Doyle 2010
Image Timm Suess.Spectrum, located in The Sunday Times supplement is quite fabulous and a good part of any Sunday. Theres a lovely little spread entitled With Abandon which relates to the book Beauty in Decay (a term have have often used myself for the last ten years or so) and the website Carpet Bombing Culture. Both of which are well worth checking out...
But all this decay malarkey got me thinking, and so I had a think..
I have long had a fascination with decay and with it the photographing of decaying things. Dont know why, I just have. But the truth is I find it a real burden. Let me explain;
When I am out with the camera I spend a lot of time waiting for the light. You know the score, you turn up five hours too early, find a cafe, eat a cake and then realise you have four hours to sundown. So what do I do in the mean time. Well, apart from a nap, a little writing and perhaps some push ups, I often look for somewhere I can 'get inside.' An abandoned house, an old school perhaps, or even a hospital. I just cant help myself and never question why I do it. Usually I make a couple of photographs, but there never great, in fact they are just time fillers. I guess I am just curious and the photographs are the proof if you like, a bit like a holiday snap.
I look at all these over worked, ultra wide angled images of decay on line by other photographers, but I don't even like them! But I do find them interesting (work that one out). Its the fantasy element I guess and going somewhere you think will be better than it is but turns out to be one big anti climatic adventure. Its bit like a long awaited night with Beyonce and discovering she has a willy...
I have sold a fair old number of prints over the years, but never once an interior, and a decaying one at that, so there's certainly no other motive.
So at the end of the day I have to ask myself; 'Why do I do it?' Well its simple really, Beyonce does not have a willy..
3 comments:
I guess the question that should be asked is why do you/we/they want to photography decaying sites? It seems to me that unless there's a specific reason for doing so in terms of presenting a bigger picture or as part of a narrative they run the risk of becoming simply pictures of run down locations with no context to underpin their significance.
Mr Darwell. You are indeed the intelligent voice of reason.
But can we photograph these decaying sites, underpin their significance, and then make them look beautiful. And if so, is this then Art or something else...
A PHOTOGRAPH SHOULD NOT JUST BE OF SOMETHING, IT SHOULD BE ABOUT SOMETHING.
Some wise fella I met in Starbucks.
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