There’s an image Hannah Starkey describes as her calling card, and it’s displayed at the entrance to her exhibition. Made in May 1997, it shows a young woman in a cafe with her hand on a mirror; initially it seems as if she is looking at herself, but on closer inspection she’s holding a moth against the glass. An older woman wearing rollers is caught in the reflection, looking on from the sidelines.
Starkey, who was born in Belfast in 1971, made this image as part of her final show at the Royal College of Art, so it’s interesting it’s still so important to her. But then Starkey’s final show was an overnight success and this image still represents her work. Over the last 25 years, Starkey has focused on images of women in public spaces, picturing them in moments often otherwise overlooked. Starkey also considers photographs themselves, and our tendency to see them as windows on reality. The image of the young woman in the cafe was set up, as is most of her work.
