insights into photography
Wenders, too, now regards photography as a thing of the past. “It’s not just the meaning of the image that has changed – the act of looking does not have the same meaning. Now, it’s about showing, sending and maybe remembering. It is no longer essentially about the image. The image for me was always linked to the idea of uniqueness, to a frame and to composition. You produced something that was, in itself, a singular moment. As such, it had a certain sacredness. That whole notion is gone.”
The article in The Guardian is not one that will explain to you in detail why photography is now over, it is more the sense that for Wenders it left him behind when he gave his Polaroid camera to Patti Smith. The article is littered with the sounds of names crashing to the floor when dropped.
Why the Photographers Gallery would be bothered with showing pictures by someone who never thought of themselves as a photographer is beyond me. However, what do I know, I am sure all those names littering the floor and on the wall in the 3″ x 3″ white iconic frames will be enough to have hordes of people wanting to visit and buy a book or a postcard
If you want to read the article it is here
Heinz, 1973, by Wim Wenders Photograph: © Wim Wenders
Ephemera … Campbell Soups, New York, 1972. Photograph: © Wim Wenders
‘They were made from the gut’ … Valley of the Gods, Utah, 1977, by Wim Wenders. Photograph: © Wim Wenders/Courtesy Deutsches Filminstitut Frankfurt
I find I can rely upon the culture section of The Guardian for many interesting articles about photography. If you have been on my courses you will have found that I talk about Gregory Crewdson, his images are cinematic in many aspects, both the nature of their creation and the sense they provoke. He has a new exhibition called Cathedral of The Pines and it is reviewed in the The Guardian
‘They were more difficult because they were less spectacular’ … Father and Son, 2013. Photograph: © Gregory Crewdson / Courtesy Gagosian Gallery
In 2013, in retreat from “a difficult divorce”, Gregory Crewdson moved from Manhattan to a converted church in rural Massachusetts. “I had to relocate myself, physically and psychologically,” says the photographer. So he spent his time mountain trekking, long-distance swimming and, when the winter set in, cross-country skiing.
“I was out in the snow one day when I came upon a sign for a section of the Appalachian Trail called Cathedral of the Pines,” he adds. “It stopped me in my tracks, just the resonance of the name. I knew I had to use it.”
The resulting series is more sombre, foreboding and inward-looking than the meticulously staged cinematic photographs that made his name. It opens this week at the Photographers’ Gallery in London, the first time the institution has devoted all its gallery space to a single artist.
Cathedral of the Pines took two and a half years to shoot and, typically for Crewdson, required the kind of preparation that usually attends a Hollywood film: months of casting, location hunting and storyboarding, with an extensive crew to oversee lighting, props, wardrobe, makeup and even some special effects involving artificial smoke and mist.
The new exhibition can be seen from the 23rd at The Photographers Gallery
Gregory Crewdson The Haircut, 2014 Digital pigment print Image size: 37 1/2 × 50 inches (95.3 × 127 cm) Edition of 3 + 2 APs © Gregory Crewdson
“By my standards, it was relatively restrained,” he says, laughing and citing his 2008 series Beneath the Roses, which cost as much as a mid-budget movie and entailed four city streets being closed down for shots that required rain and snow-making machines.
Gregory Crewdson The Motel, 2014 Digital pigment print Image size: 37 1/2 × 50 inches (95.3 × 127 cm) Edition of 3 + 2 APs © Gregory Crewdson
Cathedral of the Pines was challenging in a different way. “These pictures are smaller in scale and, to a degree, they were more difficult because they were less spectacular. You have to create meaning and atmosphere in a more intimate way, which makes lighting, for instance, a lot more challenging.”
Foreboding … Mother and Daughter, 2014 Photograph: © Gregory Crewdson / Courtesy Gagosian Gallery
see more pictures and read the rest of the review in the Guardian here
find out about the exhibition at the Photographers Gallery here
If you have been on one of our courses we would have probably introduced you to Saul Leiter because we love his photographs. The Photographers Gallery in London has an exhibition of his work from 22 Jan – 3 Apr 2016. Now you can see his work as it should be seen, on the wall.
It’s only recently that Saul Leiter (1923-2013) has received due recognition for his pioneering role in the emergence of colour photography. He moved to New York intent on becoming a painter, yet ended up working for magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Elle andBritish Vogue and became known for his impressionistic colour street scenes.
