Virtual Reality

Gamers Series -Phillip Toledano 2002

  The 'Gamers' photographic series was created in 2002, the work depicts people siting playing video games, with the perspective being as if the audience is gazing upon the subjects through the TV. This view gives us a more defined view of the subject, as it focuses on the emotions, while not being distracted by anything else.
   This series by Toledano is a very intriguing set of images gives us a closer look at video game enthusiasts. The work appears dramatic due to the lighting only highlighting the faces of the individuals, with a completely blacked out background leaving a fair amount of ambiguity for the audience to figure out. The series works as a sequence of expressions which leads in to more interesting and enthralling project, getting a sense of the individuals personality in a simple frozen moment.

Gamers Series -Phillip Toledano 2002

    Toledano states on his website his lack of interest in straightforward portrait photography, as he feels it reveals nothing other than the photographer's intentions and effects of time, while Toledano wants to explore the 'Hidden emotions and feelings? Characteristics that are usually secreted from the world?
I wondered if there was a way to unconsciously tease out aspects of people’s personality, and capture it on film. So I had them play video games.'

   Toledano isn't the only photographer who has looked in to the faces and expressions of  the video gamer, Robbie Cooper made a video piece that watches the changing expressions of children whilst playing video games, unlike Toledano's still images. Coopers piece is called Immersion. The idea behind the work is to show the interaction between the subject and the screen. What is evident among the work is the individuals character whilst immersed within a video game and how their facial appearances change and appear oblivious to the fact they are being filmed.
The subject and viewer’s gaze are a critical component to this project’s success. With Coopers methods allowing the subject to stare straight into the camera’s lens by placing the video game screen in place of the interviewer, Thus making the video game the interviewer.

Stills from 'Immersion' by Robbie Cooper.

   I also highly recomened to also look at Shauna Frischkorn's series 'Game Boys', and Todd Deutsch series 'Gamers'. (links of their works posted below.)




Websites
Phillip Toledano
Robbie Cooper
Robbie Cooper's Blog
Shauna Frischkorn
Todd Deutsch

Perspectives - David Suchet - People I Have Shot

   David Suchet - People I Have Shot is one of ITV's documentaries called Perspectives, the show was aired on Sunday 25th March ITV 1 at 10:15pm.  The show follows the actor David Suchet (also a keen amature photographer) through his journey in to finding out more about his grandfather Jimmy Jarche's iconic work. I found this a very interesting watch as I had very little knowledge as Jarche as a photographer, until I saw and recognised some of his more well known work, which has been in newspapers and magazines. David Suchet then goes portraiture using his grandfather's own Leica camera. I would highly recommend for people to watch this documentary as not only is it a very inspirational piece, but also gives us an insight in to key historical moments and photography within the early part of the 20th century. Also allowing for comparison between press photography then and now.

David Suchet has been quoted upon his experience of this great and emotional adventure of his.

David with his grandfather's Leica camera

   'What I found so very moving was to be asked to replicate some of my grandfather’s actual photographs. To find myself standing on the same spot where he stood, holding his camera up to my eyes and seeing virtually the identical scene that he would have seen, left me with a large lump in my throat.My one and only prayer is that James Jarche would have been pleased with the final result.'

 'Perspectives - David Suchet - People I Have Shot' Video

X-RAY...

Boeing 777 aeroplane in its hanger.

 
 
   Nick Veasey is a British photographer who works primarily using an X-ray to create his images. Veasey claims to be responsible for making the largest X-ray to date, the image is of a life size Boeing 777 jet, which can be seen above. The image is rather breath taking, and to be able to make something on this scale is rather amazing.
 
   When we see an X-ray of the human body we see it for its medical associations, but where Veasey is concerned the X-ray image takes on a new form and enters an extraordinary realm of vision, this can be seen in the image below, where you can see the elaborate scenes that replicate our daily lives and activities.

Man reading newspaper.

Veasey states in an interview with Cool Hunting 'My main motivation in using the human figure in x-ray is to challenge society’s obsession with the image. Why is it so important to look a certain way? Inside we all function the same way and I think it is not a person's face or ‘look’ that makes them what they are.'  I find this to be a rather compelling comment to make, in this digital age nothing is what it seems, through the art of Photoshop and digitally enhancing someones appearance altering ones perceptions.


