Assessment Submission Statement

Submission Summary

• Learning Log menu on the left for all coursework, assignments and research
• Printed submission for Assignments 1, 2 and 5 contained in A3+ black print box
• Assignment 3 eBook can be found at: http://online.pubhtml5.com/roqo/qfzt/
• Assignment 4 essay, tutor reports and this summary statement on GDrive

Submission Statement

On reviewing my progress in this module I realised how much of myself is contained within it. I suppose all artistic work incorporates an unconscious bias in terms of the subjects conveyed and the presentation style. However, on commencing the course I thought the main challenge of photography was to capture something in a way not seen before. There is an element of that but I have realised, through the two modules I have studied to date, the creative possibilities of conveying feelings and narratives.

In Two Sides of the Story I gave away my political allegiance. In Photographing the Unseen I dug into my past presenting to the outside world aspects previously only known to close family. I wasn’t brave enough to be seen in Putting Yourself in the Picture but allowed the viewer in to my home and to see my pastimes. My childhood returned for Reading Photographs in the form of Abelardo Morell’s Toy Horse. My present self came to the fore in Making It Up where the lens captured a contemplative moment.

I surprised myself with the personal nature of the assignment submissions especially as the syllabus began with documentary, which I had initially seen as presenting someone else’s story. As I progressed through Photographing the Unseen I chose myself as the subject in Can You See Me Now as an alternative to choosing generic subjects such as the environment or capitalism. This was a difficult decision to bring my past in to the present but it felt like the right thing to do at this time in my life. This was an important and influential step in producing my final piece, Out of Time, for the Making it Up assignment.

Although rework was not applicable for my first assignment, tutor feedback emphasised the need to concentrate on delivering the intention. The second assignment was well received by my tutor. I removed the superfluous captions as my tutor felt the story was already contained within each image. Unfortunately I went to the other extreme on assignment three, resulting in what my tutor described as an unclear narrative. Adding a textual device and varying the layout of the eBook improved this aspect. The addition of a proper title, 21st Century Man, added further context to the submission. My critical essay The Colours of Childhood required a lot of research and the writing of many drafts. The reworked version was improved by removing a 19th century reference and instead expanding on a 1980s Paul Graham reference contemporaneous with the image being analysed.

Early on in the course I had discounted researching my tutor’s recommendations. I looked at them but none were inspiring me to the extent of putting in my time and energy. When my tutor recommended Peter Fraser, however, I started to see the value in researching work that I didn’t understand or like. This was most evident with Nigel Shafran’s Washing Up series. I was initially critical of this work but chose a similar mundane approach for assignment three. This helped me understand the decisions and difficulties in producing images of this type. Gregory Crewdson and Teun Hocks were major influences for my final assignment image where I combined a cinematic psychological scene with a self-portrait.

I feel my emergence in to view at the end of this module mirrors my progression as a photography student. Gaining the skills and confidence to direct models and actors will be my next challenge.

Hay on the Highway – Henrik Duncker and Yrjö Tuunanen

Hay on the Highway (1993) – Henrik Duncker

Henrik Duncker (born August 27, 1963 in Helsinki) is a Finnish photographer.
Yrjö Tuunanen (born: Unknown)

Hay on the Highway (Dunker and Tuunanen, 1993) is student joint venture studying farming methods, communities and families in Finland between 1991 and 1993.

 ‘A joint project with Yrjö Tuunanen, benefiting from the studies on interactive documentary methods. Countryside / farming family portraits from the time when Finns contemplating joining the EU. Shown 25 times in 11 countries, starting from Helsinki in 1993. Won the first price of The European Photography Award 1993.’ (Henrik Duncker Photography).

I have read in another OCA Students blog (Middlehurst, 2016) is a self published book containing the authors’ photography degree submission.

This project was suggested to me by my tutor so I knew that it must be significant in some way. To find out that this was a 25 year old student project surprised me. It was relatively easy to find a used copy of the book but there was very little additional information available on the internet. The only one I could find was by a fellow OCA student, possibly as a result of the same research suggestion.

This was the first time I have analysed work that has not already been the subject of art critics and authors. In all other cases I have been influenced by these texts and the documented opinions. Knowing this was early experimental work makes a huge difference to reviewing the later work of established art photographers. With these you may not like it or understand it but you know they are respected by enough people in the art world to appreciate that there is value in it.

