Julian Germain (1962 – ) is a British photographer who studied at Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham and the Royal College of Art in London.

His work For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness features images of Charlie Snelling taken over and eight year period from April 1992 until Snelling’s death in 2000. Germain met Snelling when he passed his house on his way to photograph a football match in Portsmouth. Intrigued by the brightly coloured yellow and orange house with plants, shells and things found on the beach for sale in the front window, Germain stopped to buy some items and arranged with the owner, Snelling, to pick them up after the game. This chance encounter developed into an eight year friendship as Germain returned to visit and photograph this elderly gentleman living on his own.

As Germain states on his website:

Charlie was a simple, gentle, man. He loved flowers and the names of flowers. He loved colour and surrounded himself with colour. He loved his wife. Without ever trying or intending to, he showed me that the most important things in life cost nothing at all. He was my antidote to modern living.

Julian Germain – http://www.juliangermain.com

The work reminds me of The day-to-day life of Albert Hastings by Kaylynn Devenny. Both series documented the everyday lives of elderly man living on their own up until their death. The slight difference between the two series are how the subjects contirbuted to the work. In Devenny’s series Hasting’s contributed hand written titles of to the images whereas Germain’s work includes pictures of photograph albums which contained images taken by Snelling. I think that part of the attraction of both series is that the subjects were not just being documented but that they also contributed to the work, making it more personal.

The above shot was chosen by Julian Germain in The Guardian’s My best shot feature in October 2013. Germain explains how they met and how spending time with Charlie Snelling was a kind of therapy and in an interview published on American Suburb X in 2005, Germain explains how he used to travel from Northumberland to Portsmount every few months to visit Snelling.

In the course notes it states ‘Although you might not have this luxury, an investment of time with potential subjects is always of benefit to any proposed photographic project.’ Whilst this is a statement of the obvious I think it is especially true in light of the recent changes Academic Regulatory Framework changes which have reduced the length of time students have to complete individual modules and the overall course.

Sources

Germain, J. (2005). Julian Germain “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness” project. [online] Juliangermain.com. Available at: http://www.juliangermain.com/projects/foreveryminute.php [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

Malone, T. (2013). Julian Germain’s best photograph: Charlie in his kitchen stirring the gravy. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/oct/02/julian-germain-best-photograph [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

ASX, E. (2005). In Conversation with Julian Germain (2005). [online] AMERICAN SUBURB X. Available at: https://americansuburbx.com/2010/09/interview-in-conversation-with-julian.html [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].