   The general ideas of his work appear to be that of looking at the objects around us, things we use everyday and often take for granted, seeing little inspiration in them for creating art. While Veasey makes the viewer think more in to the idea behind the object revealing design of the products, and allowing for appreciation in to what goes on inside behind the surface, questioning how it works? Why it has this shape and form? What is it made of?

American Football

Websites
Cool Hunting Interview
Nick Veasey
Nick Veasey Blog

Shilpa Gupta Someone Else

   On the same day I visited Sophy Rickett's 'To The River' I also went and saw Shilpa Gupta's exhibition 'Someone Else', which is split up in to 5 rooms with in the Arnolfini Gallery.
   In the first room titled 'Someone Else' 2011-12, and is based on the idea of a library of books that have either been written anonymously or under a pseudonym, for example there are books by; Emily Bronte (aka Ellis Bell), Herman Hesse (aka Emil Sinclair) and Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr Seuss). The reason there is a uses of pseudonyms and just not using any name is due to failure, judgement, gender, and persecution. Which offers an insight in to the social prejudices in different cultural contexts. Instead of the actual books there are 100 covers fabricated out of stainless steal, some of which are exact scaled replicas of the first editions, all stating the name of the book and the author as well as the reason for the authors anonymity which also appears on the spines of the books, the reason for the books being empty is perhaps to represent the the lack of the authors real identity. These book replicas are presented on shelves mounted on wall, just as you enter the first room.

Shilpa Gupta - 'Someone Else' 2011-12

Shilpa Gupta - 'Someone Else' 2011-12

Shilpa Gupta - 'Someone Else' 2011-12

   In the second room of Gupta's exhibition there was a big cloud like shape hanging from the ceiling, which are in fact 4000 microphones and it is duly named 'Singing Cloud', and was developed in collaboration with Magzarin Banaji (a professor of psychology at Harvard University). Interestingly the microphones had their functions reversed, so instead of them being used to record sound, they actually emit sound, specifically a 9 minute and 30 second soundtrack of a woman whispering, singing, speaking "I want to fly, high above in the sky, don’t push me away, we shall all fly, high above in the sky, I want to fly high above, in your sky, can you let it be, only your power, and not your greed, a part of me will die, by your side, taking you with me high high, above in the sky, while you sleep I shall wake up and fly." Which creates for an eerie cacophony.

Shilpa Gupta - 'Singing Cloud' 2008-09

 

Close up of 'Singing Cloud' 2008-09 by Shilpa Gupta

   According to the exhibition guide that I acquired from The Arnolfini Gallery 'Singing Cloud considers the psychological impact of today's highly mediated information landscape, be it individual or the nation state,where fear and suspicion are cultivated'.

'Untitled' (Motion Flap board) 2008-09 by Shilpa Gupta

 

   Room Three (really the same room as 'Singing Cloud') which was produced at the same time as 'Singing Cloud', and is in the form of a flap board, (similar to that of a train station which announces arrivals and departures) and is on a 20 minute loop. The motion flap board consists of 29 characters which change rhythmically, yet not randomly. Every line occurs for a few seconds and then changes. The numbers relate to time yet turn in to years, distances and tallies of people migrating and those lost in these movements, and are in fact exchanges that Gupta has had with philosophers, scientists and historians concerning the nature of the information media.

'Untitled' (Motion Flap board) 2008-09 by Shilpa Gupta

'Untitled' (Motion Flap board) 2008-09 by Shilpa Gupta

Everything that is written on the Motion Flap board

00:00 I SWITCHED ON
00:02 MY WIRELESS
00:09 AND THE SEA
00:00 AND THE SEA SANK
00:06 ONCE AGAIN
00:12 AND UP FLOATED
00:15 PEPPER TEA LEAVES
00:15 SOME SLAVES
00:00 NO LONGER ALIVE

00:18 I SWITCH
00:19 I SWITCH OFF
WHY DO I REMEMBER
THE WORST OF IT ALL?

