“Love myself better than you / I know it’s wrong, so what should
I do?”  – Kurt Cobain

This year, the Dazed Gallery has played host to a huge array of exhibitions and events, from Robert Priseman’s chilling meditations on execution and Aaron LaCrate’s haunting photographs of the Baltimore ghetto, to groundbreaking Japanese art and an experimental live performance from Aaron Rose’s LA headphone troupe, Sads.

Considering the anarchic diversity of these shows, we have decided to end the year with an exhibition of photographers whose practices are so resolutely at odds with each other that the very idea of a “group” show seems kind of absurd. So, we present Selfish? – a unique proposition dreamed up by Rankin’s assistants based upon featured photographer Damien Fry’s simple premise that “people are all ultimately selfish”. As such, it explores the power dynamic between the photographer and their subject. “The photographer is the director and the executioner,” explains Fry. “In a society where we are all driven to be more selfish and want more, we are the people who show you visually what you are supposed to want, and how you can go about getting it.” All of the work exhibited will riff on this theme, with each photographer annexing their own allocated area of the gallery for whatever purpose they desire. We can’t really give away any more than that, as they’re all keeping their ideas very close to their chests – which is pretty selfish...

Selfish opening reception on 20th Nocember from 7-9pm. Exhibition runs from 20th November 2008 until 5th February 2009 at The Dazed Gallery, 112-116 Old Street, EC1V 9BG.