Exploring a rich dialogue between drawing and photography, Cast is a major exhibition of newly commissioned work by British artist Dryden Goodwin.

Featuring people travelling through the public spaces of London’s West End, Goodwin’s portraits catch strangers engrossed in private moments of quiet reflection. Physically intervening with the image through animation and drawing, the artist disrupts the stalled nature of the photograph, which he describes as a way of ‘thinking into the photograph’.

This ambitious exhibition includes five new series of work. In Cradle, Goodwin etches onto the photographs, covering faces with web-like markings. In Caul, membranes of red lines are drawn digitally onto the images. These marks suggest a touch or caress, both revealing and partially protecting each individual. Rock and Shapeshifter animate photographs and drawings while in Casting he places photographs and drawings side by side.

Goodwin selects titles for his work that hold many possible meanings, mirroring the layered and ambiguous nature of the work. The five series reflect a fearful society where public spaces are increasingly watched, yet also aspire to create empathy with strangers in our urban spaces.

Dryden Goodwin (b. 1971) lives and works in London. He graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1996 and has exhibited nationally and internationally.

The series in this exhibition were co-commissioned by The Photographers’ Gallery and Photoworks.

A significant monograph was published, in collaboration between Photoworks, The Photographers’ Gallery and Steidl.