FT Weekend, Jan 2023
Theatre, cover and feature as part of Workers Special, FT Weekend Magazine, January 2023
Lewis Khan is a photographic artist born and raised in London, working with stills and motion. From an early age, Khan was drawn to the tactile and immediate nature of photography, using the camera as a means to engage with the world around him.
His portrait based practice is a study of emotion, relationships and belonging. With a keen eye for observation and a personal interest in community as a driving force in his work, Khan has produced an impressive portfolio of imagery that both acts as social commentary, and immerses him physically in the places, groups, and relationships pictured in his photographs.
Khan cites his first foray in to moving image ‘Georgetown’ as a formative project that would go on to influence his approach to stills. The film is informed by six years of impromptu and informal meetings with local resident George, with Khan revisiting the subject over an extended period of time; an approach that he says has given his subsequent projects greater depth. The film was exhibited widely (most notably at The Photographer’s Gallery), and awarded first prize at Shuffle Film Festival by director Danny Boyle.
Other landmark bodies of work include ‘Theatre’, a personal project that saw Khan spend four years inside two London general hospitals to paint an intimate portrait of the NHS during a turbulent time. His photographs bear witness to our collective humanity, and the strength and fragility of all those who work in the health service. A limited edition book by the same name was published by The Lost Light Recordings at the height of the 2020 pandemic.
His latest work ‘Leavers’ sees Khan chronicle the annual ritual of the secondary school prom in stills and on Super8 film. The resulting film features a spoken word voiceover specially written by poet and author, Caleb Femi, and offers a joyful challenge to the often negative stereotypes surrounding inner-city teenage life.
Clients & Features
Adidas
AnOther
BBC One
Brick Magazine
British Journal of Photography
Co-op
De Morgen
The Economist
FT Weekend Magazine
The Guardian
i-D
Ikea
Lala&Ce
LAW
Luncheon
The New Yorker
NHS England
Palace
Paper Journal
Patagonia
Photoworks
Save The Children
Splash & Grab
TIME Magazine
Virgin Records
Press
The Guardian
Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2022
GUP Magazine
Lewis Khan: ABQ
British Journal of Photography
Prom night: How the tradition captivated photographers
Autre Love
Tactile with the world: An interview of Photographer & Film Maker Lewis Khan
Dazed
Lewis Khan’s euphoric photos of a south London prom night
The Face
This film celebrates the adolescent magic of school proms
AOP 2020 Award winners unveiled, BBC News
i-D
Emotional photographs from inside an NHS hospital
AnOther
“Resilience, Beauty and Fragility”: Photos Revealing Life in UK Hospitals
The Face
The NHS captured over four years
Esquire
The Beauty And Trauma Of The NHS
Creative Review
What does it take to photograph a working hospital?
The New Statesman
Theatre: a portrait of the NHS
Port Magazine: Theatre
British Journal of Photography
A portrait of our national health service
British Journal of Photography
Lewis Khan photographs a lesser known side of London
Photoworks
Interview: Lewis Khan
Loupe Magazine
Photographic education an interview with Lewis Khan
It’s Nice That
Photographer Lewis Khan on spending 18 months in the NHS
Huck Magazine
Capturing humanity at the heart of the NHS
A Curator
Georgetown
Another Magazine
The agony and the ecstasy of a fan clubs annual party
Awards & Exhibitions
2022
Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize
Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York
2021
Gold, AOP Open Award
2020
Shortlist, Bar Tur Photo Award
2019
Palm* Photo Prize, Judges Panel 2nd Prize
Portrait of Britain, British Journal of Photography
2018
Shortlist, Guernsey Photo Festival
Photoworks Presents: Collaborate, London
2017
Portrait of Britain, British Journal of Photography
Peaches & Cream, Millennium Images
RPS Int. Print Competition 160
PYLOT Magazine ‘Perspective’ Exhibition, London
2016
Finalist ‘AOP Awards 2016’, Truman Brewery, London
Aritst Talk, Recyclart, Brussels
Under the Same Sun artist film screening, South London
Gallery, selected by Guggenheim Museum, South London
Gallery & Recreative Editorial Board
Shortlist ‘Magnum Graduate Photographer Award’
2015
Shortlist ‘Magnum Graduate Photographer Award’
Artist Residency, The Chelsea & Westminster Hospital
