Photofusion and Troika Editions Present

Residual Traces brings together photographic projects which have engaged with the consequences of the London 2012 Olympic Games coming to one of the most deprived areas of London, the Lea Valley.

Prints from the exhibition are available for sale in support of Photofusion.

The list of reviewers includes:

Aaron Schuman, Photographer & SeeSaw Magazine; Amy Stein, Photographer, USA; Andy Adams, Writer, curator, Editor of Flak Photo, USA; Anne Bourgeois-Vignon, Forward Publishing; Anne Braybon, National Portrait Gallery; Arianna Rindaldo, D-La Republica delle Donne; Bishan Samaddar, Seagull Books, India; Bridget Coaker, Guardian Picture editor and Troika Editions; David Birkitt, DMB Media; Dennis Morris, Photographer; Dewi Lewis, Dewi Lewis Publishing; Diane Smyth, British Journal of Photography; Eric Kessels, KesselsKramer, Amsterdam; Fiona Rogers, Magnum; Francis Hodgson, Photo Critic, Financial Times; Frederick Baldwin; Joel Meyerowitz, photographer, USA; Julia Martin, Photofusion; John Duncan, Source Magazine, Ireland; Johanna Neurath, Thames & Hudson; Katarzynya Majak, Kwartalnik Fotografia, Poland; Lorna-Mary Webb, Rhubarb Rhubarb; Louise Clements, QUAD/FORMAT Artistic Director; Max Houghton, Foto8; Mindaugas Kavaliauskas, Kaunas Photo Festival, Lithuania; Nick Turpin, In Public; Regina Azenberger, Anzenberger Gallery, Austria; Sue Steward, Writer and Broadcaster; Tim Clark, Editor 1000 Words; Yasmina Reggad, Photo-Festivals.

The discussion covered Kurt Tong's two series, "In Case it Rains in Heaven" and "Memories, Dreams Interrupted", both on show in the gallery as well as more general discussions about his approach to work. This was interspersed with a lively aside and much comment from the audience on a piece in the Guardian in which Alex Soth explained his 7 year old daughter had shot his contribution to the Brighton Photo Biennial.

Kurt explained much about the Chinese practice of making paper offerings to the dead as featured in the "In Case it Rains in Heaven" series. He also explained that because of the superstitions attached to this practice no studios in Hong Kong where he shot these pictures would allow him to bring the offerings onto their premises. Instead Kurt used a makeshift studio.

His explanation of the thinking behind the Memories series highlighted his concern with combining the physical nature of photograph making and the conceptual. The images were produced by distressing and almost destroying sheet film by x-raying, heating and freezing it, and then using the characteristics of different scanners to pull out different parts of the information which he then put together in Photoshop. This is, for Kurt, an analogy with what we understand memory itself to be, something that is constantly revised and altered by revisiting it. Kurt drew a comparison between how memory constantly develops and what happens when a jpeg is repeatedly opened and re saved and opened and re saved. The result is something new, albeit corrupted in the case of the jpeg.

The conversation continued in the Prince round the corner.

Kurt Tong and Bridget Coaker will be discussing Kurt's exhibition at Photofusion.

It might be argued that Kurt's work straddles the divide between documentary and fine art photography. The two distinct series of work on show in this exhibition, "In Case it Rains in Heaven" and "Memories, Dreams Interrupted", raise questions as to the role of narrative in photography and how we might distinguish between different photographic genres.

In this conversation Bridget and Kurt intend to look at these questions as well as giving an insight into the work practice of this exciting and upcoming photographer.

Tickets are £5/£3.50.

Please call 020 7738 5774 (Photofusion) to book.

Details of how to get to Photofusion can be found here.

See more of Kurt's images.