Week 2: A Question Of Authenticity / Photography, Vision & Representation
Photography versus Art, it’s a discussion and contentious comparison which has been tabled since the mid nineteenth century. Philosophers, Academics, Practitioners all have their own take on which carries the most authentic and representative presentation of a scene, or moment.
Barthes wrote:
“Photography may authenticate the existence of a scene at some point in time, but cannot be relied upon as an accurate and objective representation of it”.
Barthes, (1980), Camera Lucida
I think this comment is possibly more relevant in the digital age, where manipulation through technology has become more available and prevalent. However history does still give us examples of where photographic techniques, and reconstructed scenes have been used to falsify or enhance a more naturalistic moment. This method of interpretation and construction though is no different to the work of many painters and artists, where often criticism of photography has originated as the ‘fake’ medium. Sometimes the scene is not just altered for impact, but staged in a fictional representation of expression or intent.
Photographers such as Gregory Crewdson and Cindy Sherman ‘imagine’ a situation in a similar vein to a movie still. Crewdson’s epic constructions of set pieces, actors (models) and landscapes can be an extreme use of photography to fictionalise a time and space, whereas Sherman (originally a painter) uses herself as the centrepiece in contrived theatrical takes. I really enjoy how these two photographers use the still to infer a bigger storyline, and take the aesthetic of a 2D image into a three dimensional landscape. This close relationship with film and in Crewdson’s case fine art, help photography cross the borders of it’s genre into other expressionism.
Other photographers like La Chapelle chose to challenge our perception of the normal by exploiting his involvement with pop culture and celebrity. His work often replicates the art of the great masters, such as his image ‘Thy Kingdom Come (2009).
Further back in the time of analogue the likes of Pierre Molinier were experimenting with sexual/fantasy depictions such as sadomasochism . His relationship with Andre Breton and the surrealist movement were a huge influence on his photography. At the time Molinier would court controversy with the explicit fantastical nature of his photos. His autoerotic experimentation and obsession with objects. His intention was always to shock, and the other-worldly nature of his compositions drew a very clear distinction between reality and his true perspective on life and the art of the self.
All four adopt a different approach to visual stimulation which bares no relation to the ‘decisive moment’.
Left to Right:
Figure 1: Crewdson, (2005)
Figure 2: Sherman, (1980)
Figure 3: La Chapelle, (2007)
Figure 4: Molinier, (1967)
My practice does not lend itself to manipulation, and therefore there is no question of authenticity. In shooting the performing arts I am responsible for truthful representation and honesty. My work is documentary in nature and as such has to be an accurate depiction of events. This naturalistic approach is intended to inform for historical benefit, and to give the viewer of the photograph an impression of ‘presence’ in the scene. Unlike Gardner in 1863 and his technique for altering factual situations (albeit within a reality of circumstance), I choose keep my images transparent.
I do occasionally outside of my practice experiment with techniques where I am taking a scene or object and changing it’s appearance. This is generally an attempt at digital creativity for entertainment, rather than an attempt to confuse or mislead the viewer. It is quite clear in such images that reality is not being altered to a point where I am trying to falsify the truth. The two examples below show my experimentation with multiple exposures and time-lapse.
Left: Figure 5: Tipping (2017), Ghosts Of London
Right: Figure 6: Tipping (2021), Untitled
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Figure 1: Crewdson, (2005), Beneath The Roses, USA: Abrahms (2008)
Figure 2: Sherman, (1980), Untitled Film Still 54, USA: MOMA (2003)
Figure 3: La Chapelle, (2007), After The Deluge, available online at https://www.davidlachapelle.com/series-after-the-deluge
Figure 4: Molinier, (1967), Le Chaman et ses créatures, France: William Blake (1995)
Figure 5: Tipping, (2017), Ghosts of London
Figure 6: Tipping, (2021), Untitled
Other Information sourced online at : https://magazine.artland.com/staged-photography-top-ten/