Week 2: Interdisciplinary Approaches
So after a quite mind-numbing first week, the gears finally clicked into place and some kind of routine began to formulate. This weeks subject was on the interconnectivity and relationship photography has with the media and arts, something very close to home in my practice which boded well for my concentration.
Over the last 5 years I have worked extensively in the music business, with solo artists and bands trying to document tours, capture them live and behind the scenes. My work has always been inspired by the greats of music photography like Ted Williams who’s work between the 1940s and 1970s captured iconic moments in Jazz performances by artists like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Count Basie. His work was often featured in seminal publications of the day like DOWNBEAT and METRONOME, as well as more mainstream magazines like NEWSWEEK, TIME, PLAYBOY and many others. He also worked extensively capturing the Civil Rights movement during the 1950s and 60’s.
Figure 1: WILLIAMS 1957. Billie Holiday
Figure 2: TIPPING 2018. Louise Marshall
Figure 3: (left) WILLIAMS, Gene Krupa, 1958 Figure 4: (right) TIPPING, Ben Reynolds, 2018
BELOW: DOWNBEAT Magazine Covers from the 50’s and 60’s Jazz Era.
As the course notes said, we treat photography as Art and cannot completely extricate it from other media and discourses like advertising and journalism. It is very clear to me that my photos are music but in a static visual format. with no sound, no moving frames, and no context other than the momentary capture of performance art. These images are then used to promote the artist and the event.
I very much agree with the concept that photography can have a closer affinity with painting than with the moving image. When I shoot an artist it is not intended to represent a song, a location, or indeed a product. These attributes of commercial enterprise belong to the moving image, through a promotional video, interview or live performance. My work is to take a portrait of the artist in their environment which depicts them working their craft, showcasing their instrument, and very rarely where possible disclosing the venue or location. This can then more easily be translated as an artists interpretation of their subject whether that be in paint, sculpture, or indeed on still film.
‘The question is not what you look at, but what you see’
~ Henry David Thoreau ~
When tracking the development of the moving image and the still image, the obvious comparisons of the technology have to be considered, for without one there would not be the other. Essentially a moving image is one or more still images projected in sequence, as we see with Eadweard Muybridges ‘The Horse In Motion’ 1878. Although this project was to simulate movement from the still image, the concept of time and motion through photographs had already been demonstrated by Friedrich and Wilhelm Langenheim in 1854 with their solar eclipse via the daguerreotype process. These were the origins of the moving image and they coexist to this day.
I have often considered using moving images as part of my work, but I feel the kind of image I want to produce belongs more in a book or on a wall, than a time specific piece of video or long form film. I work with a band who as part of their AV process choose to have a stills photographer (me) and a separate film maker for promo’s who fortunately I get on very well with. We both have differing approaches to our work and our output is clearly defined for specific media.
Figures 5-10: TIPPING 2019. The Dodge Brothers
I also love the assimilation of Photography into Science through history, from Wilson Bentley’s groundbreaking analysis of the snowflake in its infinite complex variations, to the development of x-rays and the multiple uses of infra-red imagery which I hope to try and build into my main project if at all possible. As we know photography does not always mean truth, and can be manipulated to formulate an interpretation for a desired outcome. We all do that, whether it be through the use of image enhancing software, double exposures and combination printing (such as the effect of inferring spirits or ghosts in pictures of grieving family members), or theatrical representation. However in Science, photography has one sole purpose, to expose the truth, and to extricate knowledge for both good and bad exploitation.
Personally I am not a fan of Photoshop as my practice relies heavily on portraiture often in a real life situation, which needs to BE projected as close to reality as possible without enhancement.
The medical world has obviously benefitted considerably from the evolution of photographic imagery, and scientists/physicists who by using the artificial lens, can detect the effects of light the human eye cannot. Science has progressed incalculably thanks to the camera digital revolution. It had not occurred to me however the way in which photography has been associated with the somewhat immoral study of physiognomy, eugenics and mental health. Watching the course presentations this week certainly taught me a history lesson there.
Fields of Cultural Interest certainly caught my attention with the background behind the Hindenburg Zeppelin disaster and Sam Shere’s image. I only knew the image from the Led Zepplin album cover, which certainly bought home the intertextuality discussion, but obviously I was aware it had come from quite a memorable moment in (aviation) history. How this photo came to become an iconic image through its various uses, and interpretations was fascinating.
Figure 11: (left) SHERE, 1937, The Hindenburg Disaster. Figure 12: (right) LED ZEPPELIN, 1968
This recognition of the comparison made me think if I had any albums in my collection which had also used a famous photograph to promote the music. I could only find one, which is surprising given the size of my collection. In 2008 the British artist DIDO released her album SAFE TRIP HOME, and the cover featured a photograph of the astronaut Bruce McCandless II during his spacewalk on shuttle mission. Clearly permission had not been sourced before the release as McCandless allegedly not only sued the artist for copywrite, but also GETTY IMAGES, and SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT violating his publicity writes. The case was settled some three years later for an undisclosed fee. The album by DIDO went on to be a huge commercial success, possibly helped by the stunning photograph it showcased. This is a good example of ‘Intertextuality’ and how a photograph crosses over from Science to Popular Culture, where the image not only serves as a historical document for human evolution, but also a metaphor for a singers musical concept of family life and personal evolution.
Figure 13: (left), NASA, Spacewalk, 1984
Figure 14: (right), DIDO, 2008
Personally I would be more than happy if one of my images ended up as an album cover. I can think of few better ways to immortalise the combination of music and photography.
Reflection & Recap:
One final observation I made this week was the relationship of the still photograph and the moving image. I recently came across the work the photographer David Yarrow who has produced some work where the still takes the inspiration from the moving image. In this particular example it is the work of Alfred Hitchcock, and I love how this homage encapsulates the essence of his movies, almost as a cinema poster would have done. These images are a great throwback to that era and are another example of ‘narrative’ in the medium where a moving image becomes a still.
I am not reproducing those images here as I would highly recommend you visit his website and enjoy the full gallery there.
https://davidyarrow.photography/collections-category/storytelling/
As a big fan of cinema, and how it interconnects with its bedfellow photography, this weeks theme on media has been really enjoyable.