Le Crowbar - Tom Hunter

 Upon hearing that he missed an event causing headlines in newspapers such as "Police powerless as 20,000 attend rave" Hunter states that he could "feel the blood drain from my body as I realise that I have missed one of the major cultural events in my lifetime". This is where the influence for his project could be seen to have begun. He decided to travel on converted vans, part of the travelling rave scene, and has produced a unique photographic representation of his experiences. "Le Crowbar paints a vivid picture of friends on a journey, exploring new horizons and ways of living on the road, in the wake of the introduction of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994". The importance of his personal experiences attached to these images is what makes them have character to me. The project very much feels like an insiders perspective of the way of living. The book neglects the less positive aspects of the scene, aspects which one could safely assume did happen at such events. Ignoring scenes of drug use, its effects or anything related/explicit, gives the project a real sense of innocence. The book really does feel like a journey through Hunter's first hand experiences, through his education of travelling raves. 

Raymond Depardon - Shanghai

Raymond Depardon, Shanghai, China, 2
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I came across this photograph whilst looking through a book featuring photographic work from Magnum. The photographic agency, Magnum, was founded very shortly after the end of the of the Second World War, by four photographers, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David "Chim" Seymour. It has always been heavily concerned with documentary photography and still is.Whilst working for Magnum, Depardon worked with reportage and books.This image was actually used as a cover image for his self titled publication "Depardon" which featured photography from many cities. In this book, it jumps from one city to another and creates a sense of global uniformity. The mobile phone is a strong idea of global togetherness, in that regardless of your location, you are connected to everyone that you need be. In 2004 it wasnt so much the case as phones were still relatively basic, but as mobile technology increases the effect it has on our culture is undeniable. Perhaps if this image were to be taken today we would see the woman looking at her phone using Google maps to find her way, and this changes the way in which we interact with the world around us.

Wynn Bullock

"As long as I can remember, I have been filled with a deep desire to find a means of creatively interacting with the world, of understanding more of what is within and around me. It was not until I was 40, however, that I decided photography was my best way. When I photograph, what I'm really doing is seeking answers to things" - Wynn Bullock

Wynn Bullock, Let There Be Light, 1954

This is one of two images which sparked Bullock's worldwide recognition in 1955, as it was chosen to be included into the famous "Family of Man" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It is a beautiful depiction of light and the beauty of nature and its patterns, these are elements often found in Bullock's photography. Bullock occasionally referred to some his photographs as "seed photographs" by which he was describing images that he had taken as single defined objects, which later on came to be his influence for a whole project or body of work. This image is perhaps an example of his "seed" photography which has not only influenced him, but also later photographers, as now this type of photograph of a beach would be considered 'generic' due to the mass of images that are similar.

Wynn Bullock, Old Typewriter, 1951

Personally, I feel that this image is fairly straight forward reference to the cycle of life and death, but possibly even more importantly, the process of time. Generally typewriters are made of particular materials, such as metal, which are considered strong and therefore one would assume that they would have a long 'life'. Here however we are shown the common object slowly being broken down, reverting back into nature. Whilst it does not contain any of the typical conventions of vanitas art, I cant help but feel that it was at least influenced by such work.

Wynn Bullock , Cactus, 1958

I felt that I would include this image as I find the background information to it rather funny. Bullock submitted this photograph to a major exhibition of the theme of 'love'. I thought this was a really interesting photographic perspective of 'love'. To me a cactus is fairly elegant and has a sense of implied strength, its also one of the least dependant of external factors, but most importantly, its got one very sharp sting.

A New Objectivity - The Düsseldorf School of Photography Exhibition at Sothersby's in London

"The Particular Strength of photography lies in an absolute realistic recording of the world. This sets it apart from all other image media...the more precisely it depicts objects the stronger its magical effect on the observer" - Bernd & Hilla Becher

"The singular vision of Bernd and Hilla Becher has imparted one of the most significant photographic inquiries and influential artistic legacies to emerge from the post war period. The crystalline poesies of the Bechers' lifelong taxonomy of industrial buildings has outlined an approach to photographic objectivity that itself has come to transcend the medium. Under their watch, the first official class of Photography at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf swiftly aquired legendary status: indeed, the list of the Bechers' first generation of students is as extraordinary as the class' ascent to pre-eminence. Between 1976 and 1986 Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff, Candida Hofer, Axel Hütte And Andreas Gursky studied together within the tightly-knit milieu of their select teaching group. Driven by the Bechers' infectious dedication to their work and steadfast belief in the autonomy of their medium, the remarkable success of this primary cohort of alumni signalled a turning point in the history of photography." (Extract taken from "A New Objectivity" Catalogue which I could not find an authors name within)

Bernd and Hilla Becher, 1931-2007, Wassertürme (Water Towers), gelatin silver print, framed 62.8cm by 84.5cm.

