the explosion of creativity of the post WW2 period, in architecture and other areas of design. As a result, in a little, neglected corner of the internet I have an Instagram account (Beautiful Brutalism) that caught the attention of Olivia Broome of Brutalist Plants.

Olivia began working with Hoxton Mini Press to produce a book showcasing how the hardest concrete structures can be softened by the planting that grows around them, and she noticed some of my images and asked if I’d like to contribute to the book.

A handful of my images were chosen and the resulting book is absolutely beautiful, featuring HUNDREDS of buildings worldwide that I had never seen before.

Even more exciting, two of my images were chosen to help promote the book, even being splashed across the Hoxton Mini Press home page at launch.

I love the Hoxton Mini Press book format and own a number of their other titles - The East End in Colour is one of my favourites, with amazingly evocative images by David Granick, unearthed and promoted by Chris Dorley-Brown, himself a noted photographer, I have his Drivers In The 1980s on my bookshelf too.

Drivers In The 1980s - by Chris Dorley-Brown. Published by Hoxton Mini Press

Anyway, back to Brutalist Plants - once published, the book received a fair bit of coverage, and my image of the memorial to Jose de Azaredo Perdigao by Pedro Cabrita Reis was featured on such sites as The Guardian, Aesthetica Magazine, Stir World and The Spaces.

Brutalist Plants "in the press"

As I mentioned at the beginning, the real pleasure came from seeing my images in print, and when the book arrived, in the great packaging that Hoxton Mini Press use, I wasn’t disappointed.

With two double page spreads and a single, I’m more than pleased with the result, but of course, I recommend that you see for yourself and order a copy of Brutalist Plants direct from Hoxton Mini Press.