Why Art Photography?

160 Pages·2013·2.236 MB·English

by  Lucy Soutter

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‘While documentary photography is generally well understood, the diverse
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traditions of conceptual, semi-factual or entirely fictional art photography y

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remain a mystery to many. Why Art Photography? is an accessible and r
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intelligent guide, which addresses key themes like “authenticity” and P
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“objectivity” by examining the thought-provoking work of living, often o
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younger, artists.’ o
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Dr Sarah Thornton, author of Seven Days in the Art World r
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Contemporary art photography is paradoxical. Anyone can look at it and form

an opinion about what they see, yet it represents critical positions that only a L
small minority of well-informed viewers can usually access. U
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Why Art Photography? provides a lively, accessible introduction to the ideas S
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behind today’s striking photographic images. Exploring key issues such as U
ambiguity, objectivity, staging, authenticity, the digital and photography’s T
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expanded field, the chapters offer fresh perspectives on existing debates. E
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While the main focus is on the present, the book traces concepts and visual
styles to their origins, drawing on carefully selected examples from recognized
international photographers. Images, theories and histories are described in a
clear, concise manner and key terms are defined along the way.
This book is ideal for anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of
photography as an art form.
Lucy Soutter is a photographer, critic and art historian. She is a tutor in the
Department of Critical and Historical Studies at the Royal College of Art.
Her writings on contemporary art and photography include essays in Girls!
Girls! Girls! in Contemporary Art (2011), Appropriation (2009) and Role
Models: Feminine Identity in Contemporary Photography (2008).
PHOTOGRAPHY / ART
COVER IMAGE: © ZOE CROSHER
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Why Art Photography?
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LUCY SOUTTER
Why Art Photography?
Contemporary art photography is paradoxical. Anyone can look at it and form
an opinion about what they see, yet it represents critical positions that only a
small minority of well-informed viewers can usually access.
Why Art Photography? provides a lively, accessible introduction to the ideas
behind today’s striking photographic images. Exploring key issues such as ambi-
guity, objectivity, staging, authenticity, the digital and photography’s expanded
field, the chapters offer fresh perspectives on existing debates. While the main
focus is on the present, the book traces concepts and visual styles to their ori-
gins, drawing on carefully selected examples from recognized international
photographers. Images, theories and histories are described in a clear, concise
manner and key terms are defined along the way.
This book is ideal for anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of
photography as an art form.
Lucy Soutter is a photographer, critic and art historian. She is a tutor in the
Department of Critical and Historical Studies at the Royal College of Art. Her
writings on contemporary art and photography include essays in Girls! Girls!
Girls! in Contemporary Art (2011), Appropriation (2009) and Role Models:
Feminine Identity in Contemporary Photography (2008).

