Précis of "The Photograph as Contemporary Art"

Chapter 4:

“Something and Nothing”

The following chapter refers to ordinary, non-human, daily objects and viewing them as being extraordinary, and admired as art. These daily objects are objects that we as humans over look and would never normally admire as art. The contemporary artists/photographers mentioned in this chapter arrange these seemingly normal objects in such a way that the viewer conceptualises it in way they wouldn’t normally, and admire the photograph as a work of art.  This type of photography pushes the boundaries of what is considered art and what isn’t.

Many of the artists juxtapose ordinary objects in an extraordinary way and this redefines the reason and point of the object. The photographers balance and stack objects; they take still images of corners of things, unoccupied spaces, rubbish and transitory forms such as snow, condensation and light. The way that these objects are arranged and photographed makes the viewer contemplate the world around us.

These conceptual photographers go by the saying of, “how the object came to be there and what act brought that object into focus”; the attention is not on the artist and how they created the work. Marcel Duchamp was a strong influence for these conceptual photographers. Peter Fischil and David Weiss are examples of conceptual photographers who have chosen to balance and stack ordinary objects to create an artwork. They used mundane objects against dull backgrounds and agonizing shadows. Quiet Afternoon is an example.

A Mexican artist, Gabriel Orozco experimented with found objects. His piece called Breath on Piano is an example. It is of a corner of the piano and on the piano is a section of condensation where someone has breathed onto the shiny and smooth surface.

The artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres experimented with the mixture of domestic and public environments. He photographed an unmade bed to show the absence of a couple. It shows the imprints of where the couple lay and this implies an intimate moment. This image was then placed in a public area.  This induces the public to think   about their own personal and similar experiences.

Jason Evans’s work entails a black and white series of photographs. New Scent is an example of one of his works. This photograph is of an odd sculptural form induced by weather conditions. It is of silt and sand build up after coastal rainstorms.

Nigel Shafran’s Sewing Kit invites the viewer into an imaginary investigation of the room. Shafrans uses objects of daily life such as grass cuttings, scaffolding and washing up on a draining board. He wants to show poetically how we live our lives and how unconsciously we display and order objects in a specific way.

A German artist, Wolfgang Tillmans is an artist who with found objects creates abstract photography. He also photographs landscape, portrait and fashion. He photographs simple, but affecting scenes such as fruit ripening on a window sill, sparse kitchen cupboards and clothing that has been abandoned by its owner.  Suit is an example of his “discarded clothes” subject matter. This shows the item of clothing was once worn by someone and the shapes of their body is suggested.

Laura Letinsky photographed still-life’s with a different dimension to them. She shows the relationship of humans and the suggested presence of humans in her still-life’s.

These are only a few artists mentioned from this chapter as most of them all have the “daily object representation” subject matter in common. This chapter shows the evolution of contemporary photography and the innovativeness of the artists mentioned in the above précis.