Jim Mortram
Mortram (born 10 September 1971) is a British social documentary photographer and writer, based in Dereham, Norfolk. His ongoing project using photography and writing, Small Town Inertia, records the lives of a number of disadvantaged and marginalised people living near to his home, in order to tell stories he believes are under-reported. This work is published on his website, in a few zines published in 2013, and in the book Small Town Inertia (2017).
Also recorded as J.A. Mortram
Jim Mortram
- Born
- 1971 · England.
- Occupation
- photographer
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Mortram (born 10 September 1971) is a British social documentary photographer and writer, based in Dereham, Norfolk. His ongoing project using photography and writing, Small Town Inertia, records the lives of a number of disadvantaged and marginalised people living near to his home, in order to tell stories he believes are under-reported. This work is published on his website, in a few zines published in 2013, and in the book Small Town Inertia (2017).
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wikidata · Q29589008 · wikipedia · Jim Mortram
In this article
Small Town Inertia
Small Town Inertia
Mortram began the Small Town Inertia website in 2006 with the "Market Town" stories. Its name is a reference to the market town of Dereham, where he lives, fifteen miles west of the city of Norwich in Norfolk. Through photography, his writing and the subject's own words, Mortram records the lives of the disadvantaged and marginalised, making repeated visits with a number of people living within three miles of his home. Small Town Inertia tells stories of "isolation, poverty, drug abuse, homelessness, self-harm, mental illness, juvenile crime, and epilepsy", that Mortram believes are otherwise under-reported. Dave Stelfox wrote in The Guardian that "Mortram's rich, black-and-white images possess a timeless quality that invites easy comparison with the classic documentary work of such British photographers as Chris Steele Perkins, Paul Trevor and Chris Killip."
Zines by Mortram
Zines by Mortram
• Electric Tears and All Their Portent. Southport: Café Royal, 2013. Edition of 150 copies. • Living with Epilepsy. Southport: Café Royal, 2013. Edition of 150 copies. • Small Town Inertia: Diary Entries. Southport: Café Royal, 2013. Edition of 150 copies. With a short text by George Szirtes. • Second edition. Southport: Café Royal, 2022. • Small Town Inertia: Diary Entries 2. Southport: Café Royal, 2022. With a short essay by Michael Sheen.
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
• Small Town Inertia, Bank Street Arts, Sheffield, 2013; Photoville, New York City, 2013; Red Light Gallery, Norwich, 2013; Arts Centre, Edge Hill University, Liverpool, 2014; Camden Image Gallery, Camden, London, 2014; Side Gallery, Newscastle, 2019
Publications by Mortram
Publications by Mortram
• Small Town Inertia. Liverpool: Bluecoat. With a poem by Jamie Thrashivoulou, "A Privatised Map of Deprivation", and essays by Paul Mason, "A Memento of the Dark Times", and Lewis K. Bush, "A War of Poverty". Hardback, 2017;. Paperback, 2018;.
Publications with contributions by Mortram
Publications with contributions by Mortram
• Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained. Oxford: Focal, 2014. By Grant Scott.. With contributions from Mortram, Alicia Bruce, Peter Dench, Chris Floyd, and Niall McDiarmid.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Jim Mortram”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q29589008: Jim Mortram
General reference · Wikidata
Awards
• 2013: one of twenty photographers credited by the British Journal of Photography as "Ones to Watch" in 2013
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."About" . Facebook. Accessed 23 April 2017
- 2.Stelfox, Dave. 'I photograph people who don't have a voice': Jim Mortram's Norfolk portraits. The Guardian. 19 February 2014.
- 3.Coomes, Phil. Jim Mortram's Small Town Inertia. BBC News. 27 September 2012.
- 4.Amateur Photographer. Metering masterclass: achieving perfect exposures in different lighting conditions. 23 July 2016.
- 5.Abraham, Amelia. Café Royal Publish Exactly One Great Photobook Every Week. Vice. 25 November 2014.
- 6.McGuinness, Ross. Photographer Jim Mortram gives new voice to marginalised in Market Town. Metro. 25 Jul 2012.
- 7.Electric Tears and All Their Portent in the Café Royal Books archive.
- 8.Living with Epilepsy in the Café Royal Books archive.
- 9.Small Town Inertia: Diary Entries in the Café Royal Books archive.
- 10.Small Town Inertia: Diary Entries 2 in the Café Royal Books archive.
- 11.Small Town Inertia – Jim Mortram | Bank Street Arts.
- 12.Small Town Inertia.
- 13.Gareth. Small Town Inertia. Open College of the Arts. 8 January 2013.
- 14.Photoville. Small Town Inertia.
- 15.Edge Hill University. Exhibition – Small Town Inertia.
- 16.Camden Image Gallery. Jim Mortram 28 August 3 September 2014 Dead link. April 2017.
- 17.J A Mortram: Small Town Inertia. Amber Film & Photography Collective.
- 18.Q&A: JA Mortram on his ten-year project Small Town Inertia. British Journal of Photography. 7 January 2019.
- 19.Ones to Watch: Jim Mortram. 160. 7808. 50–51. 2013.
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