A Longer Exposure

At the end of July, I stopped posting my photography on Instagram and deleted the app. Visiting via a desktop computer avoids the ads and suggested posts, making it easier to keep abreast of book launches and exhibitions and see what the talented people I follow share.

I have consistently posted on Instagram since 2012. Arguably, the last decade has been an overwhelmingly positive journey of discovering new photographers, connecting with fellow creatives and finding opportunities to sell and promote my work.

However, recent controversial changes to Instagram have somewhat soured the experience for many users, myself included. With my enthusiasm waning, I took the opportunity to review how and why I use Instagram, as I knew it would be impossible to appreciate the extent to which it has shaped my practice without taking, at the very least, an extended break.

After a couple of months of not posting or interacting, I realise I have underestimated the influence feedback has on my work and the value of community. My interest in photography came to the fore because of the extensive reach of Instagram, which made it a viable option to pursue or at least encouraged me to invest time and effort in that direction. But being an Instagram photographer has possibly constrained my artistic growth because I contextualise my work according to the dictates of its algorithms. Unrealistic expectations of always making successful images have led me to judge my work harshly instead of allowing growth to happen naturally through failure.

I have gotten good at making appealing photographs via shortcuts, but I find it unfulfilling. Perhaps genuine feeling comes from a deeper involvement with the whys and wherefores of making a photograph. I find it hard to enjoy my work when I place such a burden of expectation on my shoulders.

Photographer Tim Davis said something that resonated with me in an interview in Vogue Italia:

If you can’t fail you can’t be a photographer. You’re going to take so many pictures that don’t work. There’s so much failure. If you can’t handle it, it’s not a good medium for you. I make pictures all the time and then I expect some criticism back. We’re all doing that now. We’re all making pictures and we all publish them in the world, and we expect feedback. It’s really complicated because I think social media and Instagram would be much more useful if it had a more complicated array of reactions.

It is too early to say if there is life after Instagram. I share some work here on Tumblr to let off steam rather than for audience approval. Most of what I post gets ignored, saving a few viral pictures that never seem to die. If Instagram offered the more complicated array of reactions that Tim Davis mentions, then I would not hesitate to start posting there again (well...maybe).

I have no idea if I will ever be able to create the kind of imagery I admire and that moves me so much. I have at least shed the pressure to deliver superficially engaging pictures to meet my shallow definition of success, and I have given myself permission to fail like never before.

Woven into the very fabric of Vienna are 400 buildings known as Gemeindebauten (tr. community buildings), which began construction in the 1920s, during a period subsequently known as Red Vienna.

It was a comprehensive urban project that set itself (the) task of making Vienna a more equitable environment...in which housing, social services and cultural institutions were distributed throughout the city.

The Gemeindebauten...were urban apartment blocks inserted into the existing urban fabric of Vienna. At first glance, the Gemeindebauten appear to be traditional Central European perimeter blocks that have been monumentalized and provided with large garden courtyards so that they often occupy an entire urban block and sometimes several.

..the new buildings both preserve the existing urban structure of the city and superimpose their distinctive superblock scale and organisation on it. The result is a complete interpenetration of public, private, and communal spaces. The effect is to blur the boundary...between inside and outside (and between) socialist housing blocks and bourgeois city. [1]

Such is the scale and ubiquity of the Gemeindebauten that they can be hard to appreciate fully as architectural entities and for their legacy in shaping Viennese society.

Wohnhausanlage Rabenhof is located in the 3rd district of Vienna, just a short walk from the remarkable Wittgenstein Haus, which is another notable example of architecture in Vienna.

Rabengasse forms the backbone of the complex as a diagonal, arched connecting path between Hainburger-Straße and Baumgasse. There is a mighty archway on Rabengasse to Hainburger-Strasse, that is opposite another arch on Baumgasse. These two conspicuous gate structures are the main entrances. There are three more courtyards south-east of Rabengasse. The rear courtyard on Leonhardgasse impresses with tall trees and a winding path flanked by park benches. In the large courtyard, there are three free-standing structures erected at 90 degrees to the rest of the complex, indicating an asymmetrical sequence of open and closed courtyard spaces.

Therefore, the Rabenhof residential complex gives the impression of an open fortress or castle and has a romantic appearance, especially due to the many winding paths and the irregular square formations. The painterly sequence of courtyards, passageways, squares and streets captivates with a wealth of expressionist details in the groups of balconies and loggias or in the patterns of the brick cladding. [2]

[1] https://www.austria.org/revisiting-red-vienna

I spent yesterday afternoon exploring a silent and deserted goods yard under moody grey skies in the heart of Vienna. The dried-out vegetation, ominous clouds and sultry air lent a post-apocalyptic mood to my wanderings, as did the complete absence of activity in what must have once been a noisy and bustling logistics depot.

It's a location that makes for a fascinating meander but is hard to photograph successfully. Multiple parallel lines send the eye hurtling towards their convergence at the vanishing point. Almost every photograph taken is a slight variation on the previous picture, so I was glad of some monumental street art courtesy of a recent 'Festival for Urban Aesthetics' by callelibre.at to break up the visual monotony.

I discovered a small museum at the edge of the site. It only opens for a few hours on a Thursday- a fortunate coincidence!

Translated from the museum's website- 'Despite its size, the Northwest Train Station seems to have largely disappeared from the consciousness of the Viennese. Before the area has to give way to a new residential quarter, the eventful history and present of this last logistics hub close to the city center will be brought to the attention of a broader public in an on-site exhibition.'

Conspicuously absent from the museum's exhibition (and unlikely to be commemorated in the subsequent development) was mention of the deportation of 3000+ Jews from Nordwestbanhof between 1943-45 (https://atelierjadeniklai.com/portfolio/bmp-vienna/).

This omission seems particularly insensitive considering the goods yard is directly adjacent to Leopoldstad, which remains the heart of Jewish life in Vienna.

It is equally disappointing that none of the 19th-century industrial architecture will be incorporated into the future redevelopment- peering through the Crittall-style windows revealed loft-like interiors that are perfect spaces for ateliers and studios.

Finally, here's a link to a playlist I created a while ago that seemed particularly apt for the location- the abandoned industrial vibes of my location kept giving me flashbacks to living and clubbing in Berlin in the early 90s. Pinch - Qawwali

Fennesz, David Sylvian - Transit

Pavel Milyakov, Yana Pavlova - Midnight Blues

You’ll Never Get to Heaven - Pink and Gold and Blue

River Yarra - Aorsom Wislhs

Meridian Brothers - Guaracha U.F.O. (Versión Rebajada)

Elijah Minnelli - Slats

Jaubi, Al Dobson Jr. - Lahore State of Mind

Apiento - Things You Do For Love

Susso - Mamadou

Prefuse 73 - Afternoon Love In

Wolf Müller, The Nile Project, Kasiva Mutua - Mabomba Dance (Short Version)

Liquid Liquid - New Walk

The Pilotwings - Congo libre

Revelation - First Power (Dominion Dub)

Bliss Inc - Outer Limits

Love Club - Das Rote Haar

Julian Jonah - Jealously and Lies

Arttu, Jerry the Cat - Get Up Off It

High Tide - Time Unlimited

Keytronics - A Little Piano in My House

Fantastic Man - Seaside Special

Ludwig A.F. - Velocity

The Deep - Silver Surfer (Afro Mix)

The Primitive Painter - Invisible Landscapes

Paolo Di Nicolantonio, John Stima - Close to Me (John Shima Remix)