As a result Hay on the Highway has been one of the most challenging reviews I have done. The project is split in two halves…the first part is the work of Tuunanen and the second half is Duncker’s images. Although their study is about farmers and their families it is unclear if the two collaborated on any of it. It is likely that this is equivalent to two OCA students self-publishing their Square Mile assignments.

Hay on the Highway (1993) – Yrjö Tuunanen

Tuunanen uses the same device, a stage scenery arch, across the majority of his images. There is a foreground subject and a background scene seen through the arch. The initial images have an odd use of depth of focus and motion blur. I am unable to understand the use of it as it appears to be more of a mistake but is included as a demonstration of learning. I say that because some of the later images are well composed and constructed with warmth and humour.

Duncker’s images are far stronger in terms of conveying a sense of being there and pondering what is going through the minds of the subjects portrayed. There are some less interesting images which I found to be the ones that include the ‘normal’ snapshot type subjects…the ones that could be your mum or nan. Most have a surreal element but the set would be stronger if there was a consistency in the use of subjects, props and overall visual style and tone.

For example the following two images have a very different quality in the final colour tone. In some ways the blandness of the ‘grain on the floor’ scene detracts from that surreal motif. It is also flat due to the dominance of the single side light whereas the more successful ones have depth by use of multiple rooms allowing additional light sources.

Hay on the Highway (1993) – Henrik Duncker

Hay on the Highway (1993) – Henrik Duncker

The subject of farming leading up to the Finnish 1994 EU referendum is an interesting one and one that I have covered more directly using polling stations. Hay on the Highway has chosen to be more subtle by studying a specific community who will be impacted no matter what the result was going to be.

The book is in Finnish and English and uses a strange mix of coloured text and type face. In some places I am not sure if there are real printing mistakes as text disappears under the page fold. Nevertheless, it has a striking visual aesthetic. The only similar books I can think of are Phaidon’s surveys, such as Paul Graham (Graham, 1996), that vary the font size across chapers to distinguish the survey chapters from interviews and essays.

References:

Dunker, H and Tuunanen, Y (1993). Hay on the Highway. Finland: Musta Aukko

Graham. P (1996) Paul Graham. London: Phaidon Press

Henrik Duncker Photography At: http://www.henrikduncker.com/series/hay-on-the-highway/ (Accessed 25 March 2018)

Middlehurst, S (2016) A4 / A5 Research: Henrik Duncker and Yrjö Tuunanen, Hay on the Highway At: https://stevemiddlehurstidentityandplace.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/a4-research-henrik-duncker-and-yrjo-tuunanen-hay-on-the-highway/ (Accessed 25 March 2018)

Red Saunders

William Cuffay and the London Chartists, 1842 by Red Saunders (2014)

Red Saunders is a professional photographer who combines his photographic practice with cultural, artistic, musical, and political activism. (RED Saunders, 2018). He started out as a photographic apprentice, then as photographers assistant and then branching out on his own. His work includes images for Sunday Times supplement, advertising imagery and a lot of political and social projects across the world. He is also involved in film production and has directed films and advertising campaigns.

Saunders is a political activist and was a co-founder of ‘Rock Against Racism’ in 1976 as a response to racial antagonistic comments from influential musicians at the time. On that occasion his creative output led to a concert but his more recent ‘Hidden Project’ highlights significant social moments form the past.

William Cuffey and the London Chartists, 1842 (2008) is a tableaux using actors and props to recreate the signing of the petition demanding amongst other things the vote for all men over the age of 21. William Cuffey was the leader of the London branch of the Chartists, a movement for the rights and suffrage of the working class. Cuffey became so prominent in the movement that in 1848 The Times referred to his section of chartists as ‘the black man and his party’. (Craig. H, 2017).

These social movements and significant events are rarely known in popular culture. The 19th century arts of literature and painting were usually produced by and for the upper classes. In today’s society a movement such as the socialist group Momentum is seen as a threat to society by a large majority, but history shows us that these movements can make a huge change to people’s lives.

Red Saunders has used photography to bring such key ‘hidden’ social historical moments to the attention of a wider audience.  The recreations are key moments in the long struggle of working people for democracy and social justice. Leveller Women in the English Revolution, 1647 was used on a banner during the TUC anti-austerity march in Manchester 2015 highlighting how projects like this can have an influence on real lives and not just on a gallery wall.

