Elaine Constantine is one of the UK’s leading image-makers with a career spanning 15 years, and is known for her inspired use of documentary style photography in fashion. Her photography career began with a City & Guilds in photography at South Manchester Community College and her involvement with Manchester’s music scene in the 1990’s.
Recent projects include work for American GQ and Kidswear. Her dance portraits, shot for Let Them Eat Cake,featured in a major exhibition entitled, 'Beauty in the 21st Century,' at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg in 2008.
Previous exhibitions include the British Council’s ‘Look at Me’ and ‘Archaeology of Elegance’, V&A’s ‘Imperfect Beauty’ and The Barbican’s ‘Jam Tokyo-London’ as well as an exhibition at Moscow Museum of Art (2005). Her photography has defined key moments within fashion through features for Vogue Italia, American Vogue, Sleazenation, Arena Homme Plus and The Face and advertising campaigns for Levi’s, Nike, Jigsaw and GAP.
‘Bingo’ is an exclusive and previously unseen work, taken from Constantine’s ‘Tea Dance’ series, a commission to launch Castlefield Gallery’s new premises in 2002. Focusing on the over-60’s tea dance culture of Manchester, ‘Bingo’ captures the atmosphere of a local social club. The work differs from Constantine’s trademark images of movement and frivolity, to reflect a still and sombre moment inspired by her interest in a darker side of photography and film.
‘BINGO’, Elaine Constantine. Edition of 100, 265x550mm, £120 unframed.
