Format Festival

This photograph, is taken from Guilad Kahn's "Armoured Touism" series; a collection of images made through the window of an armoured people carrier, while embedded with US marines in Afghanistan. Using the theory of the gaze in relation to what it is possible to learn from his artist's statement, Kahn used the frame of the window to as a powerful diegetic tool, to visually show the divide between the locals and the marines. The subjects looking in, only get to see their occupiers through bulletproof glass and the camera, acting as the viewpoint of a hypothetical soldier shows how their interaction is similarly stymied (except for the gunner...). The little girl, looking up from an impotent position is reflective of the US' imperialist dominance and speaks of the hegemonic control it wields through the materials of global capitalism.

A limit to the indexical veracity of Kahn's testimony (although he unashamedly holds an outspokenly pejorative view of the situation) is that he works within the confines of the mass media as a whole. His bio states that he has contributed to most of the worlds notable news publication, however, these institutions are within and actively ideologically bolster the system through which these injustices are possible, mediating his work and framing it for their purposes. Also, his embedding with the army (a controversial tactic for a photojournalist to employ) strips him of full autonomy. Even before it is framed and altered for a proffered ideological reading by the editors of the institutions which disseminate it, his work, by peering out from one side of the glass, irrevocably connects him to a specific party in the conflict. 

Globalisation

 In terms of the possible subjects within the topical umbrella of Globalisation, Andreas Gursky seems to focus on all of the main factors. His work on primary and secondary industry and construction, effective depict the enormity of the globalised systems of material process and spacial production therein, while the way in which human beings are shown in relation of size to these elements deals with the way people interact with their globalised surroundings, dwarfed and meaningless in comparison.

Topics on this scale require a very specialised set of working practices and equipment. Large format cameras are the only format which has the ability to capture what Gursky sets out to. Increasingly though, his photographs display blatant signs of digital manipulation, suggesting that Gursky's vision and perhaps the scale of his subject's themes, cannot be indexically recorded, needing larger and larger rendering as Globalised structures (both physical and non-physical) grow.

In the image above, Gursky shows a stock exchange, the nerve centre of the capitalist economy. There is no more fitting comment as even those who benefit most from this system are still dwarfed by its scale. In this image, all of the aforementioned elements of his work come together. No one who places humans in such a stark diminutive context next to their greater theme (except a misanthrope), could possibly hold anything but a pejorative view of it. However, Gursky makes his work for galleries and private collectors who pay millions for a piece. Surely there is an evident contradiction in terms of his alleged standpoint and that kind of willful participation in capitalism, the backbone of Globalisation.

The Rhetoric Of The Image

In this, probably Andy Warhol's most iconic image, we see the face of just that, an icon; Maralyn Monroe's portrait plucked from the sphere of pop-culture to serve as pop art. Denotatively speaking, a portrait is all it is but it is in the contradictions and connotative meaning created by the processes of changing the image from one found anywhere in the mass media, that Warhol's point lyes.By obsessively reproducing the image through the medium of the screen print, technically speaking, quite badly, Warhol speaks of the endless repetition of 'low culture' and its obsession with this star, whose image, through endless reproduction, it has rendered almost meaningless in terms of the aura and mystique it lauds, devoid as it is from the original. The kitch colour choices combined with the aforementioned treatment, affords the image an almost laughable quality which is quite the opposite of the original intended meaning of the original image.This image and all those almost identically like it, speak of the absence of any unique quality in modern culture and the prevailance of the throw away and disposable. Ironically, Andy Warhol 'originals' now sell for hundreds of thousands.

The Gaze

This image by Nobuyoshi Araki on a denotative level depicts a woman in bondage. She is suspended and unable to move, in an utlra submissive and uncomfortable looking position. Fully naked, the viewer is given full access to her body, not only that but she has no ability to control what parts of her the viewer can witness. This is an extreme extension of traditional, patriachal gender roles within the theory of the gaze. Although the male perspective usually has the power in terms of what can and cannot be done, the female has the power over what can be done to her. Here even this choice is void.
Bondage is a common feature of Japanese pornography and therefore, presumably any culturally definable sense of sexuality. Although Araki is an acclaimed fine artist, his work has been called pornographic and incorporates many of the elements; such as to make the female subjects submissively available and to, by completely negating self expression, render them as objects. Japanese culture is however, far more sexually permissive than that of the west and therefore, when seen in cultural context, it is possible that this image is not intended to be as provocative as it appears. 
Any extra or intra-diegetic gaze on the part of the subject is negated by the cloth covering her face. This focuses the attention solely on her body and in obscuring her identity as an individual completly, furthers her objectification. This however feels too far to be an unintentional fetish based wholly on sexual gratification. Regardless of the experience of the audience, it seems possible that this complete removal of power and identity is designed to make the viewer critically aware of their role as an active spectator to media texts and the responsibilities that come with this to challenge or at least be aware of power dynamics. 

Documentary

These two documentary photographs by Phillip Jones Griffiths (top) and Dash Snow (Bottom) illustrate vividly the gap between the aesthetics and ideology of the 'humanist' photojournalism of the early and mid-twentieth century; and the more contemporary, concept and image driven practice. 

While Griffiths' practice is rooted deeply in a desire to effect social change, as seen in his choice of subject matter and his propensity to actively use his images to publicise current issues, Snow photographs only those around him in hedonistic social settings. This is mirrored in their visual styles; while the former has been likened by Cartier-Bresson to Goya and purported the philosophy that "Content without form is propaganda-form without content is wallpaper.", the latter purposefully utilises a snapshot aesthetic, free from conventions of formal composition.

