ESSAY ARCHIVE:
THE END OF DUALITY Aug 25 '10 ALINE BAGGIO
ENGAGEMENT IN DE NEDERLANDSE FOTOGRAFIE 2000-2010: IRONIE, PERSOONLIJKE RELATIES EN ROMANTIEK Jun 21 '10 RIK SUERMONDT
DE STIEKEME BLIK VAN DE FOTOGRAAF Apr 21 '10 KARIN KRIJGSMAN | LECTORAAT FOTOGRAFIE AKV ST.JOOST
HET DAN-HELLER-EFFECT EN DE WEG NAAR MARKETING Mar 22 '10 MEREL BEM
YOU PUSH THE BUTTON, WE DO THE REST Mar 18 '10 FRITS GIERSTBERG
DE WAARDE VAN DE AMATEUR Mar 15 '10 JORINDE SEIJDEL
WED AUG 25 '10 | ALINE BAGGIO
The end of duality
Photography as both document and art work
Aline Baggio
Photography used to be seen has a document from its very beginning and has been fi ghting for decades to be recognized as art. Nowadays, photography is seen as art and is fighting to be seen as a document (1), which is in the end quite ironical. In this short essay, I am arguing that photography can be seen both as a document and as an art form simultaneously, therefore having reached the summit of post-modernism thought and adopted a multifaceted state where all possible forms of lecture can coexist at the same time.
Of course, since the beginning of photography much has changed. Early photographic missions had been used to record the world, either vanishing or yet unknown to the masses. In the last decades, photography has reached the museum at an unprecedented scale (2). It has also become overwhelming in our everyday life as it is ubiquitously used in massmedia, advertisement, internet, but also privately as anyone and everybody can photograph anytime, anywhere in these days; everybody carries now permanently a camera that doubles as a phone, internet browser, agenda, GPS navigator, alarm clock, etc. This is the reign of sharing, experiencing, having fun. But this also implies fi ltering: as the flow of images grow, the individual has to develop strategies to overcome saturation and our perception of images has become extremely selective. By both reaching the museum and being overused in massmedia, one could say that photography lost its strength. On one hand, overuse implicates that a photograph does not mean anything anymore. And indeed, who is still moved by the photographs of the dead in the newspaper, how chocking they might be?
People became blasé. The culture of experience (Disneyfi cation) and the already-seen feeling of many war or catastrophe photographs mean people really need to see chocking images in order to unlock some reaction. On the other hand, the fact that a photograph reaching the museum is undone from it social meaning (3) and is seen as an object rather than as a medium carrying a message and is subsequently discussed in terms of aesthetics only, this all, contribute to photography's loss of strength. This is most likely what makes Frits Gierstberg conclude that photography now fi ghts to regain its meaning, just like Jorge Ribalta does (4).
In my opinion, not all meaning has been lost though it has moved. Due to both the continuous flow of images and the disappearance of the documentary in newspapers and magazines, a form of superfi ciality has been created around the use of photography. In many publications, photography is in my opinion seen as a necessary evil (people seem to like pictures ) or plays only an illustrative role. In this context, the fact that photography has reached the museum can be its salvation instead of its death sentence. I think that the museum provides a protective environment where people can free themselves from the uninterrupted flow of images. The white cube - or nowadays the black cube, for videos - provides an environment where one can pause and reflect. This is also a trend that Ine Gevers notes and she adds that a work is complete only when the viewer has reflected upon
THE END OF DUALITY
The end of duality
Photography as both document and art work
Aline Baggio
Photography used to be seen has a document from its very beginning and has been fi ghting for decades to be recognized as art. Nowadays, photography is seen as art and is fighting to be seen as a document (1), which is in the end quite ironical. In this short essay, I am arguing that photography can be seen both as a document and as an art form simultaneously, therefore having reached the summit of post-modernism thought and adopted a multifaceted state where all possible forms of lecture can coexist at the same time.
Record the world
Of course, since the beginning of photography much has changed. Early photographic missions had been used to record the world, either vanishing or yet unknown to the masses. In the last decades, photography has reached the museum at an unprecedented scale (2). It has also become overwhelming in our everyday life as it is ubiquitously used in massmedia, advertisement, internet, but also privately as anyone and everybody can photograph anytime, anywhere in these days; everybody carries now permanently a camera that doubles as a phone, internet browser, agenda, GPS navigator, alarm clock, etc. This is the reign of sharing, experiencing, having fun. But this also implies fi ltering: as the flow of images grow, the individual has to develop strategies to overcome saturation and our perception of images has become extremely selective. By both reaching the museum and being overused in massmedia, one could say that photography lost its strength. On one hand, overuse implicates that a photograph does not mean anything anymore. And indeed, who is still moved by the photographs of the dead in the newspaper, how chocking they might be?
Disneyfication
People became blasé. The culture of experience (Disneyfi cation) and the already-seen feeling of many war or catastrophe photographs mean people really need to see chocking images in order to unlock some reaction. On the other hand, the fact that a photograph reaching the museum is undone from it social meaning (3) and is seen as an object rather than as a medium carrying a message and is subsequently discussed in terms of aesthetics only, this all, contribute to photography's loss of strength. This is most likely what makes Frits Gierstberg conclude that photography now fi ghts to regain its meaning, just like Jorge Ribalta does (4).
