I went up to the Photographers Gallery and had to weave through huddles of exhausted shoppers eating their MacDonald's and slurping diet Coke in the little alley leading to the Gallery.
(tpg.org.uk)
My Favourite exhibitor on the 5th Floor was Richard Mosse; partly for the images themselves, but also because of the risks he took to capture them!
Mosse's work can be considered to be at the forefront because he is using a traditional photographic tradition-The landscape photograph, but
A) choosing a very different form of landscape (Battle sites)
B) Using a new and unique technology in hie process (that of infra red film)
Mosse has produced a series of images documenting the landscape of the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where 5.4 million people have died because of wars in this region since 1998.
I feel a connection to this landscape as one of my favourite books is 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Julia Kingsolver, which is set in the Congo before it gained Independence. The book created the sense of brooding, sweaty malevolence that is also reflected in Mosse's images.
Mosse (2012) from 'The Enclave'
He used infrared Military film which was used to detect soldiers and bases hidden in the lush green foliage. The film turns everything that was green into shades of shocking pink and crimson which gives a bright, garish carnival feel to the images in total contrast to their subject matter. They fill up your eyes with seductive technicolour and create the contradiction of attraction/repulsion that I am trying to create.
It is easy to allow the image to wash over you without thinking about the devastation and death some of the images portray.
Mosse (2012) from 'The Enclave'
Although Mosse's work is an important photographic documentation of a region devastated by war, there still exists the similarity of ugliness presented in a beautiful way. The oxymoronic 'beautiful decay' or 'delightful disgust ' that I am trying to create are present in these images.
Jochen Lempert
This photographer originally trained as a Biologist, which is evident in his careful observation of the human form. This image presents the freckled surface of skin on a bony shoulder. The shape of the bones is visible under the skin and fine airs are stuck on the surface. The fact that the focus is on a small part of a body, rather than a more obvious study or portrait give the feeling of intimacy and gentle connection. I like the idea of layers the this images presents; the freckles, the skin, the skeleton, the person. It makes me consider the ideas of layers and depth in my own work.
Jochen Lempert
This photographer originally trained as a Biologist, which is evident in his careful observation of the human form. This image presents the freckled surface of skin on a bony shoulder. The shape of the bones is visible under the skin and fine airs are stuck on the surface. The fact that the focus is on a small part of a body, rather than a more obvious study or portrait give the feeling of intimacy and gentle connection. I like the idea of layers the this images presents; the freckles, the skin, the skeleton, the person. It makes me consider the ideas of layers and depth in my own work.
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