Gathered Leaves - Alec Soth exhibition

I read the Guardian article by Sean O'Hagan (1)  a while back but eventually managed to get to the Alec Soth exhibition at the Science Museum last weekend.The exhibition is Soth's first British retrospective though he does not like the term 'retrospective' as he feels that he's  too young.He is a Magnum photojournalist, blogger, self- publisher, instagrammer and is described in the introduction to the exhibition as a 'lyrical documentary photographer in the tradition of Robert Frank, Stephen Shore and Joel Sternfield.

The exhibition covers four of his major works: 'Sleeping By the Mississippi', 'Niagara', 'Broken Manual' and 'Songbook'. Hagan's article is a very comprehensive introduction to the exhibition so I'll not spend  time repeating this detail but rather focus on my reaction to his work. I  know that there was also an OCA study visit which I had wanted to go on but at the last minute could not so I'll be interested to read what fellow students felt about these works.



Sleeping by the Mississippi (2004)

This is a  modern twist to the the great American road trip... 
Soth uses a large-format camera mounted on a tripod and many of his images really engage the viewer through composition and colour..the hint at a story being told and in some ways untold..

Peter's houseboat , Winona, Minnesota chromogenic print

The image above begs a story ....it is a beautiful and yes, lyrical photograph that stands against other more stark images of empty beds  and abandonment..

Charles,Vasa,Minnesota

Adelyn,Ash Wednesday, New Orleans. Archival pigment print

Adelyn greatly reminds me of a Pre-Raphaelite painting..like the composition with the figure just off centre..


Songbook (2012-14)

In the black and white Songbook Soth looks at people living in a digital world where there is an increasing disconnection ...from each other and the community within which they live...more and more a divide between those trying to connect  and those who become more individualist , by desire or not, people requiring or needing no interaction with neighbours, family or community groups.In Soth's words, this is 'a journey across the United States, punctuated by quotes from classic songs' (1) His images are interspersed with with snippets of popular lyrics taken from the Great American Songbook .

Dance solo...Bill. Sandusky Ohio

The image above is the opening one of the book...I just love the movement here, the spirit captured in this man's face and the hint of a story ...why is he dancing alone or is he actually alone?

Facebook, Menlo Park, California

And Facebook, the image above taken in California is one of my favourite images... the small lone figure crossing a deserted square ..the stance captured in a second hinting at some kind of a private jig / dance - is he trying out a dance? Hagan reckons it's a metaphor for the faux communities that the likes of Facebook and Instagram promote.(2)


Niagara (2006)

A juxtaposition of images of the waters and tacky motels,portraits of the 'hopeful and the broken-hearted'

Two towels,2004

Romantic towel scuplture versus a slightly downbeat motel room ... hope versus reality perhaps ...

Broken Manual (2010)

This was the section of the exhibition was perhaps more challenging ..not so much through the images presented but more from the theme...an exploration of the desire to run away. Reading the introduction.it seems that Soth became immersed in the world he researched on the internet; not only going in  search of the hermits he found there but also making his on instruction manual pictured below. It was this 'maquette' ( i.e.model) that evolved into the book 'Broken Manual'.. In some respects, I feel the actual pursuit and capture of their existence by camera of those who had made a determined bid to 'escape' is very intrusive and makes me feel a little uncomfortable...just a personal take on the work which I guess is an emotional response.

(1) http://gu.com/p/4d2cm/sbl

(2) http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jan/26/alec-soth-songbook-united-states-of-fear-photography-death-american-community 

Annie Leibovitz Women : New Portraits exhibition

Annie Leibovitz is one of my favourite celebrity portrait photographers though I have never seen any of her work other than in books, articles etc. ..until last weekend...

I made my way to Wapping Hydraulic Power station to see her free exhibition:  Women: New Portraits; an exhibition that will visit  9 more cities over the coming year.

The exhibition is a continuation of the work that she and Susan Sonntag undertook and presented back in 1999 entitled 'Women' and actually shows work from both series. 
Placing it in a small old power-station is an interesting choice and I wonder why this was chosen. Did the idea to present many of the images in a rolling slideshow on two large screens in front of an area of seating  suggest the Wapping site or the site suggest that mode of presentation? I haven't yet been able to find this out...

