Vinca Petersen Explained

Vinca Petersen (born 1973)^{[1] [2]} is a British photographer and artist, living on the Isle of Skye.^[3] Her photography book No System documents her life in the 1990s, travelling around Europe with sound systems, putting on free parties. Petersen's work has been shown in group exhibitions at Tate Modern, Turner Contemporary and Saatchi Gallery, and is held in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum,^[4] National Portrait Gallery, London^[5] and Arts Council Collection.^[6]

Life and work

Petersen was born in Seoul, South Korea.^[1] She lived in Romania and Sweden and then moved to the UK with her family at age six.^[1] She started taking photographs at about age 7.^[7] In 1989 she left home, aged seventeen, and moved into a squat in London.^{[2] [8]} She worked as a model, appearing in i-D and The Face.^[1]

In 1994 Petersen bought a campervan.^[1] Between then and 2004, she travelled around Europe with various sound systems, putting on free parties.^[1] She occasionally returned to London for modeling work.^[1] While on the road she made diaristic photographs, encouraged by her friend the photographer Corinne Day.^{[1] [2]} Photographs from this period in the 1990s were collected in the book No System (1999).^{[2] [7] [9] [10]} The work is distinctive for its proximity to the subject; photography by people within the rave scene at the time was uncommon, with cameras discouraged due to the illegal nature of some activities.^{[8] [11]}

Drawing from her archive, Future Fantasy (2017) is a collection of photographs from Petersen's life aged 16 to 24 as well as flyers, love letters and other ephemera. It also includes photographs by Day of Petersen, and artwork by Ben Freeman (AKA Ben Ditto).^{[11] [12] [13]}

Deuce and a Quarter (2018) documents a US road trip that Petersen made with Day, Rosemary Ferguson and Susie Babchick in 1999.^[14] They drove a 1970s Buick Electra 225 from Houston to Austin, through the Texas Hill Country, down to the Mexican border and beyond.^[15] The book's title is street lingo for the Electra 225.^[15]

she lived in Ramsgate,^[1] where she co-founded a social art charity, Future Youth Project (FYP).^[16] she lived on the Isle of Skye.^[3]

Publications

• No System. Göttingen: Steidl, 1999. Photographs, letters, diary entries and notes by Petersen. Edited by Michael Mack. .
  • London: Mack, 2020. .
• Future Fantasy. London: Ditto, 2017. Photographs, flyers, letters and other ephemera by Petersen, with photographic contributions by Corinne Day, and artwork by Ben Freeman.^[11]
  • London: Ditto, 2019. Edition of 1150 copies.^{[13] [17]}
• Deuce and a Quarter. London: IDEA, 2018. Photographs by Petersen. Edition of 1000 copies.^{[14] [18]}

Group exhibitions

• Sweet Harmony: Rave | Today, Saatchi Gallery, London, 2019. Included Petersen's A Life of Subversive Joy.^{[2] [7] [19]}
• Seaside Photographed, Turner Contemporary, Margate, 2019^[1]
• Diaristic Photography and the Photobook, Tate Modern, London, 2019^[16]

Collections

Petersen's work is held in the following permanent collection:

• Arts Council Collection, UK^[6]
• National Portrait Gallery, London

1 print (as of 30 December 2022)^[5]

• Victoria and Albert Museum, London: 4 prints (as of September 2020)^[4]

External links

• • "Sofa Sessions: Conversations with Martin Parr - Vinca Petersen" at YouTube
• "Vinca Petersen reminisces about good times with Corinne Day in 90s London"

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2020-09-04. A candid look at the '90s rave scene through the eyes of a female photographer. Vogue India. 6 July 2019.
2. Web site: Frankie. Dunn. 2020-09-04. witness the unseen side of 90s rave culture. 15 July 2019. i-D.
3. https://edelassanti.com/usr/library/documents/main/vinca-petersen-cv-2022.pdf
4. Web site: 2020-09-04. Search the Collections. Victoria and Albert Museum.
5. Web site: 2022-12-30. Vinca Petersen - National Portrait Gallery. www.npg.org.uk.
6. Web site: 2022-12-30. Announcing Our New Acquisitions 2021-22 - Arts Council Collection. artscouncilcollection.org.uk.
7. Web site: 2020-09-04. Belle. Hutton. The Story of Vinca Petersen's Cult (and Now Re-Published) Book, No System. 14 May 2020. AnOther.
8. Web site: 2020-09-04. Sheryl. Garratt. Meet the photographer who chronicled the raves of '90s-era Europe. 8 September 2016. Aperture Foundation NY.
9. News: Tim. Adams. 2020-09-04. The big picture: a pre-millennium party animal. The Guardian. 26 July 2020. 0261-3077.
10. Web site: 2020-09-04. Capturing ten years of Europe's illegal raves. 4 August 2015. Dazed.
11. Web site: 2020-09-04. Claire. Marie Healy. Unseen, unreal moments from the diaries of a 90s raver. 7 December 2017. Dazed.
12. Web site: 2020-09-06. Vinca Petersen reminisces about good times with Corinne Day in 90s London. Hero.
13. Web site: 2020-09-04. Modelling, Raving and Squatting: Vinca Petersen's Diary of the 1990s. AnotherMan. 3 June 2019 .
14. Web site: 2020-09-04. Four Women and a 'Deuce and a Quarter': A 1999 Roadtrip, in Photographs. 1 October 2018. AnOther.
15. Web site: Imogen. Clark. 2021-02-12. Glass reviews Deuce and a Quarter by Vinca Petersen – The Glass Magazine. 19 November 2018 .
16. Web site: 2020-09-04. Vinca. Petersen. Vinca Petersen: the roads that made me. Financial Times.
17. Web site: 2020-09-04. Future Fantasy. Ditto.
18. Web site: 2020-09-04. Vinca Petersen Deuce and a Quarter. IDEA Store.
19. Web site: 2020-09-04. "You Were Really Part of Something": Vinca Petersen Remembers the Rave Days. 12 July 2019. AnOther.