As early as 1946, and thus well before representatives of the 1970s new colour photography school (such as William Eggleston and Stephen Shore), Leiter was using Kodachrome colour slide film for his free artistic shots, despite it being despised by artists of the day.
“When we do not know why the photographer has taken a picture and when we do not know why we are looking at it, all of a sudden we discover something that we start seeing. I like this confusion.” Saul Leiter
16–18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW
Mon – Fri: 10.00 – 18.00
Thu: 10.00 – 20.00 during exhibitions
Sat: 10.00 – 18.00
Sun: 11.00 – 18.00
I came across Bill Armstrong in a round about way that doesn’t warrant explaining but it does highlight that there is so much more out there than we can ever know. His work is all about colour, almost nothing else, although there are things going on in his pictures it is the colour that makes the difference.
His work definitely falls into the bracket of
“One photo out of focus is a mistake, ten photos out of focus are an experimentation, one hundred photo out of focus are a style.”
this is what he says about The Infinity Series
My unique process of appropriating images and subjecting them to a series of manipulations—photocopying, cutting, painting, re-photographing—transforms the originals and gives them a new meaning in a new context. Extreme blurring makes the edges within the collages disappear, so the photographs appear to be seamless, integrated images. This sleight of hand allows me to conjure a mysterious tromp l’oeil world that hovers between the real and the fantastic. It is a world just beyond our grasp, where place may be suggested, but is never defined, and where the identity of the amorphous figures remains in question. It is a world that might exist in memory, in dreams, or, perhaps, in a parallel universe yet unvisited.
The nature of visual perception intrigues me: how the eye continually tries to resolve these images, but is unable to do so, and how that is unsettling. And I am drawn to the idea that we can believe something is real, while at the same time knowing it is illusory; that the experience of visual confusion, when the psyche is momentarily derailed, is what frees us to respond emotionally.
At the same time, the subject of these collages is color. Extreme de-focusing enables me to blend and distill hues, creating rhapsodies of color that are meditative pieces—glimpses into a space of pure color, beyond our focus, beyond our ken.
You will have either hated or loved these images, I doubt there is a halfway house, as a photographer you either want pictures to represent things, objects, moments in time or you want your pictures to hint at atmosphere, emotion and thoughts.
Bill Armstrong is running a workshop at The Photographers Gallery on 25th April, here is a link to the rather sparse information
From dog gymkhanas to Tahrir Square protesters, a major exhibition in London showcases the best rising talent in the field of photography every year – and here’s the pick of the bunch
For more, visit the Photographers’ Gallery until 21 July 2013
Nicolas Feldmeyer: After All, 2012Photograph:
Lorna Evans: Dog Jumping, 2012
Daniel Mayrit: An Encounter, 2012
Jolanta Dolewska: Holding, 2012
It is probably fair to say that amongst photographers I know this prize is the most controversial. The photographers shortlisted almost always reflect the edges of photography where camera skills and traditional subject matter are of little importance. For example one of the short listed artists, Mishka Henner, for the prize this year presents pictures from the google street view car cameras where he has selected views that include street sex workers.
Mishka Henner, Carretera de Fortuna, Murcia, Spain, 2012
Another, Cristina de Middel, who reimagines the 60s space programme in Zambia. I know it barely warrants thinking about
Cristina De Middel, The Afronauts, 2012
Chris Killip is probably the only name you might recognise and the only one on the shortlist that makes photographs like a photographer.
Chris Killip, Youth on Wall, Jarrow, Tyneside, 1976
Chris Killip (b. 1946, UK) is nominated for his exhibition What Happened – Great Britain 1970 –1990 at LE BAL, Paris (12 May – 19 August 2012).
British born Killip has been taking photographs for nearly five decades.What Happened – Great Britain comprises black and white images of working people in the north of England, taken by Killip in the 1970s and 1980s. After spending months immersed in several communities, Killip documented the disintegration of the industrial past with a poetic and highly personal point of view.
The final artists shortlisted for this prize are
Adam Broomberg (b. 1970, South Africa) and Oliver Chanarin (b. 1971, UK) are nominated for their publication War Primer 2 (MACK, 2012).