Leveller Women in the English Revolution, 1647 by Red Saunders (2014)

For this project he creates group scenes using actors, period costumes and make-up. They are constructed tableaux where he takes images of each person or small group that tells it’s own story and then digital re-touching is performed to piece it all together. There are similarities to the painting The First General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland signing the Act of Separation and Deed of Demission on 23rd May 1843 by David Octavius Hill (1802-1870). Robert Adamson (1821-1848) was Hill’s photographic partner and each of the key characters was photographed by Adamson individually to allow Hill to paint the entire scene of characters accurately.

The First General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland; signing the Act of Separation and Deed of Demission – 18th May 1843 (D.O. Hill RSA). Image © Free Church of Scotland, Photograph by George T. Thompson LRPS.

I have also made a similar comparison of this painting in my Teun Hocks post as he combines painting with photography. It is really interesting how these three artist/projects are linked across nearly 2 centuries and the influences and connections that can be made. The aim of Hills painting was to record all the people that were present at a key point in the Free Church’s history. Allowing people in the future to see in to the past. Red Saunders on the other hand has used his place and technology of the present to look in to the past.

I have attempted social and political subjects in several assignments on this course. They have been fairly basic documentary street photography type submissions with little use of creativity and no staging or props. It is certainly an area that I would like to explore as I have a keen interest in political and social democracy issues.

References:

RED Saunders (2018). Red Saunders Photo. At: http://www.redsaundersphoto.eu/home.html (Accessed 23 March 2018)

Craig, H (2017) The National Archives. http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/black-man-party-william-cuffey-chartist-leader/#note-34962-3

Bibliography:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cuffay

Red Saunders interview with UAF in 2016 – http://uaf.org.uk/2016/10/40-years-since-the-birth-of-rock-against-racism-rebel-music-that-broke-down-fear/

http://www.redsaundersphoto.eu/hidden-video.html

https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/hilladamson/hilladamsonbiographies/

Teun Hocks

“Performing as the everyman in his photographs, Hocks invents scenes that are confrontations with failure, puzzlement and wonder. The staged scenes show the man being thwarted, trapped, and frustrated with seemingly no solution. The mundane becomes heroic, the trivial task becomes a Sisyphean ordeal. Through it all, Hocks, acting as a stand-in for the viewer, endures with a Buster Keaton-inspired performance.” (PPOW Gallery,  2009)

Teun Hocks (b. 1947) is a Dutch artist who produces self portraits combining photography and painting. He paints his own backdrops then photographs himself within the scene. He prints the images in black and white applying a sepia tone. He then paints over them using transparent oil paint. He used this process for a body of work called Analogue Works.

The depictions are autobiographical with references to his previous jobs, successes and failures. Having been a performer in his earlier years he uses this to create humorous but thought provoking images.

In one image he is standing on the beach smoking a pipe looking at a cruise ship with smoke emanating from its funnel. Placed by his side is a suitcase. It appears that he has ‘missed the boat’.

In another he creates a space theme of himself blindfolded walking on the moon wearing a party hat and streamers hanging off of him. This is a surreal image which shows that his fellow partygoers have left him to keep venturing forward without knowing where he is. We know he is lost but he continues as if the party is continuing in someone’s home.

He uses shapes and mirroring of form, such as the pipe/funnel smoke, in another image which appears to be a reference to sleeping rough in a cardboard city. In the background he has painted a tower block city scape. In the foreground he has constructed a mirror image of those structures using cardboard boxes. He is found sleeping, in his suit, lengthways inside the cardboard boxes.

The colouring of the final images is fairly grey and subdued giving the feel of 19th century painting. The effect is ‘other wordly’, a fantasy or dream. The viewer is given a lot to consider. First and foremost is it a painting or a photograph. Who is the man in the photograph? Why is he doing what he is doing?

His ideas and the process to achieve the final product combines drawing, photography, painting and scenery construction. Although staged, the end to end process is a solo endeavour unlike a Gregory Crewdson production. This is apparent in the final outcomes of both of these artists. Crewdson’s are large scale cinematic creations whereas Hock’s are very personal, cartoon like simpler stories. However, both show off their individual qualities and skills even if the results are vastly different.

Although I do not have any painting skills or access to large cinematic lighting rigs I feel that this type of work is within my reach. Hock’s work especially shows off his personality as a witty fellow with a reflective serious side. I like that and feel I can use that to express my personality with photography.

