Back In the Dazed Rankin 1991-2001: Looking back at the works that kickstarted the iconic magazine
One photographer and one magazine, across one memorable decade.
Back in the Dazed: Rankin 1991-2001, at 180 studios in The Strand until June 23, looks back at the works of John Rankin Waddell, known as Rankin, who launched the iconic magazine in the 90s.
From cult celebrities, to musical icons and the world’s top Supermodels, Rankin was at the forefront of Cool Britannia and the 90’s style which is still popular today.
Co-founder and first photographic editor of Dazed and Confused , Rankin said: “Those early years were great for experimentation. For me, just starting out, I was like a blank canvas.
“Because we were pretty naively fearless, we did things that ended up really changing culture.
“It was from that time that I learnt that I love what I do, and I fell in love with the people around me – capturing them all on medium format film.”
Across 10 years Rankin photographed more than 200 editorial shoots for the magazine.
Unafraid of mainstream pressures, with Dazed, Rankin spearheaded LGBTQIA+ representation, took his camera to the street to photograph working-class youth, became “the” photographer for Brit-pop bands, and created defining images of emerging cult actors.
Ellen Stone, curator of the exhibition, said: “To understand Rankin’s work you need not look any further than the pages of his first magazine, a printed record of his thoughts and reactions to the world around him.
“Think of your favourite young actor or pop star from the 1990s – invariably you are remembering a Rankin picture.”
Not an artist of rarefied tastes, Rankin handed notions of “high-culture” to everyday people.
Back in the Dazed is the first UK retrospective of Rankin’s works over this decade.
Rankin co-founded Dazed and Confused with Jefferson Hack in 1992, and has since published AnOther and AnOther Man, in 2011.
His work has appeared in more than 40 monograph publications and has been exhibited internationally, including at The National Portrait Gallery, V&A, and at MoMA in New York.
Visit 180 Studios in The Strand before June 23 to catch Back in the Dazed: Rankin 1991-2001. Tickets are available from: 180studios.com/rankin
Pictured top: Kate Moss, What’s The First Word That Comes Into Your Head, Dazed & Confused, Issue 43, 1998 (Picture: Rankin)
