Nigel Shafran's photographic style has a modesty and candour that resembles the snapshot image.   Like  snapshots, his photographs describe the relationship between the photographer and the photographed. Like family photographs, the intricacies of relationships that we have with our loved ones are played out in his photographs.

Photographs from three bodies of work by Nigel Shafran will be on show at the Taka Ishii gallery;  Ruthbook (1992-1995) a chronological documentation of the beginnings of a relationship, Dad's Office (1996 - 1998) still life images of objects that  narrate a father and son's relationship, and Washing Up 2000 photographs of a mundane but revealing aspect of domestic life.       

These series of photographs share a simple, pared down approach, to image making. They are singular observations, not constructed for the camera and captured in available light. Each body of work relies on the sequence and the relationship between photographs to communicate their narratives of familial dynamics, co-habitation and love. Their chronological ordering often makes the rhythm of the sequences. Like entries in a diary, the interrelationships of events as they unfold create their meaning.                           

Charlotte Cotton