The Thousands

In the old days people had to find ways to entertain themselves without the internet. There were ‘toys’ like ball-in-cup and ‘games’ like cat’s cradle. Dark times! But happily, there was also the kaleidoscope: a sort of telescope that allowed you to peer into a swirling chamber of mirrors and baubles which coalesced into strange patterns as you rotated the lens like the focus on a camera.

It is from this analogue-age toy that three local photographers, Josh, Saschka and Thom, take the name of their shared exhibition. Each working in very different styles, the diversity of their images is poised to mirror the strange and unexpected patterns of the kaleidoscope. Josh’s work is drawn from his time as an activist in the Arizona desert; Saschka’s tackles the age-old photographic concerns of light and darkness; Thom explores meaningful events in his life through startlingly abstract images. And don’t worry, for all the thematic fixation on a toy of yesteryear, these images are far-removed from the fast-fading heliotypes or clumsy daguerreotypes of the ball-in-cup era.