New Balance 1890 on Film, Part 2: One Night at Gallery Noir

New Balance 1890 on Film, Part 2: One Night at Gallery Noir

In Part 1, we told you how four photographers, soaptwo, Adriandglez, Souloner and Rocío Aguirre, each took three pairs of the New Balance 1890 and three rolls of analog film and shot them in their own way. The work needed a proper room, so for the launch we went back to Malasaña.

Last Thursday, October 1st, we took over Espacio Amen, a few streets from where the first NOIRFONCE store opened, and renamed it Gallery Noir for the night. Coming back to the neighborhood where we started made the evening feel less like a product launch and more like a homecoming, with the shoes as the excuse and the photographs as the reason to be there.

Four Bodies of Work

Gallery Noir presented the full body of work from each photographer, so visitors could move from one way of seeing the 1890 to the next. Seeing the four series side by side made the point of the project clearer than any brief could: the same three pairs and the same amount of film, and four results that barely resemble one another. Different formats lined the wall; 100x130 size prints directly on the wall, framed prints, or even contact sheets on the far wall that hadn't fully been processed with editor notes on them. 

We also gave away the books, which collect the photographers' work in print so that guests could take the project home with them. For a project shot entirely on film, ending up on paper felt like the natural place for it to land.

A Room Full of Photographers

The space filled up quickly, and what made us proudest was who came. Some of the best photographers in the city were there, including Lucía Lamata, Kickssoul and Jeosm, along with many others who have shaped the photography scene in Madrid. Having the four photographers' work looked at by their peers gave the evening a different energy from a typical launch, closer to an opening than a release.

It also brought us back to the question Part 1 left open: does creative liberty really exist? Talking it through with people who spend their lives making images, in front of work made under the same constraints, was the best possible place to keep that conversation going. 

Thank You

This was an incredible project with incredible talent, and none of it would have happened without the trust of New Balance, the eyes of soaptwo, Adriandglez, Souloner and Rocío Aguirre, and everyone who came through the doors of Gallery Noir that night. We set out to launch three shoes and ended up with four bodies of work, a set of books and a conversation about creative freedom that we'll keep having.

The New Balance 1890 White, Black and Slate Grey are available now at NOIRFONCE, online and in store. If you missed the start of the story, read Part 1.

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