Photograph as Contemporary Art - Chapter 4 - Something and Nothing

This chapter looks at how everyday objects can be transformed by being photographed. It is presented in a way which is somehow beyond or out-of-step with it's every day function.  This might be done via "luscious and sensual treatment, shifts in scale or typical environments, simple juxtapositions and relationships between shapes or forms".

The photographs attempt change the way that we look at our perceive our daily lives. It's "anti-triumphant" but not insignificant.

In Jason Evans B&W series "New Scent" he captures "fragile, fleeting phenomenon" which somehow take on a greater significance through phtography. Be it the act of being chosen, or framed or presented in a certain manner by the photographer these scenes or subjects would typically go unnoticed be seem somehow special when seen within the photograph.

Jennifer Bolande's "Globe" series consists of external photographs of globes on window ledges inside homes. Interestingly the repetition makes the series a commentary on human behaviour as opposed to the representation of an individual moment or act.

Jean-Marc Bustamante's series "Something is Missing" he visited many cities and took pictures where the "subject of the photograph is the entire picture and its layered complexity, drawn out of the process of walking and seeking pictures in the flow of daily life".

Interestingly Jeff Wall is also in this chapter, but he is relevant due to his work where he creates seemingly everyday scenes in order to photograph them. By doing so he raises questions about why the resulting photographs maintain our interest. By doing so he makes consider our relationship with our daily environment  and how this related to photography.

Uta Barth's series "Nowhere Near" focuses on the "spaces between things" e.g. window frames and blurred, world beyond. In the gallery, the space between the photograph frame and the viewer becomes another layer in this dialogue. Similarly Sabine Hornig's work also looks at these undefined spaces.

For me there is similarity with the Deadpan in this chapter. Scale and technical precision are obviously key differences. But the lack of obvious emotion and intent as well as the typical and absence of human presence but the aim of showing things in a way they haven't been seen before are all quite similar. In addition both styles make a deliberate commentary on photography and perception.

Of the chapters I've read so far, this and the Deadpan chapter are the most interesting to em and the most relevant to the types of photography I enjoy taking and viewing.

Amend 22/01/13
It's interesting that I didn't warm to Peter Fraser's work as it was displayed and talked about in this chapter. I guess it just underlines that with so many photographers discussed in a small space and with only once photograph and a couple of paragraphs to present them, it's difficult to get enough insight to determine how interesting they really are.