Why someone would write dildos on a wall is beyond my thinking.
31.10.13
Why someone would write dildos on a wall is beyond my thinking.
22.10.13
A mixed bag with a couple of sweets and a few bitter lemons..
This is the first monograph by this quite important British photographer. His colour work shot in the streets of Leeds ( during his job as truck driver) proved to be a landmark in the history of British colour photography. It was shown for the first time in 1979 in a personal show at the Impressions Gallery in York, and was included a few years ago in the seminal survey on British photography " How we are: Photographing Britain" at Tate Britain. The book is the seventh title in the ongoing collaboration between Nazraeli Press and Martin Parr, who contributes a lovey introduction to Peter Mitchell's photopgraphs.
As I happened to be in the gallery, I was intrigued to see the Jacques Henri Lartigue show, Bibi and so worked my way up the stupidly narrow staircase of the gallery. Now I love the early work of Lartigue, and by that I mean really early, before he was a teenager, photographing those high society types walking dogs and flying kites. This work though is much later and focuses on his images of his then wife Madeleine Messager, otherwise known as Bibi. Basically I found the whole thing one big pointless fart in the wind and by the end of it I just seen Lartigue for what he now was; someone with too much money, spare time, and talent lost to his childhood. Of course it all ends in divorce and bitterness.. Unfortunately after this I ventured up the next flight of narrow stairs to the HOME TRUTHS: MOTHERHOOD, PHOTOGRAPHY & IDENTITY
The title alone was very off putting, but I decided to fill my photographic repertoire. At first I thought I had entered into a labor ward as I was confronted by an image of a large pair of breasts and a stapled cesarean. The images then proceeded to get worse as all the usual photographic cliché of mother and child continued to sting my eyes. The highlight of the show (if you can call it that) had to be the random soft porn image of a mans tongue adventure with a womens noo noo. Vile, ghastly, and enough to put you off your frothy coffee. And all this in the name of photography.
Anyway, it was worth it for the book..
17.10.13
Guy Tillim
I have always admired Guy Tillim's work and found a nice interview with him over on Lens Culture which I have copied and pasted on here.
South African photographer Guy Tillim creates lush, complex,
interweaving photo essays that seem more like nonfiction novels than
photojournalism. Indeed, to my mind, his photographs and stories are
best encountered in the several excellent books he has authored.
He began taking pictures as a member of the photocollective Afropix, in the mid 1980s during the last days of apartheid. Tillim has worked as a freelance photographer in South Africa for the local and foreign media, including positions with Reuters between 1986 and 1988, and with Agence France Presse in 1993 and 1994.
While continuing to focus on the social and natural challenges on the African continent, his working style has evolved into a much more subtle, quiet, and enigmatic approach. He has photographed child soldiers in Congo, refugees in Angola, people who live in the high rises of Johannesburg, and the surrealistic decay of post-colonial modern architecture in many parts of Africa.
As one critic noted, “Tillim’s work counters First-World expectations of these places — in between his portraits of those caught in the aftermath of war or displacement, he is apt to capture the stillness of these spaces as well. During an election rally, he might shoot toward the sky, capturing the tops of raised arms beneath a tree that fills most of the frame; or turn away from the action to shoot the rapids of the Congo River, or an empty bed under mosquito netting. In famine-stricken Malawi, Tillim chose to take classically-lit, Caravaggio-like portraits of its residents. That these moments of repose dominate a body of work shot in some of the world’s most war-torn places is a testament to the quietude of Tillim’s vision. His photographs have a hush and luminosity that runs counter to traditional ideas of photojournalism.”
Tillim has received many awards for his work including the Prix SCAM (Société Civile des Auteurs Multimedia) Roger Pic in 2002, the Higashikawa Overseas Photographer Award (Japan) in 2003, and the 2004 DaimlerChrysler Award for South African photography. In 2005 he won the Leica Oskar Barnack Award for his Jo'burg series.
In an interview for Lens Culture, Tillim said, “Photojournalism tends to try and create drama. Tries to look for a false drama, tries to use, you know, photojournalistic iconography to create a sense of moment. I think that there is a movement away from that in photojournalism. . . . because what you used to have were these quite inarticulate images that were seen to be so full of drama.”
He began taking pictures as a member of the photocollective Afropix, in the mid 1980s during the last days of apartheid. Tillim has worked as a freelance photographer in South Africa for the local and foreign media, including positions with Reuters between 1986 and 1988, and with Agence France Presse in 1993 and 1994.
While continuing to focus on the social and natural challenges on the African continent, his working style has evolved into a much more subtle, quiet, and enigmatic approach. He has photographed child soldiers in Congo, refugees in Angola, people who live in the high rises of Johannesburg, and the surrealistic decay of post-colonial modern architecture in many parts of Africa.
As one critic noted, “Tillim’s work counters First-World expectations of these places — in between his portraits of those caught in the aftermath of war or displacement, he is apt to capture the stillness of these spaces as well. During an election rally, he might shoot toward the sky, capturing the tops of raised arms beneath a tree that fills most of the frame; or turn away from the action to shoot the rapids of the Congo River, or an empty bed under mosquito netting. In famine-stricken Malawi, Tillim chose to take classically-lit, Caravaggio-like portraits of its residents. That these moments of repose dominate a body of work shot in some of the world’s most war-torn places is a testament to the quietude of Tillim’s vision. His photographs have a hush and luminosity that runs counter to traditional ideas of photojournalism.”
Tillim has received many awards for his work including the Prix SCAM (Société Civile des Auteurs Multimedia) Roger Pic in 2002, the Higashikawa Overseas Photographer Award (Japan) in 2003, and the 2004 DaimlerChrysler Award for South African photography. In 2005 he won the Leica Oskar Barnack Award for his Jo'burg series.
In an interview for Lens Culture, Tillim said, “Photojournalism tends to try and create drama. Tries to look for a false drama, tries to use, you know, photojournalistic iconography to create a sense of moment. I think that there is a movement away from that in photojournalism. . . . because what you used to have were these quite inarticulate images that were seen to be so full of drama.”
12.10.13
Boring Photography?
Regarding the work in question, I think BORING is the wrong term and I doubt he would say the same as other deadpan aesthetics makers and that whole Düsseldorf lot..
Trying to answer the question What is boring Photography? is in itself boring.
Regarding the work. It's thought provoking and interesting. Maybe a little mundane, but certainly not boring.
10.10.13
Tim Richmond.
Intriguing work by Tim Richmond, in particular his series 'Last Best Resting Place' which I believe was made between 2007 and 2012 and due out in book form soon.
Nice to see work looking like real photographs rather than tweaked beyond measure. If the works good, it don't need changing..!
4.10.13
A grand day out...
The Tony Ray Jones exhibition at the Science Museum media space is one fine show. In fact its the best show I have seen in years. Old Marty Parr has done a very fine job of curating this large entertaining and thought provoking body of work by one of my favorite late photographers.
I have always had an interest in street photography, in particular photography of places I know and love like British seaside towns which was my main inspiration for my By Coastal series. But enough about me..
My day out also gave me a chance to look around the Science Museum and feel like a giant kiddy with those dreams of becoming an astronaut... (How else could you link and image of a beauty contest and a space suit)
I have always had an interest in street photography, in particular photography of places I know and love like British seaside towns which was my main inspiration for my By Coastal series. But enough about me..
My day out also gave me a chance to look around the Science Museum and feel like a giant kiddy with those dreams of becoming an astronaut... (How else could you link and image of a beauty contest and a space suit)
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