War Primer 2 is a limited edition book that physically inhabits the pages of Bertold Brecht’s remarkable 1955 publication War Primer. Brecht’s photo-essay comprises 85 images, photographic fragments or collected newspaper clippings, that were placed next to a four-line poem, called ‘photo-epigrams’. Broomberg and Chanarin layered Google search results for the poems over Brecht’s originals.
For full details of the Deutsche Börse photography prize 2013 There is an exhibition at The Photographers Gallery and much more information here
For a much more teeth grinding experience have a look at the video on the Guardian website where the excellent Sean O’Hagen discusses the work with the photographers/artists involved. Sean O’Hagan meets the nominees for the annual Deutsche Börse photography prize: Mishka Henner, who puts Google Street View to imaginative use; Cristina de Middel, who reimagines the 60s space programme in Zambia; Chris Killip, who asks What Happened, Great Britain; and duo Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, who have reworked a Bertolt Brecht book.
It is hard to tell if this prize and exhibition actually does good or bad for photography. Most people seeing the work of these four artists would recognise Chris Killip as a photographer but would struggle with the other three.
further reading on the Guardian website comes courtesy of Adrian Searle
A sociologist by training, Henner presents (or rather, re-presents) the images without comment. Henner annoys me. For other projects, he has digitally removed the figures from Robert Frank’s The Americans, and overlain Gerhard Richter’s blurry, photographically based paintings with words and phrases taken from Ed Ruscha’s work. Ho ho, you say. Real complexity lies elsewhere……….It was never going to get off the ground. De Middel’s photographs, drawings and re-photographed letters conflate original material with her own reconstructions and fantasy. A space camp shelters under a boabab tree; cosmonauts wander through a village of straw huts; a man in a wax-batik patterned spacesuit struggles through a cane field. Yinka Shonibare has presented a family of astronauts in similar garb floating in mid-air. What goes around comes around. All this works better in the little self-published book De Middel made of her project – now out of print and selling, I am told, for more than £1,000.
can you be bothered to learn more about these three artists and one photographer if so go here
What do you think?
The Social is back at The Photographers’ Gallery on Thursday, and this time we’re proud to have Brian Griffin speaking on corporate photography……
From Eurostar to Rekyjavik Energy, Brian Griffin has shot some of the biggest and best corporate commissions in the business. So who better to talk through corporate photography at The Social this Thursday? BJP and The Photographers’ Gallery are proud to announce that Brian will be joining us to talk through his experiences in this field and discuss how to get creative within this underrated area.
Also joining us will be photographer Brijesh Patel and project manager Franck Jehanne, who founded the Kalory Agency last year to specialise in creating photography and marketing content for the luxury, fashion and beauty industries. Now a team of eight people, Kalory has picked up lucrative contracts with Jaeger, Cartier, Vacheron Constantin and Mikimoto.
The Social is run by The Photographers’ Gallery and the British Journal of Photography, and takes places once a quarter at The Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW from 7pm-9pm. The Corporate Photography special will take place this Thursday, 07 August.
The Photographers Gallery Events and Talks
From the Guardian’s Best Shot Series we have this from Brian Griffin
Four years ago, I was doing a big project in Iceland. It meant travelling all round, and at one point I went to the small town of Höfn, in the southeast corner. It has 1,500 people, one bar, one hotel. It’s like the end of the world – there’s nothing there. It looked like the most difficult place on earth to take pictures. So I decided to spend a month there, to see what I could do, even though this was before the crunch and Iceland was frighteningly expensive.
In May 2007, I housed myself in Höfn’s hotel. In that month, no one there made any attempt to even talk to me. No one bought me a drink, or invited me for a meal. I spent every single day on my own, except for the times when my wife Brynja, who’s from Iceland herself, came for a visit. As we drove around one day, I noticed this extraordinary-looking farmer.
While Brynja was asking if he’d mind being photographed, she spotted a newborn lamb and offered the farmer £350 to spare its life. She christened it Steinunn, a common woman’s name in Iceland. It struck me as the perfect way to shoot the farmer, so I brought out my lights. I shot in black-and-white on a Hasselblad. Looking at the sky, I think the rain was coming in. Iceland has extraordinary light quality: the cloud structure changes rapidly, the sunlight cascades through.