Teun Hocks use of photography and painting reminded me of the process used for the painting The First General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland signing the Act of Separation and Deed of Demission on 23rd May 1843 by David Octavius Hill (1802-1870). Although the subject matter was different it is internationally important as being the first work of art painted with the help of photographic images.  (University of Glasgow, 2018). Robert Adamson (1821-1848) was Hill’s photographic partner and each of the key characters was photographed by Adamson individually to allow Hill to paint the entire scene of characters accurately.

The First General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland; signing the Act of Separation and Deed of Demission – 18th May 1843 (D.O. Hill RSA). Image © Free Church of Scotland, Photograph by George T. Thompson LRPS.

References:

University of Glasgow (2018). David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson. At: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/hilladamson/hilladamsonbiographies/ (Accessed 23 March 2018)

PPOW Gallery (2009). Teun hocks: New Works. At: http://www.ppowgallery.com/exhibition/767/press-release (Accessed 23 March 2018)

Bibliography:

http://teunhocks.nl/

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/teun-hocks-art-221116

https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/work-by-teun-hocks-ppow/1707

Philip-Lorca diCorcia

  “I’m not exactly misanthropic, but the idea that you can manipulate people and the world is an interesting and compelling motivation for me“.

Philip-Lorca diCorcia (2014)

Philip-Lorca diCorcia (b. 1951) is an American photographer who combines a street photography style with well staged scenes. A kind of staged candid street photography. To achieve this he researches sites and sets them up, usually without the actual subject in place. He then sets up a camera to capture his subjects, sometimes, unknowingly and other times to recreate a grabbed street photography moment. His lighting is theatrical and is a combination of natural daylight and studio lighting.

Head #23, 2001 by Philip-Lorca diCorcia

In one series he set up a tripod in with overhead strobe lighting. The camera triggered as passers-by walked past resulting in Streetwork (1998) and Heads (2001). In these series he does not know the subjects never speaks to them, doesn’t seek their permission and doesn’t pay them. Unfortunately he was sued by one of the people in the Heads (2001) series for using their image for commerce and advertising. The case eventually ruled in diCorcia’s favour because the person was walking in a public place. In addition he had not hidden himself away and also was not portraying them in a negative fashion.

New York, 1997 by Philip-Lorca diCorcia

DiCorcia discusses this difficult situation in this YouTube video: Philip-Lorca DiCorcia – Exposed at Tate Modern uploaded by Tate on 15 September 2010. He seems sympathetic to his subjects as he admits to probably not liking it if it happened to him. However, he maintains his right to do. In fact this is one of the points this work highlights, there are CCTV and surveillance cameras across large cities and people are unaware of how many times they are captured.

His study was to show, not how people are different, but how they are all the same. He was not trying to hide from them, he was “trying to show how they were trying to hide from those around them“. This is a trait of most of his work where what a person shows on the outside is not necessarily who they are on the inside.

In a 2014 video by HepworthWakefield published ion 19 February 2014 diCorcia creates everyday scenes and adds “dramatizing’ elements staging, lighting and coloured props, which viewers see as a narrative. The curator Dr Sam Lackey describes how diCorcia work blurs the line between what is real and what is fictional…what is documentary and what the artist is in control of. “It questions the fundamental premise of when you see a photograph you are seeing the truth“.

Because his work is cinematic he understands why people think his images contain stories. However, his process is based on what he calls a persons ‘interiority’ and how it is very different from their external appearance and how “to some degree life is a performance“.

He admits to not being comfortable taking pictures of people and has always distanced himself from the subject, rarely knowing them or even speaking to them. As the photographer he does not have a privileged relationship with the sitter which is unlike a traditional shoot.  This comes across in the images and enables the viewer to bring there own meaning to the work.

Mario (1978) by Philip-Lorca diCorcia

His early work of the 70s and 80s was based indoors where he captured friends and family in mundane domestic scenes. Mario (1978) is a prime example of use of light, one from the refrigerator and a flash under the kitchen wall cabinets, to create a surreal atmosphere. The late 80s saw him move outdoors to produce the series Hustlers (1989) which was produced at the time of the AIDS crisis. His subjects were male prostitutes. He paid them the equivalent amount of their usual services to be photographed in a scene where he had already scouted the locations and planned compositions.  This preparation was not only to control production values but to speed up the end-to-end process and reduce the legal risks associated with negotiations with prostitutes.

