Facing up to the anxieties of adulthood, in pictures
- Text by Niall Flynn
- Photography by Tom Palluch (main image)
There comes a point in your life when birthdays cease to exist as exciting things, instead mutating into annual reminders of your own inescapable mortality.
As you sit there – you, an adult, yet still unable to cook every variation of egg – reading an email outlining your automatic enrolment in a company pension scheme, you realise that adulthood came for you. You are now, as they say, grown up. And it’s scary.
Showing Face, a new exhibition hosted by Berlin’s FK Kollektiv, investigates that very feeling. Bringing together the work of David Neman, Tom Palluch and Christian Kage. Curated by fellow photographer Jon Cuadros, the group show dives into the anxiety that comes with adulthood, presenting the notion that growing up isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
© Tom Palluch
© Christian Kage
“Adulthood will turn melancholic when all your dreams are fulfilled,” explains Palluch. “When your life is demystified to 100 per cent. Your horizon is so broaden that there is no horizon anymore. You can not find the freshness anymore. You have seen it all.”
Placing vibrant, colourful scenes alongside images in introspective monochrome, the work featured in Showing Face explores idea of loneliness, independence, ambition, prescribed masculinity and the loss of innocence.
© Tom Palluch
© David Neman
“In the end I say modern adulthood brings the best visions of horror and the sublime until our deathbed hallucinations kick in,” Cuadros says.
“I feel inspired to commiserate in this experience with my contemporaries. Some people run bars, I have access to a gallery space. To quote a friend: hell awaits us all, so let’s have fun with it.”
© Christian Kage
© David Neman
© David Neman
© David Neman
Showing Face is open to the public on 3 March and 9 March, 2017 at FotoKlub Kollektiv.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Kathy Shorr’s splashy portraits inside limousines
The Ride of a Lifetime — Wanting to marry a love of cars and photography, Kathy Shorr worked as a limousine driver in the ’80s to use as a studio on wheels. Her new photobook explores her archive.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square
Peep Man — Before its LED-beaming modern refresh, the Manhattan plaza was a hotbed for seedy transgression. A new memoir revisits its red light district heyday.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In a world of noise, IC3PEAK are finding radicality in the quiet
Coming Home — Having once been held up as a symbol of Russian youth activism and rebellion, the experimental duo are now living in exile. Their latest album explores their new reality.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?
One second closer to midnight — While the rolling news cycle, intensifying climate crisis and rapidly advancing technology can make it feel as if the end days are upon us, newsletter columnist Emma Garland remembers that things have always been terrible, and that is a natural part of human life.
Written by: Emma Garland
In a city of rapid gentrification, one south London estate stands firm
A Portrait of Central Hill — Social housing is under threat across the British capital. But residents of the Central Hill estate in Crystal Palace are determined to save their homes, and their community.
Written by: Alex King
Analogue Appreciation: Maria Teriaeva’s five pieces that remind her of home
From Sayan to Savoie — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. First up, the Siberian-born, Paris-based composer and synthesist.
Written by: Maria Teriaeva