GD: During our previous discussion you mentioned a number of other photographers who have also worked on projects dealing with family and friends. Sally Mann was one of the names that came up in this context. Can you talk about photographers who are perhaps influencing your ideas with respect to this project?
GD: Sally Mann is, to my mind, a remarkable photographer. With her ‘Immediate Family’ series she demonstrated a willingness to go where few would venture with portraiture and this resulted in a conservative backlash against her work. The principle objections to her photographs were largely directed at issues of nudity and the representations of her children. Some charged Mann with exploitation and questioned her role as a mother. But after the initial controversy died down favorable critical reception placed her among the most important American photographers of the late 20th - and now early 21st - centuries. There is no question that her work is provocative but it never exploits in my view because it is genuine. The themes that are addressed in her work are personal and universal…and always relevant.
GD: Can you explain?
GD: Sure. One of her best-known photographs is an image titled ‘The Last Time Emmett Modeled Nude’. To my mind it is a perfect marriage between image and title and the composition addresses beautifully the underlying themes that I find in her work. The photograph shows her son wading into a river. He’s nude, as the title indicates, but his nudity is partially concealed by the water and the expression on his face suggests that he has just reached an age of greater self-conscious before the camera and others. He’s no longer entirely comfortable, it seems, with modeling this way. The photograph may have been provocative for some back in the ‘90s (when Mann exhibited the work) but in fact it’s really a very sensitive image. Mann respects her son’s privacy and offers a portrait that captures this transitional moment in his life… without exploiting him. The image is melancholic and bittersweet… we’re witnesses to the passing of a chapter in this child’s life as he continues to grow and change. There will never be another photograph quite like this for Emmett or Sally. And the photograph itself compliments this theme because it too signifies the passing of a moment. Photographs are like memorials. They simultaneously mark the death of a moment while ensuring that the moment takes on a new life in our memories and imaginations. For this reason the photograph is the perfect medium for Mann’s image and it is no surprise that the themes of life and death are so pervasive in her work.
GD: You said that Mann is a “remarkable” photographer…
GD: Yes, because of her willingness to do what many others would not. To go behind the camera and make the kinds of photographs that Mann produces takes guts. You have to follow your artistic vision yet reconcile this in some way with respect for your subject. If you don’t do this you run the risk of exploiting your subject. This is enough of an issue when you’re dealing with adults but when you’re working with children it is a critical problem. The minute you step behind the camera there is a power relationship established between you and ‘your’ subject. You’re in control. You have to respect that relationship and that power. You need to know that your subject is comfortable with that relationship… and able to cope with the public presentation of those images regardless of what shape or form they take. There is a lot at stake and to follow through on this requires a very high level of commitment and tenacity.
GD: Are there others who demonstrate, for you, this level of commitment?
GD: When I was in Spain in 2000 I came across a book of photographic work, Cronos, by the Catalan photographer Pere Formiguera. He’s highly respected but not quite so well known, I think, in North America. In this work Formiguera documented the physical changes of a group of subjects - ranging in age from 2 - 75 - by photographing each of them once a month over the course of ten years. It’s an extraordinary project that resulted in a truly unique set of portraits. To have carried this through to completion must have taken great commitment… not only from Formiguera but also his subjects.
GD: Where do you see the development of your project in relation to this type of work?
GD: The idea of chronology… of mapping the passage of time and the changes within people is obviously something that interests me. Formiguera dealt with this directly and in a manner that is very different from the approach that I’m taking. I’m not at all interested in emulating this type of work. Sally Mann also deals with chronology but with very different results. Again, I have no desire to try and imitate this kind of work. Generally speaking I like looking at the work of others to see how they have dealt with the kinds of issues I’m concerned with… but I’m most interested in how they have arrived at a unique vision. Thinking this through helps me to understand my own choices more effectively. It helps to put my own work into perspective. In a sense I treat the work of other influential photographers as something to engage with almost on a discursive level… almost conversational if that makes sense. I’m generally not looking at these works for formal ideas.
GD: Speaking of conversation… what about input from other photographers?
GD: I’ve just had a really engaging discussion with one of my former students, Christopher
McLeod, who is a professional photographer. I’m very grateful for his input because he has, for a start, a lot more experience than I do. I have a lot to learn from people like Christopher so I respect his opinion greatly.
GD: What did you discuss?
