At lunchtime today I headed over to the Brighton CraneKalman gallery to view the Brighton Photography Fringe exhibition Michael Ormerod: States of America. The exhibition is described as

The first exhibition in nearly a decade for one of British photography’s most powerful and distinctive voices whose career was tragically cut short in a road accident in 1991. Fascinated by the American image, Ormerod took to the Mid-West to find a land where the American Dream had turned sour. His images capture a strange juxtaposition of an American beauty tainted by a hidden sense of menace and corruption. ‘States of America’ was published shortly after he died.

There were three stand out images for me, all for different reasons:

Girl Blowing Bubble Gum I liked for the quality of the light, and the beautiful range of colours reproduced (the version on the web page linked to here doesn't do it justice).  This is my favourite of the ones on display

Planning Board  I like because it appealed to my sense of the temporary and unique 

 Man and Arrow I like again because of the light, but also because the arrow is just mad, is colour coordinated with the man's hat and dominates the landscape

The book that this exhibition is based on is available at the gallery (or on Amazon - see States of America ).  I managed to walk away without buying a copy today, but I can't help but wonder how many more books will be sitting on my Photography Bookshelf by the end of the month.

The exhibition is definitely worth a visit if you're passing, and as I popped into the Iydea cafe to pick up some lunch, there were The Daily Swim photos on the wall too, so you can easily combine two exhibitions in just a short walk down Kensington Gardens.