The Face Magazine: Culture Shift

Pretentious exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery looking at the style magazine The Face.

The magazine ran from 1984 to 2004 and the blurb says it "played a vital role in creating contemporary culture". I'm afraid hadn't been part of my personal culture although I did recognise a number of the iconic images from it.

The show emphasised the role of the photographers for the magazine both of celebrities and fashion and most pictures were accompanied by a quote from the photographer and I quite liked that geeky aspect of it.

However I would have liked to have had a bit more information on the subjects of the pictures both the people and the clothes. The show was party a reflection of the history of a twenty year period but I felt that could have been brought out more.

I did go on the members' preview day so I will give it another try and might take a friend to see the reaction of someone of a similar age to me. Maybe I'm just not ready for my 20s to be displayed as history!

Closes 18 May 2025


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