auto focus by susan bright - excerpt

8/8/2019 Auto Focus by Susan Bright - Excerpt

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AUTO FOCUSTHE SELF-PORTRA

IN CONTEMPORAR

PHOTOGRAPH

SUSAN BRIG

The Monacelli Pr


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Copyright 2010SusanBright

All rights reserved. Publishedin theUnitedStatesby

TheMonacelli Press,a divisionof Random House, Inc.

First publishedsimultaneously in 2010in theUnited

Kingdom by Thames & Hudson,Ltd., London and

by TheMonacelli Press,a divisionof Random House,

Inc.,NewYork.

TheMonacelli Press andcolophon aretrademarksof

Random House, Inc.

Libraryof Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bright, Susan, 1969

Autofocus: theself-portraitin contemporary

photography/ SusanBright.

p.cm.

Includesbibliographical references andindex.

ISBN 978-1-58093-300-1 (hardcover)

1. Portrait photography.2. Self-portraits.

3. PhotographersPortraits. I. Title.

TR681.P56B75 2010

770dc222010004383

Printedand boundin [tbc]

1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First edition

www.monacellipress.com

This book isdedicated toMikeandRubyReynolds.

With special thanks to all theartistsand galleries

whoso kindly assistedme andgave their time

andenergyto the project.Thanksmust also goto

thefollowing:Pat Binder,Camilla Brown,Alejandro

Castellote, Alasdair Foster,Gerhard Haupt, Jackie

Higgins, Graham Howe, Allison Kave, Carrie Levy,

WeibkeLister,Paul Moakley, Alison Norstrom,Jeesun Park,Aaron Shulman,Anne Sorensen,

Joe Strubble,Toshie Takeuchi,Hedy Van Erp,

James Wellingand Richard West. And my grateful

thanks to all those at Thames & Hudson,especially

Jacky Klein, Ginny Liggitt,Katie Morgan,Anna Perotti

andDiana Bullitt Perry.


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INTRODUCTIONUNCANNY LIKENES

PHOTOGRAPHERS PHOTOGRAPHING THEMSELVES

01AUTOBIOGRAPHY202 BODY6

03 MASQUERADE 9

04 STUDIO AND ALBUM 14

05 PERFORMANCE 18

Notes2

Further Reading 2

List of Illustrations 2

Index2

CONTENT


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56AUTOBIOGRAPHY


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BROT

In retrospect, I haveactuallynoticed that I reached for the camera

more readilywhen Iwas unhappy. I worked the pain intoa beautiful

object that could be lookedatdetached frommyself, and this consoled

mea little. Inaway its banal,but it isas ifart legitimates grief. I think

inthisway a lot ofartistsmakeindecentuse of their ownunhappy lives

asmaterial for their art.


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64BODY

The body is the only direct way

through which I can know society

and society comes to know me.

The body is the proof of identity.

The body is language.

Homeland (2001)is a seriesof photographs of a performance

of the sametitle. Carefully composedfor the camera,these

images function as stills,documenting actions in which

theartist pusheshis body to extremes. Zhang hasalways

used hisbodyas a metaphor forthe Chinese people and

to comment on therapid socialand economic changes

taking place in China.His performances andthe resulting

photographs are radical, politically provocative and,at times,

masochistic. In hisongoing andexplicituse of hisbody as a

vehicle for self-expression,Zhangtests societys boundaries

of acceptability in artwork.

For this seriesof photographs Zhang whohas worked

extensively outside of China returned to hisnativeland,

to thecity of Qufu in theShandongProvince.This province

hasone of thelargest populations in thecountry andsome

of the poorest living conditions. The quickly developing

cities attract farmers and young labourerslooking for work,

who often abandon their landand villages, leaving behind

the elderly, children and increasinglydepleted farmland.Zhang hassaid that on returningto China,he lookedat

thesky andthe earth andfoundthem to beindignant

andsoulful, so he created theperformance in an attemptto

alter that state.He turnedhis body into somethinganimal,

disguising it entirely apart from hisface with large slabs

of raw meat that grotesquely exaggerate hisshape.In the

imagesof himburrowing into theground like an animal,

Zhangs meat suit creates a protective sheath around him,

butwhenhe standsup, thebloodred casingmakes it seem

as if Zhangs skin hasbeenflayed.

ZHANGHUAN

Leftabove,leftand opposite:ZhangHuan,Homeland,2001.
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30MASQUERADE


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GA

GAECAIn theseriesMe,MyselfandI(200204),Spanish artist Gaeca

mocks thehierarchiesand clichs of arthistory andthe

commercial artmarket.Heassumestherolesofpeople

involved intheoftenelitist andsnobbish artworld, including

artists,curators, dealers andcollectors.Thephotographsserveasa comment onthesubtle manners andbehaviour

that canseemextraordinarilybewilderingtothoseonthe

outside of that environment.The project reveals the

insecuritiesthat thrive in theunstableworldof tasteand

fashion,andwhich oftendominate thebusiness side of art,

commodifyingtheworkandturning it into a cultural

product.WhenGaecaplaces text withinsomeof theimages,

it reads like thethoughtbubbles ofnarcissisticand

complacentcharacterswho wishto reinvent themselves in

order to fitin; Nobody KnowsI AmWorkingClass oneimagereveals,while anotherdivulgesNobodyKnows MyDadDied

