John Pawson
Stumbled upon British architect John Pawson’s work after leafing through his new book, A Visual Inventory, at work. The book is composed of a series of digital photographs chosen from Pawson’s personal collection of over 200,000 images. The way he utilizes photography as a tool in his work is not only visually stunning but brings up important issues of form, functionality, pattern, and light. An inspirational source for any visual artist. Below are a few images from the book, as well as some of his past work- I love the juxtaposition of his clear, minimal designs against the sprawling overgrowth of nature (see last three images).
The Majestic Forest
Tilden Park, Berkeley. May 2011.
Nature as mystery / nature as a portrait / nature as utopia.
What does it mean to make nature unnatural, to obstruct it? Another thing: when is a person unnatural?
After a Long, Long Silence: Nature
Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Alec Soth
Jeff Wall
Dan Graham
Dan Graham
Rineke Dijkstra
P.S. Awhile ago I stumbled upon a really amazing female photographer/installation artist who constructed these beautiful glass/mirror sculptures in nature, but I’ve completely forgotten her name. Any ideas?
more movement
It was really difficult for me to find images from Robert Longo’s book Men in the Cities, but these few will have to suffice. Robert Longo is most famously known for his series of drawings of the same name, but I actually prefer the photographs he made which inspired the drawings (most people had no idea he used photographs for his source material until the book “Men in the Cities” was published in 2009).
Longo simply took his camera up to a New York rooftop and threw objects at his friends (including Cindy Sherman and Glenn Branca), capturing their awkward and violent- yet somehow graceful- reactions. Sidenote: one of Longo’s drawings from “Men in the Cities” was used as the cover for Glenn Branca’s album Ascension (another sidenote: my father played guitar on this album). I found a great synthesis of the book from DLK Collection:
What is altogether surprising about these pictures is that they rival the best dance photographs that have ever been made - Martha Graham never looked so good. The jerks and spasms of Longo’s subjects have an elegance and grace that is entirely unexpected; protective reactions and exaggerated gestures have been turned into effortless and authentic choreography, a ballet of falls and stumbles, leaps and trips. While the business suits and skirts have a retro film look, the movements are fresh and vital, full of energy and life, even when they mockingly portray the agonizing arrival of a bullet to the chest or a fist to the jaw. Thirty years in the drawer have failed to dampen the impact of these “death dance” pictures - they document an essence of human motion, boiled down to pure expression.
the magic of leonie hampton
I just came across Leonie Hampton’s work a few days ago and it’s safe to say that her work is some of the most inspiring I’ve seen in a long time. These images are from her first, recently published book entitled In The Shadow of Things, which chronicles her mother’s longterm battle with OCD.
An excerpt from her website: “In the Shadow of Things is a product of the months that Leonie spent with her mother as together they tried to tackle the irrational rituals and behaviours that were dominating her life. Opening the boxes and clearing out the rooms led to moments of anguish and anger, but also of humour, tenderness, and joy.”
As someone whose primary focus in photography is family, these photographs deeply moved me- not only because of the intimate subject matter but also because of Hampton’s aesthetic approach to image-making. These photographs are incredibly lush, filled with intense shadow, vivid color and soft focus. While in a sense these images are “documenting” a critical and emotional event, they become so much more than that: they are sensual, playful, painful, surreal. The shadows mimic the darkness of the event; the soft light on skin is vulnerable, breakable, beautiful. It’s clear how much this project meant to Hampton- the important thing is that these images also mean something to me (and, I’m sure, to many others). That is what photography is about. This is what is most important.
some thoughts on jeff wall
Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how we redefine our own work. After moving across the country I am far away from my familiar subjects and surroundings (family and home), and what became a longstanding familial ritual or tradition has been put on hold indefinitely.
Jeff Wall is an artist I’ve always admired, but lately I’ve been revisiting and thinking a lot about how prolific he has been. As a conceptual artist in the world of photography he is unparalleled, and his reenactments of other artists’ work (his Picture For Women is a “remake” of Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, and A Sudden Gust of Wind is a reinterpretation of Hokusai’s painting of the same name) shows a level of sophistication that I can barely comprehend. It takes a lot of fucking guts to reinterpret classic works of art, and do it so successfully. Wall has always worked closely with other conceptual artists, and has written numerous critical essays on the state of photography and conceptual art.
I feel that many photographers today get so caught up in their own image-making that they forget about visual art outside of the world of photography. When I look back on my own education, I wish that painting and sculpture had played a larger part in my introductory photography classes. Wall’s unorthodox use of large-scale, digitally manipulated images and mounted transparent light boxes, as well as his constant referencing of literature, painting, sculpture, etc., helped to bring photography, for the first time, into the arena of contemporary art.
Check out MoMa’s interactive Jeff Wall exhibition from 2007, complete with excerpts from essays and interviews, here.
Picture For Women. 1979
Double Self-Portrait. 1979
Storyteller. 1986
A Sudden Gust of Wind. 1993
A View From An Apartment. 2004-2005
Rear, 304 E. 25th Ave., May 20, 1997, 1:14 & 1:17pm. 1997
An Unearthed Photographic Trip to the Aquarium
These photographs started out as a mystery. I found them in a box of family photos at my father’s house over a year ago and have been wanting to use them for a project ever since. I was struck by the playful, childish quality of the images, as well as the reflexivity of the photographer- fingertips/hands obscuring the lens, crooked exposures, and flash difficulties.
After a bit of detective work I deduced that 1) we were on a family trip to the aquarium, 2) my sister Sophia, the second of four, took the photographs (I guessed it was her because there are photos of my second youngest sister- not pictured- as well as the back of my head), and 3) Sophia was around eight years old (my younger sister looks to be about five, and my ponytail suggests I am around twelve). Which means that my youngest sister, also not pictured, was two years old. In which case the year must have been 1999.
These images were shot on an instant film camera, which was where I got my start as a photographer, taking equally lopsided and blurry photographs of my sisters and friends on school camping trips. Enjoy.
