Tableau Photography can be seen as a ‘Visual Fiction’: 

Tableaux ‘vivants‘ have been around for tens of centuries. The recreating of famous scenes and paintings was a popular pastime and in our contemporary world,  the digital age  brings us new stories and narratives that can be created with the revival of the tableau photograph.

A “tableau vivant” is a French phrase meaning “living picture.” Before photography was established, it was a popular pastime to re-create scenes from famous paintings at parties and other social events. Participants would dress up, use props, appropriate backgrounds and poses to re-stage the original image, to almost ridicule or mimic, encouraging more audience interest and participation. This technique saw large radicalisation, as people were going against traditional norms to suppress different emotions within photographs.  A good example of this is included in Goethe’s series “ELECTIVE INFINITIES” where the Count in the story suggests:

“There are many well proportioned people here who are certainly capable of impersonating the movements and postures of paintings. Such tableaux demand a great deal of troublesome arrangements, I know, but they produce an unbelievable effect.”

Since the time photography came about, ‘tableaux vivants’ have remained a popular method to recreate old paintings as photographs and to create new narrative scenes in a tableau style captured as photograph. Early pioneers of the tableau photograph were David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson who, in the 1840’s, created many staged portraits of famous men of the time. They also staged images of local fish wives, fishermen and working people.

The Revival of Tableau Photography, 1970s 

The 1970s was a time of experimentation in photography, showing a rise in the use of performance art and photography among women. Photography almost acted as a ‘sanctuary’ for women, as their liberation and freedom grew from being able to experience art forms that men originally performed instead. Cindy Sherman is a good example of how women began to express themselves through photographs in the public domain. Cindy Sherman’s “Film Stills” series dating from the late 1970s to early 1980s are all narrative tableau constructions that create archetypal women from B movies: posed, staged and lit to convey meaning and message.

Sherman starred in every image, turning herself into an art form. Sherman still creates tableau scenes that use herself in the image in a managed way to expose a character or tell a story.

Bernard Faucon is another example of the revival of tableau photography, and differently to Sherman, uses mannequins in his tableau photography, giving his work a surrealist edge. The line between fact and fiction becomes increasingly blurred as some of his images used a mixture of real people and mannequins; making the viewer look deeper into the image to discern what is real and what is not. Faucon’s career took off in 1976 with his exhibition “Les Grandes Vacances.”

This work explored themes of childhood, with the children being replaced with mannequins who play with the elements fire, earth, water and sky. Faucon was obsessed with childhood and in 1995 his obsession came to an end as he retired from photography stating, “I had to eventually make true my claim to finish, my obsession with closing. This became The End of the Image.”

Contemporary Tableau Photography: Ryan Schude

Contemporary artists and photographers have used the tableau to create stunning imagery that reflects modern society and has an underlying narrative. The use of theatrical or filmic lighting adds to the effect of the images. Ryan Schude is a great example of how tableau photography as an art form has allowed him to manipulate any situation in a ridiculed way. Schude’s American lifestyle allows him to play in versitile scenes, as America is known for its variation in scenery, as well as its reputation to always commit to its vibrant character. In the words of Aline Smithson of “LENSCRATCH”,  Fine Art  Articles,  she describes Schude as “creating new photographic worlds by combining a mixture of humor, chaos, constructed environments, and ironic fun. Ryan is a photographer who does it all, producing commercial, stock, editorial, and fine art imagery ” . Below are pictures from his series “TABLEAU VIVANTS“. This series surrounds a range of images surrounding the abnormal lives of people in American Lifestyles.