In my opinion, not all meaning has been lost though it has moved. Due to both the continuous flow of images and the disappearance of the documentary in newspapers and magazines, a form of superfi ciality has been created around the use of photography. In many publications, photography is in my opinion seen as a necessary evil (people seem to like pictures ) or plays only an illustrative role. In this context, the fact that photography has reached the museum can be its salvation instead of its death sentence. I think that the museum provides a protective environment where people can free themselves from the uninterrupted flow of images. The white cube - or nowadays the black cube, for videos - provides an environment where one can pause and reflect. This is also a trend that Ine Gevers notes and she adds that a work is complete only when the viewer has reflected upon
it (5). In the museum, one also expect images to have a deeper meaning than those used by massmedia, which also helps reflection: the expectation is key. It creates a receptiveness in the viewer that he most likely does not have outside the museum.
In other words, a same photograph used inside or outside the museum will acquire diff erent meanings based on the context and on the expectation of the viewer and his receptiveness to subtleties, his ability to read between the lines and draw personal conclusions. Because the white cube is necessary nowadays to reduce the amount of stimuli a person gets, it does not mean the end of the photograph as document. On the contrary, I think it is contributing to a deepened meaning. The fact that exhibitions in museums are curated also brings more meaning to a single photograph or series. When grouping various works into a coherent whole, new, deeper meaning is created.
Here, I am thinking for example of the exhibition Niet Normaal (6). By constituting such a larger body of work, trends in the society can be brought to light. One could even argue that a photograph mostly devoid of meaning outside the white cube would gain in deepness by being shown in such an exhibition. I do not believe this is a bad thing as the created meaning will not be about what the photograph shows but about its context and the reason why it was made. I believe that every photograph carries some meaning in the sense that every photograph reflects in some way how society works and how it evolved. As such, the retouched pictures of women glossies are a mirror for the way our society sees beauty, normality, and expectations about physical appearance and standards of life as well as arti ciality. The photography in itself is likely to be uninteresting but the deep sociological and psychological aspects are quite thrilling and oh so typical of our postmodern society. In that sense, while not being a document all by itself and reaching the museum, the photograph gains back its document status. It reaches in a sense a state of non-duality where both being a document and not being a document are possible at the same time. This is the summit of postmodernism where not only multiple facets exist but they coexist in the same time and place.
References
1. Frits Gierstberg. Quickscan NL#1 photography now. Introduction to Quickscan NL#1 publication, January 2010.
2. Frits Gierstberg. Documentary Now! , chapter From Realism to Reality?, pages 124-145. NAi Publishers, 2005.
3. Michael Fried. Why Photography Matters as Art as Never Before. Yale University Press, December 2008.
4. Jorge Ribalta. On documentary and democracy. Interview by Guy Lane, July 2009.
5. Ine Gevers. Documentary Now!, chapter Images that demand consummation. Postdocumentary photography, art and ethics, pages 82-99. NAi Publishers, 2005.
6. Niet normaal, December 16th, 2009-March 7th, 2010. Exhibition in Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
New deeper meaning
In other words, a same photograph used inside or outside the museum will acquire diff erent meanings based on the context and on the expectation of the viewer and his receptiveness to subtleties, his ability to read between the lines and draw personal conclusions. Because the white cube is necessary nowadays to reduce the amount of stimuli a person gets, it does not mean the end of the photograph as document. On the contrary, I think it is contributing to a deepened meaning. The fact that exhibitions in museums are curated also brings more meaning to a single photograph or series. When grouping various works into a coherent whole, new, deeper meaning is created.
Here, I am thinking for example of the exhibition Niet Normaal (6). By constituting such a larger body of work, trends in the society can be brought to light. One could even argue that a photograph mostly devoid of meaning outside the white cube would gain in deepness by being shown in such an exhibition. I do not believe this is a bad thing as the created meaning will not be about what the photograph shows but about its context and the reason why it was made. I believe that every photograph carries some meaning in the sense that every photograph reflects in some way how society works and how it evolved. As such, the retouched pictures of women glossies are a mirror for the way our society sees beauty, normality, and expectations about physical appearance and standards of life as well as arti ciality. The photography in itself is likely to be uninteresting but the deep sociological and psychological aspects are quite thrilling and oh so typical of our postmodern society. In that sense, while not being a document all by itself and reaching the museum, the photograph gains back its document status. It reaches in a sense a state of non-duality where both being a document and not being a document are possible at the same time. This is the summit of postmodernism where not only multiple facets exist but they coexist in the same time and place.
References
1. Frits Gierstberg. Quickscan NL#1 photography now. Introduction to Quickscan NL#1 publication, January 2010.
2. Frits Gierstberg. Documentary Now! , chapter From Realism to Reality?, pages 124-145. NAi Publishers, 2005.
3. Michael Fried. Why Photography Matters as Art as Never Before. Yale University Press, December 2008.
4. Jorge Ribalta. On documentary and democracy. Interview by Guy Lane, July 2009.
5. Ine Gevers. Documentary Now!, chapter Images that demand consummation. Postdocumentary photography, art and ethics, pages 82-99. NAi Publishers, 2005.
6. Niet normaal, December 16th, 2009-March 7th, 2010. Exhibition in Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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