I DISEMBARK HERE
I NEED TO TRAVEL
TO MOVE
BIRDS FLY
MEN FLY
AGE SEX RELIGION FLY

TIME RUNS EDLNEES
ENDLESS

0001944 TWO TWINS ARE AT WAR
0001944 IPANKIDSIATAN
0001944 PA KI S TAN
0001944 I N D I A
0000000 TRAIN 1 ON TMIE
0000000 CARRYING
1000000 DAED FROM PK TO IN
1000001 DAED FROM IN TO PK
0001946 TICKETLESS
0001947 BREATHLESS

ON LNAD ON WTAER ON SKY
WITH ME YOU DROVE
ON ME YOU MOVED
WITH ME YOU GROOVED
WITH ME YOU MET
WITH ME YOU KILLED

I NEED TO GO WIRELESS
I WANT TO FLY HIGH WITH YOU
ACTUALLY JUST A BIT HIGHER

POWER IS STRONG
GREED IS STRONGER

IT IS PERFECTLY HEALTHY
TO BE AFRAID
IT KEEPS US SAFE

I WANT TO STOP COUNTING
YOUR
YOURMINE
YOURMINEOUR
DEAD
000052 LONDON
001000 MUMBAI
002976 NEW YORK
060000 IRAQ
125000 KASHMIR
CAN YOU BE DEAD
AND STILL
HAVE A RELIGION
HAVE A SUB RELIGION
HAVE A RACE
HAVE A COLOUR
HAVE A CUOLOR DAED
HAVE A CASTE
HAVE A CTSAE SUB
HAVE A CASTE SUBSUB

I HEAR THE DEAD TRAVELING
FROM INTERIORS TO THE CENTER
BORDERS TO THE CENTER
OLD ROUTES TO THE CENTER
OLD ROUTE BANDIPORE
OLD ROUTE BASRA
OLD ROUTE SRINAGAR
OLD ROUTE KHAMMAM
OLD ROUTE NAGALAND
OLD ROUTE SONARI
OLD ROUTE CHAMPARAN
FALLING ON A
NEW ROUTE
NEW ROUTE CITY CENTRE MUMBAI
NEW ROUTE CITY CENTRE NEW YORK
NEW ROUTE CITY CENTRE PARIS
NEW ROUTE CITY CENTRE LONDON

20:30 TIME FOR NEWS
I SWITCH ON THE TV
I SEE A BOMB FALL
AND CAN FEEL NO PAIN

THOU SHALL NOT KILL
USLENS RQEUIERD

HNIUDS
HINDUS
HNIUDS MUSLIMS
HNIUDS MILSMUS CHRISTIANS
HNIUDS MILSMUS CHRISTIANS
HNIUDS MILSMUS CRHSITAINS
BIHARIS
BIHARIS SUNNIS
BAIRHS SNUINS

QD VD MNR XDS VDKK L QJDC
ARE WE NOT YET WELL MARKED

EVERYONE IS EQUAL
BUT SOME PEOPLE ARE
MROE EUQAL TAHN OHTERS

2000 YEARS AGO JESUS
1300 YEARS AGO MUHAMMAD
2509 YEARS AGO RAM
WALKED THE EARTH
SO SHE SAYS

WE FOUND TWINS
WE RAN TESTS
POSSIBLY FEAR IS GENETIC
AM BORN TO FEAR
YOUR CFEEDQDMBD
YOUR DIFFERENCE
YOUR COLOUR
YOUR COLOUR YES
YOUR COLOUR YES OR MAYBE
YOUR RACE MAYBE
YOUR RELIGION
YOUR RELIGION NO
DE SAID

YOU ARE BORN WITH A MEMORY
AM BORN WITH A MEMORY
200000 YEARS OLD
THAT KNOWS MORE
AM UNABLE TO CONTROL IT
AM UNABLE TO KNOW IT

MY MEMORY EXCLUDES ME
IN ITS CONVERSATION WITH
BLINKING LIGHT BOXES
WIHT WIRES
TRANSMITTING SECRET MESSAGES
WITH VOICES WE VOTE
WITH VOICES WE CHOOSE
OR NOT CHOOSE
TO KEEP US SAFE
UN SAFE
THEY CARE
SCARE

BUT NC SAID
BELOW THE SURFACE
DUDQXNMD V MSR OD BD
EVERYONE WANTS PEACE

Shilpa Gupta - 'Untitled' 2006

   Room 4 consist of 4 unframed (keeping the work fluid and unconfined) photographs which are from the series 'Don't See Don't Hear Don't Speak', and are portraits of Gupta (I actually thought the were of a young boy/man, showing how androgynous the images actually are) wearing military clothing. The work reminds me of the see no evil hear no evil speak no evil monkeys, yet with in the images I get the feeling that there is some underlying traces of evil, seeing as she is in military clothing and in some of which she is using her hands to pose as if using a gun, with hands also covering her eyes, as if these people (army, military, or even terrorists?) are actually unaware of what they are doing, or the harm they are causing others. Reflecting the violence with in society and ultimately the repression of knowledge and dialogue.

