The
exhibit I visited was the “New Photography” exhibit at MoMA in the Robert and
Joyce Menschel Photography gallery. The artists were, Shirana Shahbazi, Zoe
Crosher, Anne Collier, Birdhead (Ji Weiyu and Song Tao), and Michelle Abeles.
Their work covered four walls. With two of the artists only had one of their
works displayed, therefore they shared walls with one of the artists. For
example, Crosher’s Mae Wested, was
displayed on the same wall as a few of Abeles pieces such as Too___to_ and Progressive Substitution Drills.
All
of the artists, as well as their pieces, differed greatly from each other in
style and technique, but were similar in the sense that they were all born
between the 70’s and 80’s and their work bears no resemblance to the work of
your average photographer. There is almost a deviant method to them. All of the
artists had their work in color with the exception of Birdhead and Collier. All
of their works were vibrant in color and blacks (if they used black and white.)
The
duo, Birdhead, took black and white photos of their home town of, Shanghai,
China. You can say that they were the originators of life documentation phase
that the younger generations are obsessed with today. The younger generations
tend to document random things in life that define them and their social
status. Most of their photos focus on themselves. Birdhead took pictures of things
that defined their time, place and community. In the center of their works displayed
there was one of them titled The Song of
Early Spring (2012). They are standing in front of a wall with Chinese
writing on it. The writing is of a verse form a classic Chinese poem by Han
Dynasty. It reads, “And so, with joy in my heart, I hum this song.” The
photographs were gelatin silver prints. They used a technique called
“re-photography” Re-photography is the act of retaking a photograph from the
same exact points of the original photo. “An image and it’s rephotograph can
provide a compelling ‘then and now’.”
The
other artist that seemed to use black and white was Anne Collier. The piece
looked black and white, but was actually shot in chromogenic color print. There
was only one of her works displayed and that was, Cut (2012). This
photograph is of another photograph going through a cutting board. This
photograph has no depth and there is nothing more to it than what you see. This
is one of those photographs that one would look at and try to find a deeper
meaning and come up with nothing. Collier took pictures on her studio of flat,
plain surfaces. Her photographs are describes as being “dryly humorous”. There
isn’t a seen plan or pattern when looking at the photo. It’s one flat object on
top of another, on top of another. It’s as if she made the set up herself and
shot it.
When
focusing one the “inspiration” and “why” aspects of these photos, you can say
that Zoe Crosher had somewhat the same idea as Collier; on the surface. Collier
also had one piece displayed. The piece, Mae
Wested No.4 (Crumpled) (2012) was shot in the same print as Collier’s.
Chromogenic is a photo developing process in which, “Part of the material that
forms colored dyes upon development in included in the emulsion during
manufacturing… the silver image is bleached out only leaving the dye image.” The photograph is an image of a woman, Michelle DuBois,
portraying actress, Mea West. The image looks like it might have been taken for
a magazine and was crumpled and slashed. Crosher took the self-portraits of
DuBois, rephotographed, scanned, enlarged, altered and re-edited them. With
those in mind, you may think that, that process is what gave the photograph is
tattered look.
Shirana
Shahbazi, another chromogenic print user, had a more commercial piece displayed
titled, Composition-40-2011 (2011). The name and the image itself suggest
that Shahbazi had tested out a series of photographs prior to that one and had
finally gotten it right. The photograph is a vibrant image of three balls;
light blue, red and yellow. It is one of those pieces of art work that everyone
feels they can do also. However, Shahbazi has a “distinctly analytical eye”
that obviously sets her work apart from others.
The
artists’ work that stood out the most was, Michele Abeles. Her work wasn’t
strictly photographic, but a mixture of photography, wallpaper shreds among
shreds of other things. The photograph particles were of random human body
parts; there was even one of the male genitalia. The colors were bright and
every piece caught your attention. Every part of each piece gets analyzed and
examined thoroughly, because your eyes might miss something the first few times
around seeing that you’re gazing in awe. Her Too___to__ (2012), is one where a human body part isn’t in plain
sight. The image is a pigmented inkjet print. How these pieces were created
should remain a secret of Abeles. They are all distinctly entertaining to look
at. The color choice is reminiscent of Andy Warhol and his pop art, but the
work itself is indeed, a form of “new photography”.
As
far as my own work goes, there are parts of me that do and have thought about
trying to imitate techniques used by these artists. My photographs are closer
in comparison to those of Birdhaeds. They are of things and people I see in my
life and around my community. It’s a way of the photographer inviting those
looking into their lives, but for a deeper reason than being liked. Their
images will one day be evidence of what once was. They are moments of life and
existence forever frozen in time, and so are mine.
I
liked Abeles very much. They were all so fascinating. I once thought about
combining my images with magazine clippings and painted images for a different
effect and to further separate my work form others. Looking at her work made me
want to pursue the idea. The colors, the wallpaper and photographs together is
like an arts and crafts project gone great. It’s a different and more creative
way to look at photography. This is something not everyone can do. You can tell
it takes time, patience and more importantly, an immense amount of creativity.
My
experience visiting was definitely a learning one. I am now aware of how far
away I am from developing my style as a photographer. I enjoy the more real and
creative aspects of photography. It’ll be a long process, but I have to my
niche in photography. That would require me to walk around with my camera way
more than I do now, taking pictures of anything and everything I see until I
find a focus.
The
artists in this exhibit certainly showed a form of photography that is “new”.
Photography is no longer just about the image, it’s about how you can
manipulate an image to do and say what you want it to but keeping the purpose
of the image in mind.
