Recently in galleries etc Category

i went to jacob carter’s exhibition on the southbank a few weeks back and it was really interesting. technically he uses film which expired in the 1970s and then digitally restores and manipulates his images to restore appropriate details (more details here).  the series i was was the wilderness series of canada and the first image of an esso petrol station at the bottom of a mountain (shown above from the outside of the gallery) was my favourite.

i was as interested in the process as the photos themselves which have strange hues due to the processing.  This adds a different dimension to what would perhaps have been otherwise uninteresting photos (although on closer inspection all of the photos would have stood up alone).  Instead the strangeness of the photos suggests they were taken a long time ago – perhaps around the 1970s when the film expired !

The room notes are available here at the point of writing.

I went to the Tate Modern's Street and Studio exhibition today as it closes this weekend.  The exhibition contained over 350 photos covering the period from the very beginning of street and studio photography through to modern day.

Room 1 - Precursors
The exhibition started with some very early works.  What looked like spontaneous photos were actually carefully choreographed scenes due to the long exposures required.  It was only in the 1880 that fast gelatine plates allowed more detailed pictures of moving subjects.  Photographers in this room included Henri Riviere and Louis Vert.   Photography was seen more as a document than art.   Meanwhile Studio photography at this stage was very formal, mimicking paintings.

Room 2 Passers-by
This room dropped out of the chronology and explored a number of different approaches to photographing strangers in the street ranging from outright stalking (Ed van der Elsken), through to hidden cameras giving extreme closeups (DiCorcia) and those that work with large format cameras and tripods (Joel Sternfeld). 

it made me wonder about the ethics of anonymous street portraiture and teh photographers role in intervening in a situation - by revealing your presence you alter the situation and create non natural behaviours, but on the other hand the subject is aware of your activities.  Later in another room a photographer talked about a grabbed photo of a stranger as a kind of mugging which seemed appropriate.

Room 3 Truth and Invention: The early 20th Century
the notes said that "Lewis Hine used photography as a tool for political and social reform" as he photoed children on the street of New York which he used in a campaign about them.  Similarly Arnold Genthe took portraits of life in Chinatown, San Francisco before it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1908.  Paul Strand experimented with candid photography thanks to camera miniaturisation.

There was also some experimentation eg Coburn used three shaving mirrors to create a strange portrait effect  which is almost psychedelic and there was an excellent self portrait with a newsboy picture which is must try and find.

There were some interesting studio pictures too including Baron de Meye's photograph which was used for a cosmetic advert. 

My favourite was once by Madam d'Ora called something like Ermine in a Persian coat.  I was particularly taken by the quirkiness of the model's facial expression.  Another photo to track down !


Room 4 Classification and Storytelling: Street photography between the wars
This room included greats like Cartier-Bresson.  It looked at how street photography can reflect the 'civil conditions of society'.  There were many pictures showing people suffering and the reality of life around the photographer.  Again photography was more of a documentation than art.  Around this time street photographers also tried selling their shots ot people to passers by to try to make photography was becoming more of a business'

Room 5 Ordinary People and Celebrities: The studio between the wars
Whilst the street photographers were out in the grit and grime, celebrities and ordinary people were starting to feel the glamour and glitz of professional studio photography with people like Cecil Beaton creating highly staged sets for people to create a 'photocracy' - a class of people who wanted to be photographed in this way.

Photobooths also emerged at this time giving sitters control over what they themselves looked like

In this room there was some head shots by Helmar Lerski which were taken in a lot more close up detail than usual which was quite striking. I shall have a go at this myself ...

Room 6  Characters

There were a brilliant set of pictures in this room by Philippe Halsman where celebrities were invited to jump so as to lose control.  This produced an excellent set and is another thing worth experimenting with as a way of getting people to lose their 'mask'

There were also photos of people looking straight at the camera looking quite angry.  The eye contact was quite unnerving.  Again, something to experiment with.

There was also a hint of news photography/ paparazzi voyeurism in Weegee's pictures around crime scenes

Room 7 Passengers
This room was made up of photos taken with concealed cameras on the underground (in NY subway 1934-1941 (Walker Evans) and London Underground (Wolfgang Tillmans) more recently) showing people travelling.  The london ones in particularly show how closely together strangers are packed - intimate yet isolated and unknown from each other. Cindy Sherman used her camera to impersonate different people for a series of studio self portraits.

Room 8 Living Theatre: the post war era
This is when in my mind photography became fun (although it wasn’t not fun before).  The subjects seem looser and the posing more informal for both street and studio photography.

Details of the photographers etc can be found on the tatemoden website to save me writing them here.

There was much in this room about finding joy and the poetry in every day life.  Something I can very much relate to.  Studio and street photography began to collide as magazines (vogue, harpers bazaar) did photo shoots in the street.

Room 9 Liberation, Room 10and 11  Contemporary Street and Studio (1 and 2)
This room explored the more aggressive relationship between photography, fashion and celebrity.  I didn't enjoy this section as much and didn't really see anything that inspired me so i didn't take too many notes !  Perhaps i was just tired after spending nearly 2 hours in the first section.

All in all a very inspiring visit.

Favourite works:
Madame d'Ora (Dora Philippine Kallmus)
(1881 Vienna - 1963 Frohnleiten, Austria)
Automantel aus Hermelin und Persianer (Ermine and Persian Coat),


Umbo (Otto Umbehr) (1902 Dusseldorf - 1980 Hanover)
Schattenwunder (Shadow Miracle), 1928, 28 x 20.6 cm
Galerie Kicken, Berlin