Yesterday. Ina complexlayeringof identityGaeca is

pretending tobe a personwhois in turnpretendingtobe

somebodyelse,andthrough this multitudeof identities he

asks whoplaces valueuponartistic creationandwhy. In

termsofstyleandcomposition, theportraitsare elegant and

meticulouslycrafted,andGaeca mimics thevisual language

of advertisingaswell as famousworks of art, from

seventeenth-century paintingsbyDutch artist JanVermeer

to contemporaryworksby BruceNauman.Heuses deadpanhumourto shatter theaura that surroundsthe makingand

selling of fine art, andmanages tosidestep childishmockery

dueto hisintimate knowledgeof theconventions andcodes

of arthistory andthe artworld.

Opposite:Gaeca,NobodyKnowsVermeerToldMe This, 2004.

Right:Gaeca,Untitled, 2002.

Pages132:Gaeca,NobodyKnowsMy DadDiedYesterday,2002.

Page133:Gaeca,Untitled, 2003.


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48 STUDIOANDALBUM


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Memory ofMemories (2001) began as a site-specific

installationin a garageand balcony intheGudaibiya

district of Bahrainscapital city, Manama. Thislocation was

important, as Al-Shaikhwanted the site to be relevantto his

investigationof memory,and thisbuildingreminded him

ofthe house inSaudi Arabiawhere hegrewup.Some ofthe

photomontages from theproject arecomposed of family

pictures juxtaposedwithhistorical imagesor ephemera.

Onegroupof photographs combines pictures of Al-Shaikh

asa child posing ona balcony withan image of the identity

card hisfather used when he wasworking on theSaudi

Arabian railwayin the 1950s. Duringthatperiodmany

Bahrainisleft to work inSaudi Arabia, which wascreatinga

modernurban infrastructure andwas inneed of manual

labourers. In another work,a photograph of Iraqi military

equipmentdestroyed intheGulf War inKuwaitin the1990s

isplacedon top of a picture of Al-Shaikh as a boy witha

group of smiling children.A picture of theartist as a child

withgrapes, anapple and a bananafloatingin the air inthe

foreground, refersto a recurringdreamhe hadin his

childhood, inwhich helookedup ata treeand saw thatit

bore allthreefruits.Each of these fruitsappears

individually in otherphotographs,suggestingthefluid

boundaries between real memories andthosethatare

made up or re-remembered throughexposure tofamily

albums. Thediagram of geometricshapesthatappears in

allof theimages reflects componentsof Al-Shaikhs

heritage,combining elements of Arabic andIslamic

cultures and beliefs.The largeinstallation,from which

thesepictures are taken,shiftsfrom investigationsof

personal identity to widerexplorations of national identity

intheMiddle East.

ANASAL-SHAIKH

AL-S

Opposite:AnasAl-Shaikh,MemoryofMemories1 , 2001.

Aboveright: AnasAl-Shaikh,MemoryofMemories3 ,2001.

Right:AnasAl-Shaikh,MemoryofMemories6 , 2001.


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Choreographiesemergeduring the

night,with themovementsof the two

sleepers sometimesseeming almost

synchronized.Yet they arepresent intheworld ofdream,beyond the realm

of photography.

Tocreate theimages in theseries SleepwithMe (2007),

Saarhelo invitedvariouspeopletosleep inherbedwith

herforonenight, andthenphotographedthe experiences.

Sheproduceda suiteofsevenoreightphotographsof herself

with each guest, andtitled eachworkwith thenameof the

secondperson.Saarheloplacedthe cameraabovethebed

andprogrammed it to takea picture everyhalf hourthroughout thenight.Asa resultof having thephotographs

taken automaticallybya timing device,Saarhelocededsome

control over theimages,andwas thereforeoftenunsure

ofwhether the resultswouldbeaestheticallyinteresting.

Portraiture is commonlyunderstoodas a balance ofpower

betweenthesitter andthe artist; byplacing herself in the

frame,Saarhelofurther relinquishedher control.Sheplaced

herself andher co-sleeper ina vulnerable position,inwhich

neither hadany influenceoverhowheor shelookedwhen

sleeping.In describing this aspectof theworkSaarhelohassaid,Sleeping together isa situationof trust and

unconscious dialoguebetweenfriends or strangers.

Althoughthephotos include individual people, it is difficult

tomake anyvalid assumptionsabouttheiridentities. The

quality of photographedhumanrelationsthusbecomes

subjectedto theviewers ownassociationsandexperiences.

ThelimitationsthatSaarhelo imposedupon theprojectecho

thelimitationsof whatphotography canand cannotcapture.

Theseportraitsare carefully pareddownsothat theeye is

drawntothefleshandthe recurringappearanceof theartist,

whohasmanaged tocreate a compositeself-portraitof

herself in thepresenceof changingbedfellows.

NANNASAARHELO

Oppositetop:NannaSaarhelo,SleepwithMe,TuomoK(detail),2007.

Oppositebottom:NannaSaarhelo,SleepwithMe,Pihla (detail),2007.

96PERFORMANCE


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SAAR


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Auto Focus

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