This exhibition was at Sotherby's S2 gallery in London, 28th November 2013 - 17th January 2014. "The Düsseldorf School of Photography: The Legacy of Bernd and Hilla Becher" was a selling exhibition which quite literally showcased photographers who honed their practice as students at the Düsseldorf School of Photography established by Bernd and Hilla Becher. The practice of Bernd & Hilla Becher was highly influential in development of photographic objectivity. Their most well known piece, Wassertürme (Water Towers), is a perfect example of their objective approach to photography and following this is no surprise they have been referred to as the "great encyclopaedic artists of their generation" by art historian Armin Zweite.

Andreas Gursky, 1955, Cocoon I, C-print, framed 212 by 507cm.

In this post I will only be discussing an image by Andreas Gursky although the exhibition displayed works also by Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruth, Candida Hofer and Axel Hütte (I do plan to make posts researching them in the near future however), a group of photographers who all studied together at the Düsseldorf School of Photography between 1976 and 1986. It is impossible to ignore just how successful Gursky is, most notably that he currently holds the record for the most expensive photograph ever sold at 4.3 Million Dollars. His work is very much concerned with the nature of humans and how we behave in the world, perhaps more specifically how we behave in relation to others in our surroundings. This print, as with most of Gursky's work, is an extremely large print, its dimensions being 212 by 507cm, which enables the viewer to see each subject within the image with detail and clarity. Personally I found myself mentally cropping the image into sections, attempting to analyse the crowd in more detail so that I could perhaps gain a greater idea of the overall scene. When viewing the image as a whole, I thought it was possible that the image was exploring the relationship between the crowd of a rave/club and the institutional values of the actual venue. The form of the people in the crowd is visually similar to that of the venues chrome reflective surface in the background, to me this suggests a sense of simultaneous existence between the venue and its guests.

'Scarti' - Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin

"Ghetto was published ten years ago. It documented twelve contemporary gated communities, and was photographed by Broomberg and Chanarin entirely on large format colour negative. The book took three years to produce and its now out of print. Scarti di avviamento is the technical term at the printer in Italy for the paper that is fed through the printing press to clean the drums of ink between print runs. This by-product is usually destroyed once the book is printed. But during the printing of Ghetto the scarti - Italian for scraps - were saved and stored away by publisher Gigi Giannuzzi. Following his untimely death in December 2012 these scarti were discovered. The twice-printed sheets reveal uncanny and often beautiful combinations. Yet in truth they are nothing but a series of little accidents." - Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin

Whilst they claim the images within this series were created accidentally, I find it difficult to believe this due to the quality of composition between the overlaying prints and the relationships created within each single image. The images above appear in the same format within the publication of this work, it is a strong example of how 'Scarti' revisits their previous publication 'Ghetto' with a new approach. In the original book 'Ghetto' each community was portrayed in designated sections, 'Scarti' on the other hand blurs these boundaries and portrays hybrids of communities.

The original prints are now part of a wall exhibition, the prints are the same size as the intended scale for the 'Ghetto' publication. This recontextualisation makes the images feel rather small on the wall whereas they feel like rather large prints when viewing them in their book form. This arguably is a way of keeping the experience of viewing them reasonably similar in both contexts as both you have to be reasonably close to the print, which makes it feel like a personal experience.

In the image on the left, the overlaying handwritten text, is a letter to Adam Broomsberg in which it seems a subject within the book has sent to him in response to the publication of the images. Personally I feel that this image establishes an individual context for this publication which is separate from 'Ghetto' as it merges not only space but also time within a single image. The image on the right is the image which I struggle the most to believe was entirely accidental. The relationship between the male subject and its text "What is your earliest memory? Sitting on daddy's lap learning to whistle." and the image of the elderly lady seems like it could have very easily been calculated. Her positioning makes it appear as if she is sitting on his lap, but also the dress that she is wearing is rather youthful, almost like a dress for a toddler, whilst the man wears rather grown up, almost 'parent' clothing. I would like to believe that it is an accident, and me doubting that is obviously a compliment to the 'accident' if it is, but i just struggle to believe it for all of the iamges within the publication.