Toy Soldiers by Simon Thorpe

Metro is thrilled to be supporting Simon Brann Thorpe in his first UK solo exhibition, Toy Soldiers, which opens at the Hospital Club Gallery, London. Metro has produced Vinyl prints and large C-type prints for the exhibition which provokes a dialogue on war and conflict, through conceptual art.

At this critical time of socio-economic conflict and upheaval, Toy Soldiers blurs the boundaries between documentary photography and art as Thorpe uses real soldiers, posing as toy soldiers to shine a light upon the impact, legacy and dehumanizing effects of war.

Recently receiving two nominations for the Prix Pictet Award, Toy Soldiers is a unique collaboration between a military commander and Thorpe in the creation of a unique allegory of modern warfare. Through the project Thorpe creates a critical lens through which we view the projected metaphor of war games and reality re-constructed onto the little known conflict in Western Sahara, known as ‘Africa’s last colony’.

Sofia Vollmer Maduro, a Prix Pictet judge, comments, “By captivating the viewer with the seemingly playful device of ‘Toy Soldiers’, Simon’s images successfully counteract our growing desensitisation to images of conflict. Upon careful viewing, these striking images reveal their poignant message on the fate of victims of warfare, while alerting us to the impact on society of current trends that view war as a game.”

Toy Soldiers is exhibited as part of Photo London, a world-class photography fair and a catalyst for London’s dynamic photography community. Running between 18th and 21st May 2017, Photo London harnesses the city’s outstanding creative talent and brings together the world’s leading photographers, curators, exhibitors, dealers and the public to celebrate photography, the medium of our time. Incorporating venues including the capital’s major museums, auction houses, galleries large and small, right into the burgeoning creative communities in the East End and South London it is a must for photography lovers and creators.

The Hospital Club, 24, Endell Street, London, WC2H 9HQ

Exhibition dates: 19th – 21st May 2017
Opening times: Mon – Fri: 7am – 2am; Saturday: 8am – 2am; Sunday: 8am – 9pm

For more information about the exhibition
For more information about Simon Brann Thorpe
For information & full Photo London programme details

Images ©SimonBrannThorpe

1. Flag Raising Over Western Sahara
2. Dormant Soldier #17
3. LemTailene Road to Nowhere

We offer the following types of printing

Partial photo of a face covered in hundres and thousands printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper which is available in both gloss and a semi matt finish.

C Type Professional Photo Printing

We have been printing the highest quality C-Type prints for decades and digital C-Types produced on our Lambda have the archival and tonal benefits of traditional photographic papers, with the advantages of digital photo printing. C-Types are a conventional photographic print from a digital file, and as such is the most suitable option when printing a colour photograph.

Printing linking you through to our giclee printing service.

Fine Art Giclée Printing

We have Hahnemuhle and Canson Giclée Certified Studio staus and with over 30 years experience in photographic printing we use the most advanced inkjet technologies. Giclée is a gallery-quality inkjet print onto fine art watercolour paper. This is most suitable for art illustrations, but can also be used for colour and B&W photographs.

This a picture take of a very large black and white ilford fibre based print of two people.

Black & White Printing

We have worked in collaboration with Harman Technology to develop genuine B&W silver gelatin Fibre-Based and Resin-Coated photographic prints from digital files. The Resin-Coated is suitable for most types of B&W printing, and Fibre-Based is ideal for exhibition quality.

Picture of a Duratran. Duratrans are a real chromogenic print on translucent material and are then mounted on lightboxes.

Duratran Printing

We produce Duratrans at a quality level unmatched by anything else out there. Duratrans have to be lit from behind, so need to be mounted in a rear lit display, or we can produce led lightboxes, which are conventional photo frames containing the Duratran and led panel.

Metro called it Direct to Media. Essentially this is a UV printing machine that can produce very large, up to 3m x 2m prints on any flat material less than 10cm thick. So we can print on wood, metal, slate and pretty much anything you can think of.

Direct to Media Printing

Direct to media printing is exactly that; we print your image directly to a substrate of your choice. Be it paper, card, aluminium, Perspex, canvas, wood, slate… Our Jetrix UV inkjet flatbed printer can print on any flat surface up to 3m x 2m, less than 10cm thick. To ensure your material is suitable, we can print test prints around A4 in size.

This is a print on adhesive vinyl. The vinyl is on a roll and 1.2m wide, but it can printed in multiple pieces in order to cover a wall.

Vinyl Printing

Vinyl Phototex is chosen for its high-quality Giclée finish as well as its ease of application to wall or mounting material due to its self-adhesive properties. We can print on vinyl using our direct to media printer, in strips of 1.5m x 3m and these can be applied to the wall in the fashion of wallpaper to cover a complete wall or interior.