This work raised controversy from various quarters. Right wing politicians and religious groups were against federal money being used for exhibitions to display ‘scandalous’ work. Others felt that diCorcia was exploiting his subjects and that the work did not improve or raise awareness of their plight. The inclusion in the image titles of the amount he paid was also felt to be a moral boundary that art should not cross. He revisited similar territory to anger right wing groups with a series of scantily clad pole dancers Lucky Thirteen (2005).

Philip-Lorca diCorcia is not a prolific photographer and will be due to the time he puts in to the set up and production of each of his series. It is very thoughtful and most of his outdoor work has pushed boundaries of acceptability which I believe is one of the intentions of his work. Obviously critics and reviewers are going to place standards on him, the author, but he is asking questions of the viewer and making them consider there own views and what type of people they are.

 

Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson was born in 1962 in New York. He is famous for his staged cinematic scenes of small-town America and neighbourhoods. Initially he worked on his own but over time has increased collaboration to create large scale crews. The crew size on Beneath the Roses (2008), for example was approximately 200 people.

Soundstage setup for Twilight (2001)

His lighting and sets are built to a high budget movie standard. His role is equivalent to a Director/Cinematographer and does not actually handle any camera. Even his outdoor scenes are staged in ‘closed off’ roads and neighbourhoods with striking lighting giving an otherworldly feel. He generates surreal scenes and creates multiple levels of narrative, strong visual colours and clarity. His work differs from someone like Philip-Lorca diCorcia in that Crewdson’s are completely staged with actors and set design.

Untitled, 2001 by Gregory Crewdson

In an interview with the SCI-Arc channel (2016) he describes photography as a singular and lonely activity in spite of working with lots of people. His emphasis is on lighting and colour to create as mysterious and beautiful a picture he can. Locations are also important and although he uses places that he knows he says they could actually be anywhere.

One interesting aspect that is discussed in the interview which I had not realised before was how his work contains “no contemporary”. In fact it is as he describes it “outside of time”, non-descript, ordinary but aged.

His work combines outside and indoors, sometimes creating rooms on a soundstage and others on location in real buildings. Architecture and domestic are re-occurring themes in his work.

Untitled (Brief Encounter) by Gregory Crewdson

He specifically states that he wants the viewer to decipher the story although obviously Crewdson’s sub-conscious does come through. Most of his work contains a psychological darkness which are not his main aim but he admits it is there.

Having listened to Crewdson and Philip-Lorca diCorcia it starts to surface how they are telling stories about themselves and each new series is an attempt to create a new way of telling that story. It is now clear how art photographers differs from amateur / professional wedding or sports photographers. The aim of the latter is to record what they see in the most technically precise way possible. They still have an eye for beauty and their skill and knowledge of their equipment is essential for a successful image. However, the majority of images produced this way are fairly generic and standard in composition. The resulting images do not convey their own personality and although they are taught to capture the story in a single frame an art photographer uses a whole series to build a narrative.

Unfortunately for a lot of viewers, art photography is not accessible. Crewdson at least creates cinematic style scenes that the majority can appreciate as they have all been to the movies.

Gregory Crewdson – Cathedral of the Pines @ Photographer’s Gallery post

 

Pictorial Effect in Photography – Henry Peach Robinson

Pictorial Effect in Photography: Being Hints on Composition and Chiaro-Oscuro for Photographers by Henry Peach Robinson

• Classic Reprint Series – Published by Forgotten Books, London, 2012.
• Reprint of the American edition published by Edward L. Wilson, Philadelphia, 1881.

Originally published in 1881, Henry Peach Robinson describes what makes a good photographic composition. He does stress that there are many ways to combine ideas to make a good image. However, what makes this book different to all ‘How To’ photography books is that he compares the good with the bad and explains why. There are no images in the book, just sketches. Interestingly it is probably due to not wanting to include bad images or offend some photographers that modern day ‘how to’ books steer clear of explaining the bad.

Robinson was an early practitioner who wanted photography to be accepted as art by emphasising the attributes and unique properties that photography provided. He encouraged photographers to be creative and not just use it to capture the object as it was. I was surprised how valid the points he made then are still as valid today. The technology has changed but the basics of composition were very well understood.

