Photographs by Julian Germain

The ongoing series of Generations portraits grew out of the earlier ‘Face of the Century’ project, engaging with similar themes concerning the life cycle, the ageing process, human biology, characteristics and questions of nature and nurture. It specifically and sequentially records direct biological lines of descent.

“Photography captures a single moment in time. But the work of Julian Germain succeeds in raising questions about time passing which bring together past, future and present within the single image. He has succeeded in using portraiture to explore the particular and the specific in a way that eloquently poses questions about the life of every viewer, sending us away moved and challenged. His work explores not just the individual lifespan from birth to death, but also the context of family and society, which gives meaning to personal stories.”

Tom Shakespeare. Archive Magazine, 2005

…Julian Germain not only tries to capture the people but also the transient nature of all things. It is photography as photography was meant to be, exactly how the medium is used best: for producing, in process form – somewhat melancholic – time-related documents, flashbacks, memories made visible. Photos that elevate the personal lives of those photographed and bring to mind questions that confront all of us at some time in our lives: where do I come from, and where am I going?”

Merel Bem, FOAM, 2006

“The group portraits are made within the home, featuring one individual from each generation, arranged in age order, skilfully framed and balanced against the clean lines of a mantelpiece or the softer curves of a sofa or dramatic pair of curtains. The composition of a family is a constellation and inevitably holds multiple tensions and joys within it. Germain is cautious of his work being used to propose a romantic notion of family. He notes that families “have a tremendous hold over our feelings and the connections we make, but as well as being supportive and loving they can sometimes be stifling or dysfunctional too.” Families, are for many of us, relatable and this makes the long exposure photographs that Germain produces rich and compelling. Further, these are documents of this moment in history, cultural and social records of family samples and domestic spaces from across Britain, and the portraits are a recognition of the family unit as something that is greater and more layered than the sum of its parts.”

Anneke French, Photomonitor, 2022