Bank Street Gallery

Kim Cessford & Nael Hanna

In 2006 Kim Cessford and Nael Hanna met professionally. The photographer inevitably began to build a rapport with his subject, a local entrepreneur. But Hanna was to reveal himself as more than just a businessman. A talented and eminently collectible artist, originally from Iraq, his creativity forged the first bridge towards a friendship borne of creativity.

In 2014, Hanna and Cessford took their first foreign trip together. Destination Morocco; somehow they had successfully persuaded their families that the trip was essential, an elementary response to their constant need for inspiration (not to mention their penchant for a little warm weather during the inclemency of a Scottish summer)!

The pair continue to ply their many trades, diverting regularly to slake their own thirst to create. In this first show together, their work offers the poignancy of unidentified, alien portraits (Cessford’s images were all taken in Cuba at the time of Obama’s visit) and the mystery of the abstract landscape. Both men draw huge pleasure from their work. This is important. The well-being they experience in producing the final piece is tangible in the work itself. Give yourself a little time with the images and you too will benefit. The energy which flows from Hanna every day (his mind is like a whirlwind of activity) is caught in the brushstrokes of his work. Speed and a looseness in technique are there but so too is the humanity of the artist’s indecision; producing a reality in his abstraction.   Cessford’s affability is tangible in the pupils of his anonymous sitters. His lens is the foothold on a bridge that, if you let it, connects you to that other world.

There is a grounding in their respective representations of the world around them; a peace, an acceptance. Take time to stop before each and give yourself enough time to feel it. Ponder the distant tree or house; what is it you see just dipping behind the horizon?  Reflect on the connection of the spirit with the camera lens; what are those eyes telling us? It’s as if these images know that we can recognise their soul. Be still. Enjoy! We are all one people and one place.

this show runs from wednesday 22nd november 2017 to sunday 31st december 2017.