Why Art Photography?
by Lucy Soutter
Firstpublished2013
byRoutledge
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SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
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©2013LucySoutter
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assertedbyherinaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,
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Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
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Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
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withoutintenttoinfringe.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Whyartphotography?/LucySoutter.
pagescm
1.Photographiccriticism.2.Photography,Artistic.I.Title.
TR187.S682012
770--dc23
2012030670
ISBN:978-0-415-57733-5(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-57734-2(pbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-13058-2(ebk)
TypesetinSabon
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements x
Introduction: Why Art Photography? 1
1 Hybrid Genres: Portraiture 13
2 Objectivity and Seriousness 31
3 Fictive Documents 52
4 Authenticity 70
5 Digital Dialogues: Spectacle and Spectators 92
6 Beyond Photography 112
Select Bibliography 133
Index 139
Illustrations
0.1 Artist Vanessa Beecroft and Louis Vuitton’s European President,
Jean Marc Gallot standing beside a photograph from Beecroft’s
series Alphabet Concept VBLH, 30 September 2006. Photograph
Peer Grimm, courtesy of dpa Picture-Alliance. 10
1.1 Zoe Crosher, Looking Away (2008) from the series “Polaroided,
The Unravelling of Michelle duBois.” Courtesy Zoe Crosher and
Perry Rubenstein Gallery, Los Angeles. 15
1.2 Alfred Stieglitz photograph of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, 1917
as reproduced in The Blind Man no. 2, 1917. Photography courtesy
Beineke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Duchamp Fountain © Succession Marcel Duchamp/ADAGP, Paris
and DACS, London 2011. Stieglitz photograph © Georgia O’Keeffe
Museum / DACS, 2012. 19
1.3 Katy Grannan, Tim, b. 1981, 2004 from the series Mystic Lake.
Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco. 20
1.4 Eleanor Antin, installation shot, Carving: A Traditional Sculpture,
1972. 148 black and white photographs andtext panel7"(cid:1)5" each.
Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Courtesy Ronald
Feldman Fine Arts, New York. 23
1.5 Collier Schorr, Jens F. 114/115, 1999–2002. Courtesy 303 Gallery,
New York. 24
1.6 Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1989 © Richard Prince.
Courtesy Gagosian Gallery, New York. Photography by Robert
McKeever. 26
2.1 Stephen Shore, Church and Second Streets, Easton, Pennsylvania,
June 20, 1974, 1974–2003. C-print 71/2"(cid:1)97/16" (19.1(cid:1)24cm).
Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York. 33
2.2 Bernd and Hilla Becher, Water Towers, Germany 1965–82, 9 black
and white photographs. Courtesy Sonnabend Gallery, New York. 37
2.3 Candida Höfer, Banco de España IV 2000. C-print. © Candida
Höfer and VG Blid-Kunst, Bonn 2000. Courtesy Sonnabend
Gallery, New York. 40
2.4 Robert Polidori, 2520 Deslondes, New Orleans, March 2006.
Courtesy Robert Polidori and Edwnn Houk Gallery, New York
and Zurich. 42
Illustrations vii
2.5 Frank Breuer, Untitled (Lexington, MA, USA) from the series
Poles, 2004. C-print on diasec, 14.5"(cid:1)18.5"(cid:1)0.5" (37.6(cid:1)1.8 cm).
Courtesy Frank Breuer. 44
2.6 Thomas Struth, Paradise 1, Daintree, Australia 1998. Chromogenic
print, 232.7(cid:1)185cm © Thomas Struth. 46
2.7 Bettina von Zwehl, Profiles III, no. 4, 2005–6. C-print, 106(cid:1)133cm.
Courtesy Bettina von Zwehl and Purdy Hicks Gallery. 48
2.8 Sarah Pickering, Electric Thunderflash, 2004 from the series
Explosion. C-print, 125(cid:1)125 cm. Courtesy Sarah Pickering. 49
3.1 Luc Delahaye, Taliban, 2001. C-print, 93.3"(cid:1)44.6" (237(cid:1)111cm)
© Luc Delahaye. Courtesy Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris. 56
3.2 Luc Delahaye, Les Pillards, 2010. Digital C-print, 86.6"(cid:1)62.5"
(220cm(cid:1)159cm) © Luc Delahaye. Courtesy Galerie Nathalie
Obadia, Paris. 57
3.3 An-My Lê, 29 Palms: Colonel Greenwood, 2003–2004. Gelatin
Silver Print 26.5"(cid:1)38" Courtesy of Murray Guy New York. 60
