JEFF WALL

Jeff Wall is a Canadian artist who is best known for his large-scale photographs and theories on art history. In an interview which was conducted with Wall he said;

‘Not every image is (or wants to be, or needs to be) a tableau…and when an image isn’t as acutely composed, it has less presence as a tableau.‘ – this is suggesting that even if an image is directed/staged it doesn’t has to be categorized as a tableau, as you the photographer are adding your emotions and effects to it, making it an unique image,.

‘Photographers often want to treat a subject extensively, devote themselves to it and make groups or sequence of pictures about it. I do it to one image, and clear the debt in one throw of the dice‘

‘Subjects might have their own specific pictorial energy, but I don’t think they require any predictable way of being shown. So, I look forward to showing, ways of creating an appearance of something, whether it is a scene of tension or of something else.’ – this is suggesting that images can present different emotions, depending on how the photographer photographed their image and the meaning behind the image can help set the scene and emotion for a project or an individual image. Along with this, experimenting with how to present your work can be fun as you can show it in different ways, which can simple of unique.

‘Any slightly unusual subject would likely have to come to the artist through some sort of unexpected encounter. In the absence of such an encounter, you can still keep working by using once of the generic subjects as your starting point.’

‘there are simply NO RULES’ – from this quote, Walls is saying that there are no rules within photography. You can photograph what interests you and experiment it in different ways and it won’t be wrong as it is your view and perception on a certain genre and topic.

Technical; The lighting in the image is bright and sharp which contrasts against the dark, grey sky, the lighting is a natural source and the photo may have been slightly edited to make it brighter in certain areas. The image has a wide depth of field, this is due to the face the subjects are up close to the camera, yet you can see far down the street, making the image seem longer than it is. The color of the image is blue and grey, which gives off a cold effect and this is enhanced by the way the subjects are dressed as they are in coats.

Visual; Within the image there are three main subjects you can visually see, who are carrying luggage with them, they are also walking past traffic on an overpass. The lines created by the barriers of the left hand side of the image create a parallel effect for the image and these correspond with the shadows create on the floor and the line on the pavement. The shadows in the image give it a 3D effect.

Contextual/Conceptual; Within one of Walls interviews that I have looked at he said ‘Not every image is (or wants to be, or needs to be) a tableau…and when an image isn’t as acutely composed, it has less presence as a tableau.‘ part of this image may have been staged so Walls could get the affect of commuters he wanted but this image would’ve taken divers planning to photograph the people at the right time and to give off the correct emotion. As Wall said ‘Subjects might have their own specific pictorial energy‘, such as this image is presenting what it is like for travelers going to the airport, work, etc this images gives off the sense living and he is documenting what it is like for people living in different areas. The image is simple, but possess it’s own ‘pictorial energy‘ as photography has ‘NO RULES’ according to Wall, it is a free flow and everyone gets their inspiration from different subjects and whats to present their work in different way as mentioned when Wall expressed ‘I look forward to showing, ways of creating an appearance of something, whether it is a scene of tension or of something else.’, this scene carries some slight tension, the stress of having to be at a detestation will all your baggage both physically ad emotionally. Wall, throws everything he has at an image to give it a feeling of emotion and in this instance tension, which is present through the subjects and the dark sky as a background.