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UNIT ONE
EVALUATIVE REPORT
I found it difficult to settle in at Camberwell. I came from a foundation course where I studied and
practiced "ne art in a class of like-minded people, and I assumed this would be the case again when
starting my degree.
However, as the term progressed I discovered my peers had vastly different agendas of their own
which they wished to ful"l, which is obviously always going to be the case within a "ne art domain.
I struggled to come to terms with the change in dynamic, as well as the academic environment
which made me start to have doubts about the course.
$e more I thought about how different everything was, the more I started to doubt myself and
question my motives and where I wanted to take my work. To start with I thought I would just
experiment with techniques rather than concepts as this was a fairly safe path which I thought I
would bene"t from. However, retrospectively I think this was probably a bad idea as I couldn’t clear
my head and had no focus. I didn’t really want to make work for myself, I was just doing it for the
sake of the course, which was a shame.
After feeling lost for some time I discussed my feelings with an art graduate. $ey said it sounded
like I was too focussed on being a professional, rather than using these three years to be
experimental and challenging myself. $ey said that anyone can learn technique, but only a select
few can express their ideas successfully and change peoples ideas about art.
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
With this advice I decided I should fully focus on my own practice rather than comparing myself to
others. $is helped me to develop a few ideas around artistic platforms and how new media is
shaping the way we experience art. For example I have seen more art on the internet in the past
week than I have in person since September.
$is led me to think about creating digital, online platforms for work and using their bene"ts to
break the dogma that ‘"ne’ art is viewed in galleries and museums. One of my favourite
contemporary artists who uses YouTube as a platform for art is Mark Mcgowan.
Unfortunately, during my state of despair I lacked any sort of motivation for research, I did
document the work I came across but didn't actively partake in visiting galleries other than the ones
we were instructed to. I didn’t really feel my work was ‘research based’.
I found the critiques enjoyable, but not that helpful. I thought that people didn’t really speak their
mind and instead just found each others work very agreeable, which wasn't always a good thing.
Lectures so far have been very enjoyable, I am more interested in contemporary artists and their
works than I am in the history of photography as I have studied that comprehensively for 5 years, so
having lectures on work from the last 5 years has been one of the highlights.
I have started 2012 with a new outlook and hope to improve on an relatively unsuccessful "rst term
which I have learnt a lot from.
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
HOW CAN WE USE SZARKOWSKI’S
DESCRIPTION OF ‘THE THING
ITSELF’ IN ORDER TO MORE
COMPREHENSIVELY UNDERSTAND
THE WORK OF PHOTOGRAPHER
IMMO KLINK?
$is essay discusses key elements of John Szarkowski’s ‘$e Photographer’s Eye’ in relation to the
work of Immo Klink. $is should help to discover a more profound meaning within his
photographs using Szarkowski’s analytical style. Focusing on ‘$e $ing Itself ”, which highlights
the idea of photographs as factual evidence, and how this can become problematic when techniques
such as ‘staged photography’ are used.
Part I - Establishing the Criteria
John Szarkowski’s ‘$e Photographer’s Eye’ essay followed his critically acclaimed curation of an
exhibition of the same name. In his introduction to this exhibition he stated (about the invention of
modern photography) ‘!e photographer was forced to "nd new ways to make his meaning clear. !e
emergence of this special visual language has conditioned our sight, our language, and our imagery.’
To explain ‘this special visual language’ Szarkowski chose over 200 photographs and divided them
into the "ve famous groups (which he later discusses in his essay). He used ‘$e $ing Itself‘ to
explore his idea that ‘More convincingly than any other picture, a photograph evokes the tangible presence
of reality’. Szarkowski often thought of photography as a contradicting medium to painting, he said
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
that when an artist paints a picture he leaves his impression on the canvas, creating "gures and
landscapes in a way only he may see them, whereas when a photograph is taken we must trust that
‘the lens is impartial and will draw the subject as it is, neither nobler nor meaner’.
