Gomma Photography Grant 2019
The Cracker
Photographer
Laura Pannack
The Cracker
02 Feb, 2022
Through a narrow alleyway you enter the Cracker ;rolling grass lined with blackberries and stinging nettles. Motorbikes, peds and quads bark loudly at all times. The boys race them until they burn out, perfecting the art of the wheelie. Horses are usually kept in the back gardens or local stables and are just as popular. On the adjacent side lies ‘The Lost City Estate’. Most of the boys meet at Jack Barrett’s bars (a metal fence that lies to the opening of the field). They perch and exchange stories, cigarettes and zoots alight referring to each other affectionately as ‘Mush’
About the photographer
Laura Pannack
Laura Pannack is a London-based photographic artist (b. 1985). Renowned for her portraiture and socially engaged documentary work, she explores the complex relationship between photographer and sitter. Many of her projects focus on youth and the passage of time, often working closely with adolescents while blending her interest in psychology with collaborative approaches involving practitioners and academics.Her work has been widely exhibited and published internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery, the Houses of Parliament, Somerset House, and the Royal Festival Hall in London.Over the past seventeen years her work has received significant recognition and numerous awards, including the John Kobal Award, the Vic Odden Award, World Press Photo Awards, the Julia Margaret Cameron Award, the Sony World Photography Awards, the HSBC Prix de la Photographie, and the Camera Clara Prize.Rooted in shared experience, Pannack uses the camera as a bridge, approaching her subjects with curiosity, openness, and a commitment to genuine connection. Driven by research-led, self-initiated projects, her long-term bodies of work evolve organically, allowing narratives to emerge over time. Working predominantly with analogue film, she embraces unpredictability, welcoming chance and intuition into her creative process.As the artist explains:“The work aims to tell and inspire stories. My aim is to connect and emotionally engage with a viewer. I want you to look at my images and see your own story too.”