Annie Leibovitz Women: New Portraits exhibition

Certainly the large screens presented the images powerfully despite apparently being made up of screens linked together almost as a grid ( one screen reminding me of the rule of thirds !). You had to sit or stand way back to take all the image in and I found the fact that the images moved on relatively quickly unhelpful as with some of then I felt I'd have liked more time to digest what I was seeing .There were some 'wall' mounted prints which I found more engaging...a real mix or juxta position of subjects..

Annie Leibovitz Women: New Portraits exhibition

 

Annie Leibovitz Women: New Portraits exhibition 2016

Annie Leibovitz Women: New Portraits exhibition 2016

Looking at them, I found myself wondering whether the images,rich and crisp as they were, said very much about the celebrity that stared out at me. Subjects include Taylor Swift, Aung San Suu Kyi, Adele, Gloris Steinem. The settings were often rich in detail and the subjects themselves dressed to match. Did Leibovitz suggest the venue etc. or was this what the celebrity suggested suited them? I felt the plainer the background the better as it left the viewer concentrating on the subject..

Annie Leibovitz Women: New Portraitsexhibition 2016

There are some interesting reviews of the exhibition...Culture Whisper concluded 'the sheer starriness of this Leibovitz' work, combined with her brilliance and the Wapping Project's industrial architecture, makes this a fun day down at the docks. Just don't expect to be provoked, or challenged.'   http://www.culturewhisper.com/event/view/id/5958

I think this comes from their view that the 'Part two' is not as inclusive in its choice of women to portray i.e. purely high powered celebrity rather than women from all walks of life,  and therefore the less interesting for this.

If I'm honest, the exhibition was more interesting and enjoyable for the choice of images included, their presentation and setting than many of the actual images.Certainly some of later celebrity ones revealed little of their subject, appearing stage-managed and showing more of the lifestyle ( whether chosen by either the subject or photographer) than the person.








 

'Shutting up shop' - John Londei

I've just finished looking and enjoying John Londei's work 'Shutting up shop' The decline of the traditional small shop (1). And I've been trying to work out why I like his images so much.

Interestingly, I could not find any critique of his images - the interest that I found through desktop research focused on the concept of the project and its contribution to our understanding of the decline of small shop retailing during the 1970s and 1980s.

Londei's images were captured over a period of fifteen years across the country using a 10 x 8 plate camera.Each image is accompanied by a detailed and entertaining pocket history of the shop and quotes from the current owners/ workers. His project finished in 1987 but in 2004 he set about updating his work; discovering what had happened to the shops, the businesses and the people he had met earlier.This became the 'Afterword' at the end of the book and I am so glad that he did this as it perfectly rounded off the project.

But why did I like this work?
I guess that the images resonated for me not only for the often richness of image but also for the fact that they reminded me of shops that I visited during that time.

© John Londei   Chemist, 1973

I started my first Saturday job cleaning shelves and cabinets like the ones in Morrison's Chemist above..

© John Londei Tea Merchant, 1982

 

© John Londei  Kiosk, 1978

And I bought sweets from this little shop in my home town..(The Pier, West Kiosk, Worthing).

 

© John Londei  Fishmonger, 1984

The subjects of the pictures stare directly out at the camera. They look serious, sometimes a little watchful. You see them behind their counters, in front, in the doorway of their shops or standing outside. They are small, sometimes seem almost insignificant within their world. Londei deliberately waited until there were no customers around ..and I wonder why?  Maybe capturing any interaction between shopkeeper and customer took the attention away from the relationship between the shop and shopkeeper(s). As would any close up that focused on the face of the shop keeper...

And so it comes back to why I like this work...it comes down to the concept rather than execution or composition, I like the richness of image and the richness history captured ..a bygone age 'snapped as it almost melted away before his eyes..

(1) Londei,John. (2007) Shutting up shop. Stockport: Dewi Lewis Publishing