GD: Many things. We spent a bit of time on the topic of digital imaging and older photographic techniques… so-called ‘analog’ photography (laughing). I think we share some similar views on digital imaging and especially contemporary printing methods. Inkjet printing has become enormously popular and this is one issue we looked at. At what point do such prints reflect the intentions of the photographer… and at what point do they suggest a compromise? Inkjet prints are convenient and cost-effective. The resolution of these prints can also be very high but when a photographer chooses to go with an inkjet over some other method of printing we need to consider the motives. Has the choice been made because of the intrinsic qualities of the inkjet print or does it simply reflect a compromise? Convenience and cost can be powerful motivators, especially if the quality is high… but at some point one has to consider the integrity of the vision. If one is seeking a high-quality print there are alternatives… dye-transfer, cibachrome, silver gelatin, for example. It’s necessary to consider the choice of print and how that particular medium relates to the subject matter and the themes that inform the work. Going back to Sally Mann’s work for a moment… we can see this clearly. In her recent work she has been using the wet collodion process. This is a difficult and temperamental technique that goes back to the 1800s. I think the visual effect of the collodion plate, reflected in the finished print, works very well with the theme of death that Mann treats in her series ‘What Remains’. It is reminiscent of the past and, to some extent, nostalgic… and this is augmented by the fact that - as Mann discovered - collodion was used by field surgeons to treat wounded soldiers during the civil war. Since her work is additionally informed by her Southern American heritage it is fitting that she has adopted the technique. The end result is a perfect union of subject matter, visual style, medium and content. It is complete… and without compromise.
GD: Given what you have said do you think that inkjet prints lack the credibility of older forms of printmaking?
GD: Not at all. Inkjet prints are a contemporary form of visual media. They are produced in a way that is very different from the other photographic prints I’ve mentioned. This has to be respected. There is absolutely a place for this type of image but it is only going to work when the photographer considers the medium well. If you look at the history of modern art there are many examples of work that treat new forms of visual media but those that continue to be relevant are the ones that reflect the artist’s keen understanding of the medium in its time. There is meaning in the medium itself… and in the process. This has to be recognized. Inkjet printing is no less significant or valid than any other medium but it isn’t necessarily suited to every purpose. Christopher and I were looking at this issue and, I think, in agreement.
GD: Where do you see the meaning in the medium and process of digital imaging and inkjet printing?
GD: Digital imaging and inkjet printing have been adopted very quickly and significant advances have been made in a short span of time with respect to the quality of these media. They are very flexible and can yield impressive results even in the hands of someone who has little photographic experience. No doubt this makes some photographers uneasy… some, at least, who have spent the better part of their lives perfecting technical skills in making images on film and photographic paper. But the concerns registered by these photographers represent the concerns of a minority because the demand for digital has simply exploded and manufacturers have responded to this demand by developing equipment that can now meet the needs of the professional market. Look at the resolution of today’s digital cameras and compare with the offerings of a just few years ago. Now as I see it the pro market is not concerning itself with the theoretical differences in meaning between digital and analog. It doesn’t need to… and digital is generally satisfying the demands of the field far better than analog possibly could. It is cost-effective, fast and high-end. Those of us who are looking at the meaningful differences between analog and digital need to take this into account. This is part of what defines the larger percentage of digital imaging today. It is not precious. In fact I would argue that it is ephemeral, pervasive and, in some ways, even disposable. We have more images being produced today than ever before and just like ‘tweets’ they accrue and pass by as quickly as they come. And this is how we often look at such images… with a fleeting interest. The photographer who uses digital with the intention of producing art has to embrace this, I think, and find some way to reconcile it with an artistic vision. For me the fleeting, ephemeral aspect is important. With digital I can amass an enormous collection of images for a single project… far more than I ever could with analog. The making of these images is rapid and spontaneous… this is why I’m using automatic metering and auto focus for many of these images. I do not treat this part of the process as precious. Instead it is the editing that is precious because it is driven by the desire to find or discover those meaningful images. Editing is like searching through rubble to find the few remains that are important. This part of the process is slow and deliberate by contrast… painstaking. And for me the contrast between the processes - between the rapidity of the camerawork and the methodical labour of the editing - lends to the meaning of the project as a whole because it speaks to the dual aspect of ‘becoming’. On the one hand you have the fleeting moments of life, growth and change - experienced by my daughters and their friend Chris - reflected in the spontaneous and ephemeral medium of the digital image. On the other hand you have the meditative aspect… the process of reflection that leads us to some better understanding of what we (or rather they) are becoming. This I see mirrored in the editorial process and, ultimately, the final print. The problem for me, at the immediate moment, has to do with the final print. I’m not sure what form these images will ultimately take. This I’m still wrestling with…
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