Shilpa Gupta - 'Untitled' 2006

Shilpa Gupta - 'Untitled' 2006

Shilpa Gupta - 'Untitled' 2006

Shilpa Gupta - 'Untitled' 2006

  

Shilpa Gupta - 'There is No Border Here' 2005-06

   Room 5 is named 'There is No border Here' (2005-06) and it takes the form of a flag made up of yellow tape, which is stuck directly to the wall of the gallery (giving a very permanent feel to the piece). The flag to me symbols a nation, but according to the artist it means, "The flag is typically an emblem of nationhood, while considering the construction of national borders", which seems to be a recurring theme among Gupta's work. Printed on the tape is the phrase (and the title of the piece) THERE IS NO BORDER HERE which is repeated along each strip. and overall the flag says;
'I tried very hard to cut the sky in half, one for my lover and one for me, but the sky kept moving and the clouds from
his territory came into mine. I tried pushing it away, with both my hands, harder and harder but the sky kept moving
and clouds from my territory went into his. I brought a sofa and placed it in the middle, but the clouds kept floating
over it. I built a wall in the middle, but the sky started to flow through it. I dug a trench, and then it rained and
the sky made clouds over the trench. I tried very hard to cut...'

Shilpa Gupta - 'There is No Border Here' 2005-06 (Close up)

Shilpa Gupta - 'There is No Border Here' 2005-06 (Close up)

Websites 

Arnolfini

Shilpa Gupta

Art of Arrangement - Photography and the Still Life Tradition

   'Art of Arrangement' is an exhibition currently being held at 'The Holburne Museum' in Bath, it focuses on how photographers have explored the Still Life tradition which has captured photographer's and artist's imaginations form as early s the beginning of the 19th century, and often full of symbolic depth and meaning. Photographers have also used Still Life to capture and document scientific purposes and for the development of inventories and catalogues, as well as a channel for their own creative representation.
   The exhibition is split up in to seven sections of work, these are;

• 'On Close Inspection'
• 'Still Life in Camera'
• 'Reflection on Light and Dark'
• 'Order and Disorder'
• 'Still Life with Figure'
• 'The Submersive'
• 'Movement and Stillness'

 each of these sections hold works from relevant photographers ranging from William Henry Fox Talbot, Ansell Adams, Chris Killip, Philippe Halsman and many more photography geniuses.
   I felt very much in awe throughout this exhibition, as I was surrounded by some of the greatest photographers original prints, which doesn't happen often.

First view going in to the exhibition.

   There were two images that I found my self most drawn to were 'Insect wings, as seen under a solar microscope, c.1840' by William Henry Fox Talbot and 'Frosche in Bauch-und Ruckenlage' 1896 by Josef Maria Eder.

William Henry Fox Talbot - 'Insect wings, as seen under a solar microscope', c.1840

   I find the detailing captured in this image by Fox Talbot of the insect wing, to be truly stunning, how he has captured the intricate and delicate nature of each wing. I find it astonishing, considering that this image was taken during the early days of photography. I even went on to by a postcard depicting this particular image, and it is now proudly stuck on my wall.

Josef Maria Eder - 'Frosche in Bauch-und Ruckenlage' 1896

   I'm not sure what drew me to this image by Eder's image of the frog x-ray, I think maybe its my curiosity of what goes on underneath the surface, and how things look, beyond what you can actually see. Again like Fox Talbot's image to achieve something like this in the early years of photography is amazing, with the first x-ray being produce by Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen a year previous, and the first published in a newspaper in 1896, which is said to have shocked and fascinated the public.
   Eder's image reminds me of the work by Nick Veasey, and i will go in to more detail about him and his work in a later post, but for now here is one of his images to feast your eyes upon.
  

Nick Veasey - 'Fish'

   Overall I would highly recommend that you go and see this show, as it may be the only chance you get to, get up close and personal with these original prints. The show runs at The Holburne Museum Bath until the 7th March 2012, so get going!


Websites
www.holburne.org