Exhibitions
Le Bal Espace, Paris 2012
Paul Graham - 'Beyond Caring'
In the mid-1980's, 'Beyond Caring" introduced a new type of critical commentary that is rooted in the British tradition of social documentary, revived by the unorthodox nature of Graham's work alongside the controversial use of colour he injects into his work. Graham was mainly influenced by the great American colour pioneers, William Eggleston, Joel Meyerowitz and Stephen Shore and of the landscape photographers of New Topo-graphics, Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz to invent a radically different and hybrid visual style.
"My aim was to take the most well worn tropes of photojournalism and drag them kicking and screaming into the new photographic era. To go to the exhausted heart of the matter and refresh it"
When Graham took the first photographs of Beyond Caring in Bristol in 1984, one in ten people were surviving on benefits. Introduced in the wake of the Second World War for an estimated 600,000 people, the British welfare state was submerged by the mass influx of those cast adrift by Margaret Thatcher's monetarist policy. For two year, Graham visited over a hundred unemployment offices across the country, Many were makeshift structures, hastily installed in buildings intended or other purposes. These inadequate spaces suggest the supposed inability of the unemployed to adapt to new economic demands.
Paul Graham's technique when shooting this series was to discreetly prop the camera on his lap or on the chair next to him in order to take the shot. The random compositions showing expansions of ceiling and floor, the fractured line of bodies endlessly waiting and the inadequate attempts at brightening the despair - sickly plants, posters promoting optimistic slogans and yellow walls - add to the sense of alienation.
These photographs began firstly as artworks, self-published by Graham (Grey Editions) shown in the Photographers' Gallery in London (1984), then at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1987), then secondly brandished at Trade Union conferences as indisputable proof that the British welfare system was in urgent need of reform.
"My aim was to take the most well worn tropes of photojournalism and drag them kicking and screaming into the new photographic era. To go to the exhausted heart of the matter and refresh it"
When Graham took the first photographs of Beyond Caring in Bristol in 1984, one in ten people were surviving on benefits. Introduced in the wake of the Second World War for an estimated 600,000 people, the British welfare state was submerged by the mass influx of those cast adrift by Margaret Thatcher's monetarist policy. For two year, Graham visited over a hundred unemployment offices across the country, Many were makeshift structures, hastily installed in buildings intended or other purposes. These inadequate spaces suggest the supposed inability of the unemployed to adapt to new economic demands.
Paul Graham's technique when shooting this series was to discreetly prop the camera on his lap or on the chair next to him in order to take the shot. The random compositions showing expansions of ceiling and floor, the fractured line of bodies endlessly waiting and the inadequate attempts at brightening the despair - sickly plants, posters promoting optimistic slogans and yellow walls - add to the sense of alienation.
These photographs began firstly as artworks, self-published by Graham (Grey Editions) shown in the Photographers' Gallery in London (1984), then at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1987), then secondly brandished at Trade Union conferences as indisputable proof that the British welfare system was in urgent need of reform.
Examples
From left to right:
1st row: DHSS Emergency Centre, Elephant and Castle, South London 1984. Mother and Baby, Highgate DHSS, North London, 1984. Baby, DHSS Office, Birmingham, 1984.
2nd row: Waiting Room, Southwark DHSS, South Londonm 1984. Woman in Headscarf, DHSS Waiting Room, Bristol, 1984. Horse Poster, DHSS Office, Birmingham, 1984.
3rd row: Man Reading Paper, Bloomsbury DHSS, Central London, 1985. Baby and Interview Cubicles, Brixton DHSS, South Londonm 1984. Man Filling In Form, Dole Office, Liverpool, 1984.
4th Row: Waiting Room, Poplar DHSS, East London, 1985. Doorway, Dole Office, Hammersmith, West London, 1984. Crouched Man, DHSS Waiting Room, Bristol, 1984.
1st row: DHSS Emergency Centre, Elephant and Castle, South London 1984. Mother and Baby, Highgate DHSS, North London, 1984. Baby, DHSS Office, Birmingham, 1984.
2nd row: Waiting Room, Southwark DHSS, South Londonm 1984. Woman in Headscarf, DHSS Waiting Room, Bristol, 1984. Horse Poster, DHSS Office, Birmingham, 1984.
3rd row: Man Reading Paper, Bloomsbury DHSS, Central London, 1985. Baby and Interview Cubicles, Brixton DHSS, South Londonm 1984. Man Filling In Form, Dole Office, Liverpool, 1984.
4th Row: Waiting Room, Poplar DHSS, East London, 1985. Doorway, Dole Office, Hammersmith, West London, 1984. Crouched Man, DHSS Waiting Room, Bristol, 1984.
Documenting the Exhibition
The slumped, hunched, disheartened, dishevelled postures ehance the depressed, glum and dull atmosphere expressed through each photo. The positioning and angles of the camera creates a sense as if these photos are an outsiders look into these places, an investigation reiterating the fact that Graham was not allowed to take these photos. He was forbidden because the images were evidence to show these extreme, abandoned social environments around at that time. These places had been ignored and neglected by the government at the time which mirrors the look in the figures body language - worn down, depression, shame for being at such places.
The bleak colouring enhances the gloomy atmosphere, made more unpleasant by the harsh, bright, tangy light in the settings. This creates a more realistic outlook of these places, the photos are not set up, Graham took a picture of what was there at the specific moment in time and captured it.
The bleak colouring enhances the gloomy atmosphere, made more unpleasant by the harsh, bright, tangy light in the settings. This creates a more realistic outlook of these places, the photos are not set up, Graham took a picture of what was there at the specific moment in time and captured it.
La Photographie, Paris 2012
Alice Springs - Mother and Baby Portraits
The wife of Helmut Newton, Alice Springs began her own career as a photographer in Paris in 1970. Her husband, who was bedridden at the time, taught her how to use his camera and his light meter so that she could stand in for him. Along with various other series that were on display at La Photographie, one that stood out for particularly for my dissertation was her mother and baby portraits. These were a series of 10 black and white photographs that captured mothers with their children.
Documenting the exhibition:
The series was comic for the way Springs portrayed the similarities in mothers and their children. Each portray a different identity; the types of clothes, background, setting and body language/facial expression all add up to the physical portrayal of these different types of identities. By portraying them as a group, asked me as an observer to compare each identity making each one stand out more and creating a humour at the contrast between different ones, i.e. the more glamorous, extravagant identities to the laid back, sluggish identities.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2010/11/olivier-the-french-foreign-leg.php#.UJgVoBCl62B
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/cindy-sherman-1938
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/cindy-sherman-1938
Photography Trip - Paris 2012
Panoramic Originals
Panoramic Edits
The Pompidou Centre
The Louvre
Musee D'Orsay
Further Documentation
Originals
Edits
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin
The Pompidou Centre
The Louvre
Eiffel Tower
La Defense
Rodin Museum - Flesh and Marble
As a photographer, I wanted to capture the emotion in the pieces of art. I attempted to record the emotion evoked in the statues facial expressions and gestures. Focusing on a small section meant a more in-depth response for my aims as focusing in on the sculptures meant the detail that Rodin put into his art was captured in an image. I edited the photos into black and white as I felt it highlighted all the detail that Rodin put into his work.