I didn’t have anything planned. It just occurred to me to ask him to lie down. I’m always looking for the unusual. There’s something spiritual about this picture: Christian iconography always seems to be hanging around in my work. “I want to make sure the lamb lives a complete life and won’t be slaughtered,” my wife told the farmer at one point. “You’re not going to kill it and eat it.” Brian Griffin
We have featured this prize before, now The Guardian shows the images again and provides a review by Adrian Searle
Pieter Hugo, Rinko Kawauchi, John Stezaker and Christopher Williams are the four photographers shortlisted for this year’s £30,000 Deutsche Börse photography prize. Their work goes on display at The Photographers’ Gallery from 13 July – 9 September 2012. View some of their images here
Adrian Searle: John Stezaker’s work is by miles the best here, with that great unteachable gift: an eye and a sensibility
So the Photographers Gallery is open again and with a great series of exhibitions and projects, the new website looks good too and I love the new logo
One of this year’s projects is an exhibition for new photography graduates called
FreshFaced+WildEyed which showcases the work of recent graduates from across the UK. Now in its fifth year, this annual event highlights the breadth and diversity of photographic practices emerging from UK institutions, giving graduates a public platform at a critical point in their careers.
Following an online application process, selected finalists have their work exhibited at The Photographers’ Gallery and online, and the opportunity to work with a mentor for twelve months.
THE EXHIBITION
At The Photographers’ Gallery, London, 15 – 30 September 2012, and online at ffwe.thephotographersgallery.org.uk
THE MENTORSHIP SCHEME
This year, for the first time, we are offering this scheme in addition to the exhibition opportunity. A number of mentorships will be awarded to finalists, who will be matched with a mentor whose professional/ creative background is relevant to their practice. The mentor and graduate will enter into a yearlong dialogue, offering participants invaluable feedback on their current work and the broader professional and critical context into which it fits.
APPLICATIONS
All applications must be submitted through this site by 18.00, Monday 2 July 2012
If you have any questions about this opportunity that cannot be answered by the information below,
please email karen.mcquaid@tpg.org.uk
13 July – 9 September 2012
The four artists shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2012 are Pieter Hugo, Rinko Kawauchi, John Stezaker and Christopher Williams.
This selection showcases diverse approaches to photography, from portraits taken in the toxic waste dumps of Ghana, to exquisite images of everyday moments and the conceptual use of found imagery.
Yakubu Al Hasan, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana 2009 © Pieter Hugo
There is a program of courses and workshops, here is one on offer
16 June – 14 July 2012
An introduction to some of the key movements, developments and figures in photography in Britain, from 1800s to the present day.
Led by Greg Jones
£88/£55
Booking through City Lit www.citylit.ac.uk
There is a lot more to check out on the web site so here is the link or even better go and have a look for yourself
The Photographers’ Gallery is the largest public gallery in London dedicated to photography. From the latest emerging talent, to historical archives and established artists – we are the place to see photography in all its forms.
Monday – Saturday 10.00 – 18.00
Thursday 10.00 – 20.00
Sunday 11.30 – 18.00
The Cafe is open from 9.00 Monday – Friday
16 – 18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW
Visit Journey Planner or Street Map to plan your visit. Nearest tube Oxford Circus
Simon Bainbridge writes in the BJP about an exhibition due to open at the new Photographers Gallery.
“The World in London is a major outdoor photography exhibition that will go on show in east London to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics.
The Photographers’ Gallery has revealed its contribution to this year’s Olympic games, announcing The World in London, a major outdoor exhibition for which it commissioned 204 portraits.Each of the 204 subjects originated from one of the 204 countries competing in this summer’s games in the capital, all of which will be shown together as large-scale posters in Victoria Park in east London (which hosts the 2012 Olympics), as well as in the pedestrian zone outside the gallery’s soon-to-re-open venue in Soho. “
“The World in London explores portraiture and cultural diversity using photography, one of the most accessible and democratic artistic mediums of our times,” says the gallery. “The project celebrates London as a place where individuals from all parts of the world live side by side, each of them contributing to make London the unique city it is.”.…….MORE
Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2165603/photographers-gallery-celebrates-london-2012-olympics-outdoor-exhibition-204-portraits#ixzz1rYEp2531
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Oxford School of Photography 