There’s something wrong with the photography of Joachim Brohm, and we mean that in the nicest, or at least most interesting, way; each image contains at least one small element that suggests a somewhat distressed undercurrent in even the most ostensibly pleasant scene. Of course at times he just comes right out with it, like in the case of On Fire. No need to search too hard for the problem in that one.

Brohm has been documenting disorder for more than 30 years, and was a pioneer of the European adoption of colour photography in the 1970s. Places and Edges, a retrospective of his career to date, centres on his Culatra series taken between 2008 and 2010. Named after the small, sparsely-populated Portuguese island on which the photographs were taken, Brohm is true to form in exposing man-made decay and a sense of melancholic abandonment on the seemingly idyllic island of white sand and blue seas. The exhibition is being held until 11th May at the Brancolini Grimaldi gallery, London.

© Joachim Brohm, Boat #1,
courtesy Brancolini Grimaldi

© Joachim Brohm, Backyard,
courtesy Brancolini Grimaldi

© Joachim Brohm, Grand Prix,
courtesy Brancolini Grimaldi

© Joachim Brohm, Tractor #1,
courtesy Brancolini Grimaldi

© Joachim Brohm, Garden,
courtesy Brancolini Grimaldi