Saturday, July 27, 2024

Artist of the Day, July 27, 2024: Julian Lennon, a British photographer, filmmaker, musician, (#2087)

Born in Liverpool, England, Julian Lennon began his artistic trajectory at a young age with an inherent talent for playing musical instruments. Those talents would soon broaden into the cinematic and visual arts.  

As an observer of life in all its forms, Julian developed his personal expression through such mediums as music, acting, and documentary filmmaking. In 2007, the door opened to yet another… photography, as Julian captured images during a musical tour for his half-brother, Sean.

‘Timeless’, his first photo exhibition, staged in Manhattan in September 2010, debuted Julian’s considerable talents behind the camera, as seen in photographs of Sean Lennon, U2, and his painterly landscapes. His ability to immortalize moments of intimacy and introspection is perhaps best captured in his portraits of Bono and Princess Charlene of Monaco. Taken while U2 was recording a new album and ten minutes before Charlene Wittstock became a real-life Princess, this small collection of images reveals how Julian “brings the subjects down to earth in a way few photographers have been able to accomplish,” notes celebrity photographer Timothy White. Around the same time came the establishment of Julian’s charity, The White Feather Foundation, and with it, a new seed for documentary photography.

The principal goal behind Julian’s latest series, ’Horizon,’ is to marry photography with philanthropy. “I have always felt that I observed life in a different way than others, probably because my life has always been very different than most,” says Julian. His attuned worldview recently led him to see first-hand the results of a Charity: Water and The White Feather Foundation initiative, bringing critically needed clean drinking water to parts of Africa. Simultaneously, his conservation and humanitarian efforts overlapped with support work being developed with Millennium Villages Project.

During these travels through Kenya and Ethiopia, Julian captured a wide variety of images with the intention of inspiring viewers to learn about unique indigenous cultures and to help raise awareness of their plights. Its signature image, Horizon, juxtaposes man and nature in a meditative solo walk upon a majestic mountaintop. The beauty of landscape shots like Follow and Scopium find a complement in the humanity of others, among them: Reverence, with a group of tribal elders, focused intently, during a community gathering to discuss clean water and their environment, and Hope, a bright-eyed Ethiopian child, with a wise, yet insightful vision, of life yet to come…. Empathy, says Julian Lennon, is the bond that unites the planet. He offers, “We are all in this together, and hopefully someday, the world will realize that… and photography is one way to share, learn, appreciate and understand about other cultures and empathize with other peoples lives….”

© 2024. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Julian Lennon or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Julian Lennon
Paperback Writer 2010
 Charlene Wittstock #2, 2011
 Charlene Wittstock  2011

 Hold On, 2013
 Disconnected, 2013
 Beautiful, 2013

 Hope, 2014
 Home, 2014
Haven, 2014
 Happy Girl, 2014
 Follow, 2014
 Boundless, 2014
 Behind Closed Doors, 2014
 Deborah Anderson #2, 2017
 Casa Blanca, 2018
  Hills To Sea, 2023
Image  from "Wake Up And Dream" Series
Paul Buchanan The Blue Nile, 2023
Image
from "Wake Up And Dream" Series
 Sean Profile, 2023 
Image  from "Wake Up And Dream" Series
 The Screening Room, 2023
 Image from "Wake Up And Dream" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series
Image from "The Cycle" Series

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