Artist research - Bill Ray
When Bill Ray first began this project, he spent at least a month shadowing the San Bernardin Hell’s Angels biking group. The photographs that he took were created to symbolise the carefree lifestyle that these individuals had. It was also said that during this project Bill Ray became quite close to one of the female bikers. The women in the series of images became quite iconic. The main aspect that Bill Ray liked about the female bikers was their appearance, they were not there against their will, they chose to be there; on the back of the bike with the man that they were riding with. The portraits that Bill Ray created were very insightful into the biking community, displaying themes such as “outlaw culture” and “explicit criminality”.
The work of Bill Ray is an inspiration for my current project, whereby I am looking at the female biking community, and how this community has evolved over time; starting out as being the “Old ladies” (as they refer to the female pillion riders), to then starting to ride their own bikes. Now in more recent years we even have all female biking groups being created all over the world. This is a subject that I am very passionate about as I myself am a pillion rider and possibly future female biker. I also want the images that I take to display a significant meaning within them and to show the importance of community within the biking world. Throughout this project I will be working closely with the Plymouth female biking group; “The Litas” and taking portraits of them with their bikes, I will also be looking to work with black and white film, in a similar style to Bill Ray.
The work of Bill Ray is an inspiration for my current project, whereby I am looking at the female biking community, and how this community has evolved over time; starting out as being the “Old ladies” (as they refer to the female pillion riders), to then starting to ride their own bikes. Now in more recent years we even have all female biking groups being created all over the world. This is a subject that I am very passionate about as I myself am a pillion rider and possibly future female biker. I also want the images that I take to display a significant meaning within them and to show the importance of community within the biking world. Throughout this project I will be working closely with the Plymouth female biking group; “The Litas” and taking portraits of them with their bikes, I will also be looking to work with black and white film, in a similar style to Bill Ray.