In terms of politic aims, Snow's images are apolitical, even apathetic, glorifying hedonism in a world of inequality. In stark contrast, Griffiths images contain a self evident and implicit ideology; by exposing conflict built on global inequality and injustice his aims are clear. 

While Griffiths used the best available technology of the time, up-to-date SLR's and high speed film, to capture action in an indexical manner in order to preserve the truth (he was famous for attempting to defend the veracity of the photographic medium as a tool for political activism), the frivolity of Snow is again apparent in his trade mark choice of Polaroid. An outmoded and inefficient format, which is now tied firmly to the 'Hipstermatic' movement that while contributing heavily to 'Vice Magazine', he helped to create.

Although there are a miriad of marked differences between the two, Griffiths and Snow both have the same attitude to action and lighting. Their images are shot on the fly and with a minimum of staging. Their proffered lighting is ambient and natural, which in both instances contribute to an authentic feeling of time and space within the frame.

Survailance

Brassai was one of the first night photographers and also one of the first to examine the elements and individuals of society deemed to be outside of the conventional, dominant morality. By his own admission he often felt like a 'voyeur at a window' and there seems to be a certain excited fascination, particularly in his early images, of which this is one; where he did not interact with his subjects but merely observed.

This photograph depicts a Parisian prostitute waiting for business on a street corner. The photographic equipment available to Brassai would have been bulky and obvious and so, her pose, although ostensibly disinterested, turned away from the lens as if she is unaware of his presence, can be understood to be one that has been affected. The photographer allows a wide frame to contextualise the nature of the surrounding, seemingly a run down area but gives no clue as to exactly where.

Brassai makes no obvious attempt through composition or framing (i.e., the height of the camera in relation to the subject) to pass judgement. He was a professional journalist at the time and so, detachment from subject could be a symptom of his career. The image appears to be entirely one of document although inference can be drawn from the prevailing attitudes of the historical context. 

This image along with many others was published in book form in 1933 and so it can be assumed that Brassai intended them as a study of a world many do not see, or don't admit to seeing, allowing the viewer to share his voyeurism at a safe distance.

In this markedly differing image, from Larry Clarke's 'Tulsa', the image, although featuring comparable societal taboos of the day, brings the action much closure and depicts it in a far more visceral manner.

The young man in the photograph injecting amphetamine into his wrist while lying in a bathtub is one of Clarke's close circle of friends, many of whom shared such self destructive tendancies. Apart from his being allowed to shoot such a private moment, the physical proximity of the camera to the action speaks of a close relationship and trust between Clarke and the subject. The unabashed nudity also puts the subject in a vulnerable position infront of the lens.

Once again, a definate lack of judgement is portrayed on the part of the photographer. Apart from being part of that social group and therefore having an inside perspective, the presentation of the 'Tulsa' series is almost captionless, allowing the viewer to  calls for themselves. Because Clark is one a part of the action in a sense, by extension, any element of voyeaurism is placed squarly on the viewer.

 Finally, this incredibly sexually explicit image is a self portrait by Robert Mapplethorpe. Clearly meant to ellicit a voyeauristic response in the most sexual of terms, it was made in the 80's in New York, a time of huge liberation in the Gay community and therefore a flaunting of sexuality, sometimes in quite an extreme sense.

Mapplethorpe breaks down all barrier of surveillance here, he address the camera and therefore the viewer directly, as if daring you to judge him. In this way he turns what could be deemed to be a position of physical vulnerabliity into one of dominance.

Intended as fine art pieces, this also straddles the boundaries of a performance piece for the artist himself with the image as document.

The camera dutch tilt of the camera is possibly designed to make the photograph feel adhoc, like it 'just happened',  although obviously consciously constructed, placing the viewer in the hypothetical voyeaur peering in or accidentally finding him in this situation. This is also mirrored in his expression of almost mock-shock.

These images were not only published but displayed in galleries, which, even at the time must have been boundary pushing in terms of acceptable content; the point.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT TASK: Linking personal work to critical constructs.

Benjamin Smith is a young, Documentary Photographer based in the North of England. Much of his work focuses on sub-cultures and individuals who choose to live outside of the dominant societal norms. In his ongoing series Aerosoul, Benjamin has spent several months following a number of Graffiti 'Writers' from Manchester and Leeds as they 'Bomb' the streets of their cities. 

Although the very nature of Graffiti directly challenges the ever present dichotomy of public-versus-private property/space, in recent years there has been a certain amount of cultural absorption. Caused largely by the proclivity of the marketing industry to raid the more dangerous elements of youth culture and partly by the hype surrounding a small, elite group of artists (Banksy, Swoon et al.), a notable shift in the perceived nature and status has occurred. This however seems inextricably linked to the market value and apparent equitability of a certain aesthetic trend, in short: commodification.

The Writers depicted in Aerosoul practice the earliest, most basic and least saleable form of Graffiti, namely tagging. Essentially the taking of space with a personalised graphic, symbol or nom de guerre, this personalisation of the urban environment stands diametrically opposed to the policies of privitisation, that remove the right of input into how the environment is constructed, from most of the population. To this end, Aerosoul tends not to fetishise the artwork of the protagonists but focuses instead, on the act itself, as the thing worthy or record and in so doing, seeks to question by extension, the globalised systems of capital.


The predominant use of an analogue medium can be seen as an intentional comment on the indexical nature of the  photographic document as record; providing a tactile and 'real' image that attests to the truth of both picture (without post production) and therefore, moment. However, the grainy, saturated and sometime soft qualities of many of the images in the series, although the results of practical implications, ground the feel in something more esoteric than mere physicality. The rough-and-ready aesthetics combined with the silhoettes and night time setting, encapsulate mood and atmosphere, as well as action.