I have included some references to give a flavour of what the book aims to achieve and include some of his thoughts and opinions.

p1. The opening paragraph is as true today as it was then. ‘Nine out of 10 photographers are ignorant of art.’

p3. Discusses how it was alleged that art had nothing in common with photography. Felt by many that photographs can only project things as they are. Whereas art transfigures and glorifies by use of ‘poetic treatment’. HPR argues that photographs offered a number of opportunities to photographers to interpret a scene. Their eye, their viewpoint, their glass (lens), time of day, and adding subjects.

p6. He describes artistic sight – the knowledge of what is picturesque and beautiful. He subscribes to the need to study how these desirable qualities are produced. Effects of character of form, light and shade. ‘To a photographer, the addition of colour would only be a complication’. Szarkowski repeated this view in 1976 in ‘The William Eggleston Guide’.

p8. Seeing is a habit. Not only are things unnoticed, they are also unseen. Need a trained eye. ‘eyes open, minds blind’.

p11. ‘Art should be a guide only to the study of nature’.

p28. ‘In photography there is no colour to distract the attention from the design’. Therefore I conclude that more skill is required to capture images in colour. I partially agree with HJR when he says that an image should fully pronounce its own meaning and there should be nothing left for verbal explanation. However, I think there is room in art for ambiguity and unintentional meanings. HJR believed ‘everything must have a meaning, and the meaning must be the object of the picture. My response is ‘Can the ‘object’ be an unanswered question?

p31.’it is of little use endeavouring to teach a man to write poetry until he has learned to spell.’

After the opening chapters he then moves on to specific subjects such as capturing skies, the use of variation and repetition, plus some later on chapters on portraiture and poses of individuals and groups.

All in all these chapters make a useful reference and are also entertaining due to the use of 19th century writing.

Abelardo Morell

Abelardo Morell is a fine art photographer and teacher born in Cuba in 1948. He Moved to the USA and studied for a BA in Bowdoin College, Main and an MFA at Yale University of Art. He has spent most of his career combining personal photography projects alongside teaching at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.

Haircut, 1974

His early images are family snapshots, and during his education he followed the path of Robert Frank and Cartier-Bresson with street street photography capturing quirky moments around the streets and in shops and hairdressing salons.

He went in to teaching in 1983 having decided that ‘his own additions to the street photography canon would probably never be of the order of Frank’ [1], p8.  Having married, and following the arrival of his son Brady in 1986, he produced a series of images from a child’s perspective resulting in the ‘Childhood’ series in 1987.

In the Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture Series [2] Morell places significance on his early years as a boy in the troublesome environment of Havana before his family moved to New York.

In his Artist Talk at Brown University [3], the birth of his child in 1986 was the point that he realised he was a grown up. This started to influence his photography and  he decided to take pictures in a different way. He was interested in the idea of viewpoint and how photography is good at acknowledging different heights (standing up and sitting down). He observed that photography can show two different worlds . In the ‘Childhood’ series he is mimicking the behaviour of a baby crawling around the floor. ‘I felt I was just beginning, like a baby, to be a photographer… it liberated a certain kind of imagination.‘ [3], (6:14).

Toy Horse, 1987

These images are the ones that brought Morell to my attention and having researched a lot of his later work, it is these that remain my favourites. Probably because they are everyday scenes but with an artistic eye, light and viewpoint. These types of images should be within my grasp. He has chosen a subject and delivered some great images. Enough to admire for the casual observer but a little extra for those willing to spend the time.

Light Bulb, 1991

His subsequent work was around the properties and physicality of photography. ‘Light Bulb’ (1991) arose from teaching students about cameras and appeared on the front cover of the MoMA exhibition ‘More Than One Photography’ in 1992. This brought him to the attention of the critics. The exhibition itself being a sort of acceptance of a change in Art Photography where artist presented ideas rather than a complete narrative within the frame.

Camera obscura image of the eiffel tower in the hotel frantour, 1999

He followed this up with some Camera Obscura work in black and white. He stayed in various apartment and hotel rooms in big cities and captured cityscapes and well known structures and projected them on to the walls. This was an obvious progression of his Light Bulb image and it is interesting how an idea develops.

Six Dictionaries, 2000

Other series include books, maps, dictionaries, children’s stories such as his Alice In Wonderland composites.

Small Vase at Edge of a Table,

Significantly he has remained photographing in black and white until only recently for multiple camera obscura projects, capturing colour scenes with use of a tent and projecting them on to the ground.

I really like ‘Small Vase at edge of a Table which I believe signifyies  potential danger and fragility. The spillage on the floor suggests that it has already been knocked once and the next nudge may take it over the edge.

