Key Quotes:

“The daguerreotype has aspirations to both the realistic and the theatrical, as well as to the commercial.” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019; 18) 

“it has gradually taken on an ever more ambiguous, complicated and fraught character as our ability to modify and share images has exponentially increased” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019; 18) 

“The process of manipulation starts as soon as we frame a person, a landscape, an object, or a scene with our cameras: we choose a portrait or landscape format” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019; 18) 

“The question arises: if manipulation is the first thing someone thinks of in connection to photography, what does that say about the value of the photograph in reflection to reality?” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019; 18) 

“from Daguerre’s age to ours, photography has undergone a transformation, not only technologically but conceptually”  (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019; 18) 

“What are the differences between reality, witness and point of view?” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019; 19) 

“Does a photograph need a camera in order to be defined as one?” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019; 20) 

Bibliography:

Bright, S. and Van Erp, H.(2019), Photography Decoded. London: octopus Publishing House

Bibliography: Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. (2019). Photography Decoded. London: Ilex.

…. “a ‘mirror’ image that would soon be kept in a protective case lined with red velvet – illustrates some of photography’s mixed identity” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019: 17) ….

…. “if manipulation is the first thing someone thinks of in connection to photography, what does that say about the photograph as a reflection of reality?” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019: 17) ….

…. “Nonetheless, we can still ask ourselves in every single instance: under what circumstances are these images trusted to be real?” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019: 17) ….

…. “And what does a ‘real photograph’ even look like: Is it something you can hold? Is it something you can see on a screen and alter?” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019: 17) ….

Bibliography:

Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. (2019). Photography Decoded London: Octopus publishing house

Is it Real?

“The question arises: If manipulation is the first thing someone thinks of in connection to photography, what does that say about the value of the photograph as a reflection of reality?” (Bright and Van Erp 2019:17)

“under what circumstances are these images to be trusted as real?” (Bright and Van Erp 2019:17)

“The daguerreotype has aspirations to both the realistic and the theatrical, as well as to the commercial. The ‘mirror’ can serve as a metaphor for reality, whereas the red velvet evokes theatre curtains, within which the beautiful drama would unfold.”(Bright and Van Erp 2019:17)

“The process of manipulation starts as soon as we frame a person, a landscape, an object or a scene with our cameras: we choose a portrait or landscape format. What often follows is the addition of non realistic filters, editing, altering or cropping.” (Bright and Van Erp 2019:18)

What do I remember?

“For most people, looking at a snapshot does not only make one sad for the time or person gone but can also trigger memories of the past, bringing them right back into the present in the mind of the viewer.” (Bright and Van Erp 2019:37)

“In terms of memory, photographs are not just visual records but are concerned with human emotions.” (Bright and Van Erp 2019:38)

Annegret Soltau is a German visual artist. Photomontages of her own body and face sewn over or collaged with black thread are her most well known works. She uses the technique of black thread to portray the idea of identity and disguise. Her work questions personal identity on an abstract scale. For example, ‘Selbst’ is a chapter where she ties her face up with black thread in geometric patterns, this distorts and intensifies the beauty of her face. Through these self harming self-portraits, she demonstrates her story as a woman and the forced place women have had in society for many centuries. It was the first project where Soltau used a needle and thread to draw over a photograph and this style has become her hallmark. Annegret Soltau writes her story as a woman on the blank page of her face; it is a history of conflict, impulsive reactions to the family environment and the marginal position of women in the social context.

Her first project using thread in photography is titled ‘Selbst’. Using black thread, she stitched over self portraits into geometric patterns which joins the features of her face and enhance her beauty, or physically wraps the thread into a cocoon form which acts as a binding force, distorting her appearance through cutting into the flesh and removing freedom of movement. Her work with black thread seems to have a lot of symbolism behind it. At the same time, she is presenting herself as a women pushing against the role her sex has had in society for centuries through using the thread as a cocoon suggesting she will emerge as a new woman. However, one could argue that the cocoon signifies the oppression she has experienced as a woman. Furthermore, the thread cutting into her flesh and obscuring her features could be recalling her abusive childhood and the scars it left.

I have chosen Annegret Soltau as one of my references because the concept through her use of thread is intriguing. Like Soltau, I want to collage my images with thread to form geometric patterns which joins features on my face. The thread could act as a metaphor for the uncertainty and instability in my life. This could showcase that movement doesn’t necessarily mean freedom. Although constant movement can be exciting it doesn’t allow you to settle down in one place. It’s restricting in the way that you feel out of place, a sense of not feeling like you belong at “home”. This would be an interesting technique to carry out in my own work because of the symbolism behind it. 

‘The Erratics’ is a collection of work comprised of sculptures, photography as well as a book. The body of work is focused of rock formations and sculpted chalk with the subject of the photos alternating across pages between the found rocks (particularly the stones within the desert at the start of the book) where these monolithic structures are contrasted with the man mad chalk sculptures. The use of sliced chalks allows the contrast of the textured, natural surface of the stone as well as the smooth faces where it has been cut. This lets the subjects interact with the lighting in an interesting manner and creates variety for the 3D form of the object. The introduction of the smooth faces makes the 3D forms less distinguishable, bringing the photography more into abstraction. The book is shot in black and white which I find allows for better exploration of tone and contrast, this results in a series of impactful, minimalist images. The images are shot with alternating between studio and natural lighting; due to the lack of color I cannot tell what type of studio lighting was used however due to the soft drop shadows, diffusers were most probably used, likely in conjunction with reflectors in order to cast light on some of the hidden details of the subjects.

Pictured above is the cover photo for the book, A small aperture has been used in order to achieve a high level of detail across the images, this can be seen as the focus appears to be the same across the foreground and the subject of the image. It is hard to determine the length of shutter speed from the image since it is a studio shot without color, as such the color depth cant be used to infer the shutter speed. It is likely that the shutter speed is short however since it is a studio shot and the use of spot lamps can allow for a faster shutter. The cut across the chalk is intentionally lined up with the edge of the desk in order to create the illusion of the conjunction of 2 separate images into one. This makes it more difficult to distinguish particular forms bringing the image more into the lines of abstract.

Bernd and Hilla Becher were a photography duo whose work primarily centered around typologies of various industrial architecture. They photographed industrial architecture for forty years across North America and Europe. As a duo they formed the ‘Becher School’ (Düsseldorf School) and have been awarded the Erasmus prize and the Hasselblad Award for their roles as photography professors.

Bernd Becher (1931-2007) was a Siegen born artist. He studied painting at Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart for three years then went on to study typography under Karl Rössing at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf for two years.

Hilla Becher, born Hilla Wobeser (1934-2015) in Potsdam. Prior to studying photography, Hilla had an apprenticeship with a local photographer. Hilla went on to study photography at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf for three years.

Bernd and Hilla began to work together on their typologies, after two years of collaboration they married.

Their photography follows a very journalistic approach with elements of abstract. They were shot using natural light on a black and white SLR. Since the subjects are often substantially darker than the background it is likely the images were shot using quite fast film. with a fast shutter resulting in a higher degree of contrast.

The typologies feature series of visually similar images, laid out in a grid like format.

The image above is a prime example of the typology work of the Bechers; the images shows a series of very visually similar series of photographs of various buildings. The images show aspects of abstraction, featuring minimal 3D forms, emphasized by the front on images of flat faces of buildings. The contrasting cross-beams are used to introduce more shape into the photographs.