02-01-2020
- Keith Arnatt
- Martin Parr
- Peter Spurgeon
I explored a few of the suggested photographers who have ‘worked within their locality and/or in autobiographical way’ (Photography 1:Expressing your Vision, p 15)
Keith Arnatt
The first one on the list was Keith Arnatt who I encountered in Creative Arts Today which covered his Self-Burial (Television Interference Project) 1969, my (not very profound) thoughts on that can be found here.
Arnatt is known as a Conceptual Photographer/Artist. Conceptual photography is, according to The Tate, photography that illustrates an idea. His photography doesn’t resonate for me, it feels like it is trying too hard to be ‘out there’ or shocking, for example, his Defecation series is a gradual realisation that ‘shit happens’. Maybe though, it is as the BJP infers a reflection of his sense of humour (BJP, 2015) and that he understood “the ability of photography simultaneously to document what was there and transform it into something quite different.” (BJP,2015)
The Gardeners series seems to make the gardener uncomfortable in their environment. None of the gardens looks at their best and to me, it almost feels like he is laughing at the people in the gardens ‘so you think you’re a gardener huh?’ However, Michal Goldschmidt writing for the Tate says that Arnatt was exploring identity (Goldschmidt, M. 2014).
‘whether being labelled a ‘gardener’, for instance, forms an element of an individual’s identity that is ontological – one that is part of their being – or performative – one that emerges only when the sitter engages in the act of tending the garden.’
Arnatt uses black and white photography, which I feel, has a way of distancing the viewer from the subject.
References
Arnatt, K..(2020) Defecation Piece, 1969. at: http://www.keitharnatt.com/works/w25.html Accessed: 2 February 2020
BJP-Online(2015) Keith Arnatt: the conceptual photographer who influenced a generation at https://www.bjp-online.com/2015/09/keith-arnatt-the-conceptual-photographer-who-influenced-a-generation/ Accessed: 2 February 2020
Goldschmidt, M. (2014) Keith Arnatt: Gardeners at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/arnatt-gardeners-t13113 Accessed: 2 February 2020
Tate (undated) Art Term: Conceptual Photography. At https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/c/conceptual-photography. Accessed: 2 February 2020
Martin Parr
‘At first glance, his photographs seem exaggerated or even grotesque. The motifs he chooses are strange, the colours are garish and the perspectives are unusual’
Thomas Weski – Introduction to Martin Parr
His colours do feel surreal, punching out of the image. But when I looked at the most recent work on his website ‘Beach Therapy’, it was the colour that drew me – I liked the fact that it wasn’t black and white. The strong hit of colour was achieved by using an amateur film rather than photoshop (Parr, Martin. 2019).
He’s not afraid of using a central point, as can be seen above where the eyes drawn to the little girl in pink. And as discussed in an EYV meet up makes good use of lines to direct the gaze.
The photograph above shows a sense of humour. Some of his view points and the use of a telephoto lens is rather discomforting, I felt at times like a peeping tom. I think this is intentional as but he plays on this filming through things like foliage as if he were shooting through twitching, net curtains.
References
Weski, T (undated) Martin Parr – Introduction. Available at:https://www.martinparr.com/introduction/ Accessed 14.02.2020
Parr, M (2019) FAQ’s. Available at: https://www.martinparr.com/faq/ Accessed 14.02.2020
Parr, M (2020) Beach Therapy. Available at: https://www.martinparr.com/recent-work-4/. Accessed 14.02.2020
Images
Parr, M. ( 2018) Theory and Practice, Martin Parr’s Beach Therapy. Magnum Photo’s. Available at: https://www.magnumphotos.com/theory-and-practice/martin-parr-beach-therapy/ Accessed 14.02.2020
Peter Spurgeon
Childhood Series
Bright colours against dark backgrounds; the toys are suspended in space as if they were suspended in time. There is no sense of scale for the toys and this lack scale them seem huge. Which I suppose our toys were to us when we were little.
I particularly liked his Decoy series. He uses ‘theatrical lighting to animate the landscape and to evoke visual deception in war.’ (Spurgeon, P. )The strong light creates hard-edged shapes and deep shadows. The subjects are haloed by the eerie, red light spill from the city or surrounded by impenetrable darkness. As with his childhood series, he seems to play with scale.
Decoy No.2Copyright © 2020 Peter Spurgeon
I was drawn to Decoy No. 5. It looked like it had been wrestled from somebody’s imagination, the tree created out of plasticine. The red light is probably now the overspill from industrial areas and general human habitation. During the war this would more likely have been the glow of buildings burning after bombing raids.
Decoy No.5 Copyright © 2020 Peter Spurgeon
Indexical – ‘it has a direct physical relationship to its object’ (EYV. 2018)
‘These indices give rise to a corresponding dual narrative: the surviving physical structures in their modern setting and the secret application of visual deception to defend civilian and military targets during the war.’
Spurgeon, P (nd)Photoworks
The holes in the ground or the gaps in the buildings makes you wonder what lies beyond.
The photographs capture two moments in time. The first, the period over which it was taken and the second tries to reach back in time and capture the image as it might have been when the locations were used as decoys during world war 2.
References
Spurgeon, P (nd) Decoy Series. Available at: https://www.peterspurgeon.photo/decoy Accessed on 02.03.2020
Spurgeon, P (nd) Showcase: Peter Spurgeon. Available at: https://photoworks.org.uk/showcase-peter-spurgeon/#close-no. Accessed on 02.03.2020
Katies Photographic Journey 