Portrait Salon, London
Photofusion Salon, London
2014
Fresh Faced + Wild Eyed, The Photographers Gallery
1st Prize Shuffle Film Festival, The City, London, curated by Danny Boyle
RPS Intl. Print Competition 157
The London Short Film Festival
Open City Docs, Docheads, London
2013
Winner, Motorcade Flash Parade National Open, Bristol
Reely & Truly, Bold Tendencies, London
Education
2013
BA (Hons) Photography, UWE Bristol, First Class Honours
Talks
2019
Artist Talk, Kingston University, BA Photography
2017
Artist Talk, The Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London
Weymouth College, FDA Photography, Speaker & Visiting Critic
2016
Artist Talk, Recyclart, Brussels
Kingston University, MA Architecture, Tutor & Visiting Critic
Fortismere School, A Level Photography, Speaker & Visiting Critic
2015
UWE Bristol, Speaker & Visiting Critic Kingston University, MA Architecture, Tutor & Visiting Critic
Kingston University, MA Architecture, Tutor & Visiting Critic
2014
Artist Talk, The Photogrpahers Gallery, Fresh Faced + Wild Eyed
Fortismere School, A Level Photography, Speaker & Visiting Critic
All rights reserved © 2023 Lewis Khan
Lala &ce
(15 images)
Theatre
(32 images)
ABQ
(21 images)
Fictions
(18 images)
It’ll Soon Be Night Time
(27 images)
Leavers – film
(video)
Leavers – photos
(30 images)
Georgetown – film
(video)
Georgetown – photos
(14 images)
Tape for George
(video)
All Change
(9 images)
Portraits
(21 images)
We Are Nurses
(video)
Inis Oirr
(video)
Arthur
(video)
Quidditch
(video)
1/4Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2022
Mike, exhibited at the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2022.
Exhibition held at Cromwell Place, London.
Photographs © David Parry
1/4Aesthetica Short Film Festival
Leavers, screened at Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2022, York.
1/10SCBU, West Middlesex Hospital
Permanent artwork installations for the 5 recovery rooms in SCBU (Special Care Baby Unit) at the West Middlesex Hospital, London.
Commissioned by CW+.
Leavers, Granta Magazine Issue 158
Leavers, cover and feature, Granta Magazine Issue 158, February 2022
1/10Theatre
Theatre, 1st Edition 270mm x 215mm 88pp
Published by The Lost Light Recordings, 2020.
In 2014 Khan won a bursary to make imagery for an exhibition at The Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London, after which the Hospital Trust asked him to pitch for a new project. Initially his idea revolved around the politics of anti-privatization, a narrative that is still important to him. Gradually though, his approach became less overtly political and more transparently human, dealing with the strength and fragility that he witnessed on a daily basis.
He spent prolonged periods time assimilating to the environment. Shadowing Mark Bower, a consultant oncologist, he became aware of the emotional effects of hospital life that apply just as much to staff as patients. This observation suggested that the hierarchy that we might assume of hospital life is a fallacy. The reality is more like a mutual respect that eschews power dynamics in favour of a communal understanding.
From Strength and Fragility, by Jim Campbell.
1/5Portrait of Britain 2017
Portrait of Britain is an award-winning nationwide photography exhibition, run by British Journal of Photography in partnership with JCDecaux. The exhibition celebrates the rich tapestry of people that make up Great Britain, by turning their stories into public art.
Photographs © Christopher Bethell
1/2Shuffle Film Festival
Georgetown, awarded 1st Prize at Shuffle Film Festival 2014
Judges:
Danny Boyle
Clio Barnard
Sally El Hosaini
Dexter Fletcher
Photographs © Cameron Williamson & Elena Heatherwick
1/3FFWE, The Photographers’ Gallery
Georgetown, Fresh Faced + Wild Eyed
Established in 2008, the annual exhibition and competition Fresh Faced + Wild Eyed gives emerging talent the opportunity to exhibit their work at The Photographers’ Gallery. Showcasing the quality and breadth of graduate work from visual arts courses across the UK, the exhibition and relating programmes celebrate the innovative practices from a range of photographic fields.
Selected by a panel of photographic experts from different backgrounds, artist/photographers have the opportunity to work closely with the exhibitions team to develop their presentation within the exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery
Photographs © Kate Elliott
1/2Bonnington Festival
Georgetown, Screening at the Bonnington Festival.
Projection onto the wall of George's house.