Tent-Camera Image on Ground: Rooftop View of Brooklyn Bridge, 2010

It is difficult to position Morell on the modernist / post-modernist scale which I think is what makes him and his work more interesting. His clean black and white images, no frills or captions suggest he is firmly in the modernist camp in line with his education. But this is countered by his work where the photographic process is the subject. Black and white allows him to study light in greater detail. Images of books and bindings points to the printing process. And obviously his Camera Obscura work in black and white, and now more recently in colour, is a way of recognising the basics of photography coupled with a modern narrative.

Wolfgang Tillmans, Paper drop, Prinzessinnenstrasse (2014)

Other contemporary photographers such a Wolfgang Tilmans have used the photographic process as their subject but have combined this with use of colour and technology. Ultimately though, they have taken the same subject and delivered it in different ways.

I like Morell’s work for its close examination of the subject, but, I feel I am always asking the question ‘why stay with black and white for so long?’. The answer is possibly in the timing of his education and the key influencers of that era. The ‘Childhood’ series works in black and white because it is nostalgic and what was the norm when he was a baby. The examinations of process are less easy to understand why he felt black and white was appropriate.

Morell does not strike me as a rebel but he has chosen a more studious approach to his ‘rule-breaking’. I admire this as a human characteristic, not flashy, but quietly confident. It does not get the attention it may deserve but then again it is work that is understood and admired by people that count.

References:

1. Abelardo Morell, R.B. Woodward, Phaidon Press, 2005
2. Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture Series: Abelardo Morell  [accessed 27/02/2017]
3. Abelardo Morell Artist Talk 10.12.16 at Brown University, Rhode Island. [accessed 27/02/2017]

MoMA New York

As part of my research for the Assignment 4 essay I came across reference to the exhibitions at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York [1]. Through the 20th century and into the 21st century it appears to have an influential place for identifying photographic talent. I also feel it captures what captures an accurate slice of the important trends of the photography world.

Here I am going to look at key exhibitions plus praise and criticisms through various curator tenures.

MoMA has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world [2].

‘MoMA developed a world-renowned art photography collection first under Edward Steichen and then under Steichen’s hand-picked successor John Szarkowski. The department was founded by Beaumont Newhall in 1940. Under Szarkowski, it focused on a more traditionally modernist approach to the medium, one that emphasized documentary images and orthodox darkroom techniques.’ [3]

Edward Steichen’s role as Director of Photography from 1947 to 1961 saw him curate the exhibit ‘The Family of Man’ which was seen by almost 10 million people. He was followed by his hand picked successor John Szarkowski who had the role from 1962 to 1991.  The Photographer’s Eye exhibition (1964) that accompanied his book was a sign of his autocratic style for the next 30 years. This was his opportunity to define the characteristics of a photograph and if it wasn’t as defined then it was deficient in some way.  He had a significant role to play in the acceptance of colour photography when he curated ‘The Photographs of William Eggleston’ in 1976.

His tenure was followed by Peter Galassi and then Quentin Bajac. It was Bajac’s book ‘Photography at MoMA: 1960 – Now’ [6] that was reviewed by two art authors, Mark Steinmetz [4] and Charlotte Cotton [5]. Steinmetz used it as an opportunity to highlight Bajac’s vagueness around his opinion of the direction of his predecessors. Charlotte Cotton’s review [6] is more positive but still references Szarkowski in terms of questioning where the current department stands in the history of photography at MoMA.

Interestingly the modernist and post-modernist standpoints come through from both of these reviewers. Steinmetz’s position is very much a modernist one where he summarises that the book puts ‘so much emphasis on photo-based art rather than on clear photographs that describe the photographer’s reactions to the world‘[4]. Cotton, who authored the book ‘The Photograph As Contemporary Art’, is in the post-modernist camp and appreciates the collection put together in the book and implies that she wishes the current photography department showed their colours in terms of the direction they wish to take.

Photographs by William Eggleston – 1976. This was the first solo exhibit of colour photography in MoMA’s history.  This was a significant exhibition curated by John Szarkowsky who wanted the focus to be on ‘home and place’ as opposed to ‘colour’, which was what Eggleston had said was the subject of his work.

More Than One Photography – 1992. Abellardo Morell’s Light Bulb was used as the cover image. The brochure contained 9 black and white images which suggests colour was still not accepted fully (or a constraint on the brochure printing process). Significantly this exhibition was one of the early Peter Galassi exhibitions and probably used as a vehicle to re-energise the photography department at the start of his tenure.