3.4 An-My Lê, Manning the Rail, USS Tortuga, Java Sea, 2010.
Archival pigment print, 40"(cid:1)561/2". Courtesy of Murray Guy,
New York. Courtesy of Murray Guy New York. 61
3.5 AdamBroombergandOliverChanarin,Untitled(Afterlife2),2009.
Collage, glass, lead, C-type print, 20"(cid:1)16". Courtesy of Adam
Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin. 62
3.6 Walid Raad/The Atlas Group, Let’s be Honest, The Weather
Helped (Libya), 1998. Archival colour inkjet print, one of a series
of 17 prints, 19(cid:1)29(cid:1)13/4" (48.3(cid:1)73.7(cid:1)4.4 cm) © Walid Raad.
Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. 65
4.1 Nan Goldin, Nan One Month after Being Battered, 1984.
Cibachrome print, 16(cid:1)20". Courtesy Nan Goldin. 77
4.2 Wolfgang Tillmans, Kitchen Still-life, 1995. Courtesy Wolfgang
Tillmans and Maureen Paley, London. 80
4.3 Wolfgang Tillmans, installation view, untitled exhibition,
Buchloz & Buchloz, Cologne, 1993. Courtesy Wolfgang Tillmans
and Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne. 80
4.4 Wolfgang Tillmans, installation view, truth study center,
Maureen Paley, London, 2005. Courtesy Wolfgang Tillmans and
Maureen Paley, London. 81
4.5 Rinko Kawauchi, Untitled, from the series Cui Cui, 2005.
© Rinko Kawauchi. 82
4.6 Muzi Quawson, Inside the Bluehouse, from the series Pull Back the
Shade, 2002–6. Courtesy Muzi Quawson. 83
4.7 Ryan McGinley, Kiss Explosion, 2005. Courtesy Ryan McGinley
and Team Gallery, New York. 86
5.1 Andreas Gursky, 99 cent II, diptych, 2001. C-print. Copyright:
Andreas Gursky/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / DACS 2012. Courtesy
Sprüth Magers Berlin, London. 96
viii Illustrations
5.2 Gregory Crewdson, Untitled (Birth), from the series Beneath the
Roses, 2007. Edition of 6. Archival pigment print, 581/2(cid:1)891/2"
(148.6(cid:1)227.3cm) (framed). © Gregory Crewdson. Courtesy White
Cube Gallery, London. 99
5.3 Eva Stenram, Per Pulverem Ad Astra 1.4, 2007. C-type, 23(cid:1)34cm,
unique print. Courtesy Eva Stenram. Source image courtesy NASA/
JPL-Caltech. 102
5.4 Jon Rafman, 330 R. Herois de Franca, Matosinhos, Portugal, 2009,
from the series The Nine Eyes of Google Street View. Archival
c-print. Courtesy of Jon Rafman. 104
5.5 Jon Rafman, 125 Rua Maestro Benedito Olegário Berti, Mogi das
Cruzes, São Paulo, Brasil, 2010, from the series The Nine Eyes of
Google Street View. Archival c-print. Courtesy of Jon Rafman. 104
5.6 Kenji Hirasawa, Jennifer Lopez, from the series Celebrity, 2011
© Kenji Hirasawa. 106
5.7 RichardKolker,Basin,fromtheseries“House”(2010).Reproduced
with the kind permission of Richard Kolker. 108
6.1 Walead Beshty, 4SidedPull(RGBY),May16th,2007ValenciaCA,
Kodak Supra, 2008. Colour photographic paper, 861/2(cid:1)541/2"
(219.7(cid:1)138.4 cm) Photo: Joshua White. Courtesy of the artist;
Thomas Dane Gallery, London; and Regen Projects, Los Angeles. 115
6.2 Walead Beshty, installation view, Passages, 2009, LAXART, Los
Angeles. Photo: Fredrik Nilsen. 116
6.3 Rachel Harrison, Hammer and Lemon (installation view), 2008.
Wood, polystyrene, cement, Parex, acrylic, hammer, artificial
lemon, 161/2(cid:1)15(cid:1)581/2. Courtesy Rachel Harrison and Greene
Naftali Gallery, New York. 118
6.4 Sharon Lockhart, Models of Orbits in the System of Reference,
Eshkol–Wachman Movement Notation System: Sphere Two at
Four Points in Its Rotation, 2011. One of four C-prints,
201/2(cid:1)161/2" (52.1(cid:1)41.9cm) each. Courtesy the artist,
neugerriemschneider, Berlin, Gladstone Gallery, New York and
Brussels, and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. 120
6.5 Sharon Lockhart, Five Dances and Nine Wall Carpets by Noa
Eshkol, 2011, still from 5-channel film installation (35mm film
transferred to HD, sound), continuous loop. Courtesy the artist,
neugerriemschneider, Berlin, Gladstone Gallery, New York and
Brussels, and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. 121
6.6 Clifford Owens, Photographs with an Audience (Houston),
Immigrants and Day Laborers (detail). 2 C-prints, 20(cid:1)24" (each),
2011. Courtesy On Stellar Rays, New York 123
6.7 Clifford Owens, Photographs with an Audience (Houston), Hold
no. 1 and Hold no. 2 (detail). 2 C-prints, 20(cid:1)24" (each), 2011.
Courtesy On Stellar Rays, New York. 124
6.8 JR, Women Are Heroes, Kibera, Kenya, 2009. © JR. 125