Two of the images Szarkowski chose to exhibit were Walker Evans’s ‘Farmer’s Wife’ (Figure 1)and
Edward Weston’s ‘Hot Coffee’(Figure 2). One can use these images as a starting point for the
answers we hope to "nd in Immo Klink’s work. ‘$e $ing Itself‘ can be split into three main parts,
each part can be interpreted into a criteria of analysis which can be used to critique photographs
and therefore discover for example; a profound meaning or an unknown agenda of the artist.
Firstly, Szarkowski states that ‘!e world itself is an artist of incomparable inventiveness, and that to
recognise it’s best works and moments …requires intelligence both accurate and supple.’ $is leads to the
"rst of the analytical criteria:
$e world is an artist of incomparable inventiveness, therefore it requires someone of great
intelligence to record it.
Now, using this criteria against a photograph, for example Walker Evans’s ‘Farmer’s Wife’ one may
suggest that Evans has used his skill as a photographer to capture the emotion of Allie Mae
Burroughs during an economic downturn during which her family owned nothing. Szarkowski may
agree that although Evans did not create the beauty, sadness and desperation we see in the
photograph, he perfectly captured it during a period when the upper classes of the USA had no
interest in this subject, yet may have been interested in his other works.
Secondly, Szarkowski contradicts his "rst point by arguing that ‘pictures, no matter how convincing …
[are] a different thing to reality itself ’. He goes on to say ‘It was the photographers problem to see not
simply the reality before him but the still invisible picture’. Leading to the second analytical criterion:
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
Although photographs are generally acknowledged as evidence of reality, they should not always
be. $e photographer must think heedfully how the photograph will be perceived in a different
context.
One may say of Edward Weston’s ‘Hot Coffee’ that although in the 21st Century it may be obvious
to viewers across the world that this was an advert for a roadside café - something we are so
accustomed to seeing - at the time, a viewer unaccustomed to marketing and advertising may have
assumed this to be for example, a prop for a "lm set.
Finally, Szarkowski references the character Holgrave from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘$e House of
the Seven Gables’. $e character states that a photograph ‘brings out the secret character with a truth
no painter would ever venture upon, could he even detect it’. Szarkowski explains that when a subject is
immortalised in a photograph a reality is created which didn’t exist initially, he states that ‘the image
would survive the subject’ meaning for example; in 100 years an image may exist in a place where
nobody has any knowledge of where it came from or why it exists in that space, at that moment in
time. Yet when it was captured there was a speci"c agenda of the photographer, and they probably
would’ve known exactly where, when and why it was taken. From this "nal paragraph the "nal
criterion can be introduced:
When a photograph is taken, a time, place and subject are recorded within it. However, not all of
these things are obvious to the viewer, and each viewers perception of a photograph will be
completely different.
$is criterion works perfectly with Walker Evans’s ‘Farmer’s Wife’. Although I know that the
photograph shows a woman who is struggling to survive during the great depression, there are only
elements of the photograph that suggest this, and even those cannot con"rm it. For instance, her
blouse may have been typical for the period, and it may be heavily worn (showing her lack of
wealth), but the same blouse would be available for a woman to purchase today, and it may have
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
been styled to have a worn-in look. $ere is nothing in the photograph that actually guarantees it’s
from the 1930’s which reiterates the idea that a photograph may be strong evidence at one time, but
may not be reliable another.
Part II - Applying the Criteria
‘G8 Riot Police’ & ‘George W. Bush at Buckingham Palace’
Firstly we come to G8 Riot Police, this photograph was taken by Klink in July 2005 in Gleneagles,
Scotland. $e photograph depicts 6 riot-police officers in fully-protective clothing, with shields and
batons, stood in a "eld near Gleneagles. It is both surreal and humorous, yet it has darker, sinister
connotations and shows a scene so unlike what we are used to, it almost seems staged. $is
occurrence has been captured by Klink perfectly and it provides us with an image we may never
come across again in our lifetimes. $e second image ‘George W.Bush at Buckingham Palace’ shows
approximately 50 police officers stood outside Buckingham Palace whilst the 43rd US President was
meeting the Queen in 2003. What is so signi"cant about the photograph is that Klink has used a
technique that is often seen as a faux pas in photography, by over-exposing the re%ective strips on
the police officer’s jackets, he has left the rest of the photograph under-exposed. $is could be
recognised as the ‘great intelligence’ discussed in Part I.