References:

1. MoMA Website
2. Kleiner, Fred S.; Christin J. Mamiya (2005). “The Development of Modernist Art: The Early 20th Century”. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective
3. MoMA Wikipedia page
4. Mark Steinmetz review of Photography at MoMA: 1960 – Now , Time.com, 2015
5. Charlotte Cotton review of Photography at MoMA: 1960 – Now , Time.com, 2015
6. Bajac. Q, Photography at MoMA: 1960 – Now, MoMA, 2015

William Eggleston Guide essay – John Szarkowski

This post discusses John Szarkowski’s views on colour photography with reference to his essay that accompanied ‘The William Eggleston Guide’. The book was first published in 1976 to accompany the exhibition ‘Photographs by William Eggleston’ at MoMA New York the same year.

Szarkowski (1925 – 2007) was an author, curator and photographer and regarded as key voice on art photography during the latter half of the 20th Century. He initially came to my attention during the OCA Expressing Your Vision (EYV) module where we looked at his ‘Photographer’s Eye’ publication where he documented the attributes of a photograph. This formed part of the modernist/post modern discussion where Szarkowski believed the content was all in the frame, the modernist view.

He was also known for his role as curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1962-1991) where he acted as a barometer for what was in fashion or not. One of his most significant, and at the time brave, decisions was to put on a solo show of the ‘colour’ work of William Eggleston in 1976. Controversial at the time and seen today as a key moment in the acceptance of colour in photographic art.

During a feedback session with my EYV tutor in 2016, I had expressed a concern of my lack of understanding of essays such as Szarkowski’s ‘William Eggleston Guide’. I return to it now as research for my Assignment 4 essay. Not only as an education in writing art critique’s but also to glean some extra knowledge of the emergence of colour in the world of photography.

For assignment 4 I have chosen the black and white image ‘Toy Horse’ (1987) by Abelardo Morell. It has similarities to Eggleston’s ‘Untitled, Memphis 1970 (a.k.a. ‘Tricycle’), the image used as the front cover image of William Eggleston’s Guide. The obvious difference being ‘Colour’, or more importantly, the lack of it.

Szarkowski begins his essay by challenging Eggleston’s view that his images are only about colour, nothing more, nothing less. Szarkowski thinks this is a convenient way for the artist to sidestep specific questions about content and how that may relate to the artist himself. He concedes that, even if true, a photograph and its meaning is a combination of the photographic process and the photographer. Eggleston’s images tell us something about his identity even if he does not want us to read them that way.

Szarkowski moves in to the main discussion of the use of colour by ‘serious’ photographers and , as he saw it,  their failure in producing anything meaningful with it. There is an acceptance that photographers knew that their black and white pieces were not natural  but were taken because ‘they looked good, and seemed to mean something, as pictures’. The emphasis was on form and the introduction of colour was a complication too far, based on decades of learning the language of black and white imagery.

The essay continues in the vain of disparaging terms and descriptions for amateurs mindlessly pointing and shooting with colour film. He viewed the National Geographic colour images as interesting for cobalt blue skies but nevertheless they were fundamentally failures in form. His other observation was photographers using it to show beautiful colours in pleasing relationships resembling ‘reproductions of Synthetic Cubist or Abstract Expressionist paintings’. He dismissed these photographs as being inferior to paintings so in his view, why bother producing something worse with photography.

He saw that using colour outside of the studio was problematic and photographers were either producing work that was either formless or pretty.   ‘In the first case the meanings of color have been ignored; in the second they have been considered at the expense of allusive meanings. While editing directly from life, photographers have found it too difficult to see simultaneously both the blue and the sky.’

He then moves on to some examples of successful uses of colour photography by the likes of Helen Levitt, Joel Meyerowitz, Stephen Shore who were using it for street photography, capturing the everyday and the commonplace. He affirmed that they were not ‘photographs of colour’ but photographs of an experience in the hands of artists using their imagination and precision. His acceptance of Eggleston’s colour work, taken in 1971, is in the fact that the images show the locality, the place, the family and brings it to life for the viewer in colour.

Szarkowski seems to be accepting of a colour photographer as an artist more than the colour images themselves. He accepted earlier in the essay that colour adds a complication to the art form, but rather than see it as something new to learn and excel at, he has the opinion that it really isn’t worth the hassle.

Although he was presenting Eggleston’s work for people to view, he had prepared his ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ excuse up front within this essay. Not too brave or visionary in my view even if there was lot of hostility around the photographic art world at the time.