Last week, Approaching Velocity was invited to the launch of Kevin Mason’s first book and second ever exhibition, Your Life is my Vanity Project, a photography project shot every Thursday for thirty weeks, featuring Storm model and Brighton girl Georgie Hobday. For Approaching Velocity readers unfamiliar with Kevin Mason’s work, a visit to his two websites (personal and studio), his Tumblr blog, and old Flickr account (rarely updated, but still containing much of his portfolio) is highly recommended as an introduction to his near breath-taking, often outrageous but always-punching-the-limit fashion editorial photography that draws on an incredible wealth of technique, fanaticism and knowledge of past and present photography and photographers to stretch your mind. In contrast to his past work, Your Life is my Vanity Project is a very different approach from Mason’s usual photography output. Gone are the elaborate set pieces, perfect make-up and outfits alongside intricate lighting set-ups; Your Life is my Vanity Project is simply a weekly collection of photographs documenting one subject, shot on a variety of film formats, almost all naturally lit and feeling mostly spontaneous.  The different direction is presented as clearly uncomfortable for Mason, at least to begin with. The first few weeks are very rigid, and there is a clear concept of Mason as ‘the photographer’ and the subject as ‘the model’, as fixed poses with identical expressions are abound in the first sets of photographs as Mason struggles to step away from his studio identity. Thirty-weeks of such rigid images would have created a very different exhibition to what Your Life is my Vanity Project actually becomes, for as the weeks progress, the photographs feel more relaxed, and the strength of Mason’s vision and the exhibition lies in this portrayal and relationship of the relationship between photographer, subject, and viewer, whilst documenting the growing friendship between Kevin Mason and Georgie Hobday. Certainly by week four, the photographs become much more free, and quickly a rapport is established between photographer and subject. By week seven however, the relationship has transformed even more rapidly and it is no longer always possible to discern just who is in control of who: the controlling photographer of the studio has blurred with the model, who slowly seems more in control in front of the camera, and it appears all Mason can do is capture Georgie as she decides what to do, resulting occasionally in blurry, poor focus photographs as Georgie moves onto something else before Mason can photograph it. It would be wrong to focus on just the blurred photographs of the exhibition (which are an integral part of the project in any case) without mentioning too the actual photographs of the exhibition, nearly all of which are jaw-dropping in one form or another and really let you appreciate Mason’s visual eye for capturing a moment with appropriate framing and delicacy. The actual exhibition (held at Garage Studios, Brighton, UK) certainly helps you realise this: the photographs are gorgeously displayed in a variety of original and full-frame prints in a purpose-designed space created by Mason’s long-standing art director and studio partner, M.Halls. Despite struggling with big crowds, the layout of the exhibition offers a clear and progressive path through the thirty weeks allowing you space to view the photographs, whilst not giving you too much space that the impact of a room full of the same girl over and over again is diminished; the exhibition is overwhelming, but this is no bad thing, and is a useful means of understanding the work. For at times, the relationship between photographer and subject can become extremely uncomfortable: Mason’s new style here is extremely close and personal, seeming a far stretch from his fashion editorial work, and can be very unforgiving to the subject. But this is purposeful, and if it is uncomfortable for the viewer to observe, as mentioned earlier, it is apparent that such an intimate approach, whilst undoubtedly embraced, was uncomfortable for the photographer too. Similarly, the repetitiveness of the same face never becomes boring, Georgie is an engaging character, and it is a mark of the exhibition’s success that upon leaving, its narrative makes you believe that you have not only met Georgie, you also feel you know her extremely well. On a last note, it is relatively easy to say that Your Life is my Vanity Project is simply about Georgie Hobday. It is also worth realising that the title is implicit to Mason’s intention that the project was not just about documenting another’s life, but also about Mason himself, as he moves a clear step in a different direction from his previous photography, and make a bold statement that he doesn’t need studios, assistants, or a clear final outcome to shape his photography output: he can achieve striking images with a strong narrative using basic camera techniques - and weeks of patience. Your Life is my Vanity Project succeeds in portraying at several levels the changing relationship between photographer and subject, documenting the growing friendship between two very strong characters in a narrative open to interpretation, and presents unashamedly the ever-evolving nature of a photographer still very much interested in exploring and challenging his own and others’ ideas and perceptions of the relationships involved in photography. ‘Your Life is My Vanity Project’, an exhibition by Kevin Mason, is open to the public on the 29th May - 31st May 2010, at Garage Studios, Brighton, UK. A printed 100 page book featuring photographs from all 30 weeks and an interview with Georgie Hobday is available to purchase here and is priced at £25 + postage and packaging.   /// Copyright 2010. Approaching Velocity Magazine. Photograph by Kevin Mason. 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