$ese photograph’s however could well be staged, especially ‘G8 Riot Police’ where several costumes
could have been hired and 6 models sent to a "eld wearing them. Which leads us to wonder
whether Klink considered Szarkowski’s idea of ‘the still invisible picture’ when taking the photograph.
Maybe if he had pondered the idea he would’ve changed the composition to guarantee a more
genuine photograph. It is interesting to see photograph’s such as ‘George W.Bush at Buckingham
Palace’ in the present day as there are so many current affairs (including the 2011 London Riots)
that concern policing in the UK.
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
$e last two chosen photograph’s by Klink are ‘YSL’ and ‘Chanel’ which he took on May Day Bank
Holiday, 2002. $e series of photographs is called ‘Mayfair at Mayday’. $ey show retail giants such
as Prada, Donna Karan, Versace, YSL and Chanel that have had their shop-front’s completely
boarded up before a suspected attack by ‘Anarchist protesters’. Klink’s humorous playfulness is shown
again in this work. Again, all Klink’s work was done for him, he just had to correctly capture the
subjects and I think he has done that more successfully here, there are prestigious, recognisable logos
and brands hidden between chip-board which usually would be totally contradictory, Klink avoid’s
suspicion of staged photography by using names and places almost anyone could recognise.
However, the only problem with photograph’s of a commodity such as fashion is that these names
may disappear from our vocabulary within a few years, leaving the photographs meaningless. $is is
a perfect example of Szarkowski’s idea that ‘the image would survive the subject’. In 100 years a
student like myself, looking through Klinks work may come across designer names they have never
heard of, and any sentiment or humour in the photographs is lost in the memory of a previous
generation.
Using the ideas John Szarkowski discusses in ‘$e $ing Itself ’ have helped discover details within
Immo Klinks photographs that may never have been apparent before. Deciphering Szarkowski’s text
and creating a more focused, contemporary criteria formed the bulk of the essay. $is meant I was
left with little space to fully discuss Klink’s work as intended. However, one would hope to be able
to take the ideas from this essay and use them again and again on photograph’s throughout history,
just as I have done with Szarkowski’s essay. Creating this criteria has successfully helped me now,
and may continue to for many years.
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
Immo KlinkGeorge W.Bush at Buckingham Palace, 2003
Immo KlinkYSL, 2002
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
Alabama Tenant Farmer Wife, 1936
(Figure 2) Edward Weston
Hot Coffee, 1937
Bibliography
Beschloss, M. (2009). George W. Bush. Available: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/
georgewbush. Last accessed 10th Dec 2011.
Hawthorne, N (1981). $e House of the Seven Gables. New York: Bantam Classics. 83.
Ivins, W (1953). Prints end Visual Communication. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
180.
Shabi, R. (2005). $e War on dissent. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/jul/02/
development.g8. Last accessed 10th Dec 2011.
Szarkowski, J (2007). $e Photographers Eye. 3rd ed. New York: $e Museum Of Modern Art. p6-11.
Unknown. (1964). $e Photographer's Eye. Available: http://www.moma.org/docs/press_archives/3231/releases/MOMA_1964_0018_1964-05-27_20.pdf?2010. Last accessed 10th Dec 2011.
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
"Walker Evans: Alabama Tenant Farmer Wife (2001.415)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: $e Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2001.415 (October 2006)
Wilson, J. (2002). Anarchist protesters turn their May Day attentions to Mayfair. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/apr/27/mayday.world. Last accessed 10th Dec 2011.
TOM BREETON - BA(HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY