Upon This Rock by Rene Matic - Photobook

Marielle Begic

My project is a photobook consisting of the photography by British artist Rene Matic. The pictures are from a publication at their exhibition ‘Upon This Rock’ that took place in South London Gallery 2022. The artist strives to pay homage to the multicultural roots of the skinheads through everyday photos from their perspective as a black, non-binary person who was raised into the culture. I designed this photobook in order to highlight an often unseen view on this subculture, which for Matic is about the love for reggae music, fellowship and diaspora. As a graphic designer I want to add to the discourse by encouraging interesting points of view like Matic’s in the media I create. The aim of the photobook is to encourage the viewer to question their learned biases about the skinhead culture as well as let the photos talk for themselves, with the use of simple, traditional grid design structures.
Copyright: Rene Matic, Arcadia Missa publications, Andy Stagg (exhibition photography).