- an architect d i s p l a c e d

Francesca Woodman, famous for her black and white images of nude women/ herself. Her images are somewhat disturbing, and deflect from any meaning or definition I ever had about portraiture.  It happens so often that she eliminates the exposure of any facial features, however, in turn, allows the body gestures speak for themselves. Her photos are so dense with meaning and symbolic intensity that you could probably never completely understand the main subject behind the photo. Whether in a complete static state, or moving a bit too fast for her adopted shutter speed, she manages to communicate her intentions through body language/ chosen backgrounds of untouched feels.  Symbolic elements are also added. Doors seem abundant in her self representations, whether shes represented hiding under a fallen one, or even hanging from one. Hiding/ suicide/ unhappiness and sorrow also appear a lot as common themes serving as the main inspirations to her photographs.

Meet my friend Nick Dareau. 

If his straightforward, goofy, monotonic, uninterested and playful character is evident in these photos, I deem my portrait assignment successful. 

Just last week, I was one of the lucky few to attend a lecture by Catherine Wagner, and hear a full-lengthed discussion of her works, as well as free exposure to her publishes.

Also, Catherine somehow led me to inspiration for my thesis theme in her "Home and other stories" project, where she discussed that the procss of building something is equally, if not more important than the built object itself. The "left-over language" as she called it. In her documentations, she states "you will notice that there is always something wrong in these pictures... serving a cultural barometer of who we are in our natural state".

Another project of hers that caught my interest was "Reclassifying History". Below we see an image from that set of statues re- represented. The method of display is interesting to depict the process of "studying" through picturing it from all directions. 

- Catherine Wagner: Tryptich in Reclassifying History -

 Alternating between tryptich (in a way, the above image) black and white, and colored presentations, she metaphorically uses all these cultures and standards to define their portraits, and in some way, reflect her insights through the photograph itself, with the way its taken, presented and displayed. 

She speaks of photography as a language, and her interest in working with elements of contemporary society - whether architectural spaces, portraits, or the simplest objects - transforming them into conceptual images that investigate the CONSTRUCTION of cultural identities.

Robert Capa lived most of his life on the battlefield, following five major world wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Sino-Japanese War, the Second World War, the Arab war -Israeli invasion of 1948 and the first Indochina War. 

Similar to Sebastiao Salgado, his photographs bring you into the life of the picture, as he successfully captures all sorts of emotion/ disbelief and chaos depicted in each one. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, a successful correspondence in Capa's favor. Sternly said, it is probably impossible for a war story to be depicted as such. Capturing moments of defeat, conquer, happiness, free time, attacking time - he took a passionate risk that evidently resulted in a beautiful series of photographs of each war, entirely and beautifully displayed at the Palazzo Braschi, Rome. 

Also entirely in black and white, his pictures leave viewers somewhat disturbed, and maybe "too well-informed", if such a term exists. 

- Women crying at funeral of twenty teenaged partisans who had fought the Germans before the Allies entered the city : by Robert Capa -

Above, Capa photographs a group of upset women at a funeral, crying out , if not protesting to him- perhaps portrayed to them as a documenter of some sort. Our eye immediately goes to the one object properly lit in this photo, being that of the deceased in the hand of a crying woman. If you look/ watch closely, you can nearly hear her shouting in disgust/ terror. 

- American troops having lunch : by Robert Capa -

'Shoot is a gesture comparable to the compulsion to action of the killer at the time of their crime, "

- Horst Stein

Austrian photographer Horst Stein held an exhibition of his project APPEARANCE in Museo di Trastevere. A series entirely of diptych format, it was interesting to see how Stein conveyed his view of photography as an issue of "control and loss of control". Each diptych displays a narrative in which the "interruption" can at times seem to us extremely random and possibly, a mistake, or even convey a melancholic moment. 

The first photo of each diptych is of an urban situation, clear and uninterrupted by any "passer-by", which is followed by the next of the exact same urban situation's "serenity" interrupted somehow. The interruption itself is oblivious to what is happening, and seems to accidentally set foot into the frame of the photo, signalling it time for Stein to capture shot. A compulsive, timeofthemoment kind of shot, though. His view of photography as comparable to an act of "killing" at a moment of time" is dramatically equivalent again to the "Decisive moment" approach. However, it deems more critical in the former theme. 

Mixed signals with which is more important, the background so perfectly chosen/set and eyecatching, or the interrupting activity of the second photograph is the main subjective view of his photographs on my part. 

- Appearance : by Horst Stein -

- Kafue National Park , Zambia   by Sebastiao Salgado -

Sebastio Salgado's GENESIS exhibition at the Ara Pacis, Rome was the first professional project I've been exposed to. I always knew photography was of huge interest to me, but to notice the enhanced depth and emotion that could potentially be conveyed in a photo was rather promising upon exposure to the talented Salgado. 

Although many images caught my attention in particular, I choose to focus on the simplest of them all. An elephant rushing back to its comfort spot, struck with fear of possibly an approaching predator. It runs for its life. It is represented as a profile in motion, and not in the foreground although still conveyed as the subject of the photo. My interpretation for this would be to stress on the photographer himself, as present but unseen - camouflaged. 

The black and white affect, consistent throughout his entire project, ingeniously captured the emotions of all his viewers, leaving them awe-struck by the end of the exhibition. In his photographs, he conveys an extra layer that immaculately adds drama, suspense and interest in his subjects. In this particular photo, the layer of light shining strictly on the elephant- reminds us of this subject and could also be interpreted metaphorically as "walking into the light : its home"- its safe spot.  Everything else that isnt deemed necessary to communicate or convey what he wants it to is blurred.

- American Objects -

It wasnt easy understanding in depth Shore's technique and inspirations behind his works. An analysis in the form of a triptik deemed best to compare his apparent transitions or "alterations".

Taken from one of his infamous projects "American Objects", these three pictures pretty much sum up his approaches when behind the camera lens. The first depicts the concept of a "frame inside a frame", as previously seen in Luigi Ghirri's horizon photo. However, this one appears more personal, and upon first contact with the photo, we begin to question ourselves - Who is this man? How is he related to the photographer? Why did he choose to represent that image in that way? This abstract, yet close proximity to the being in the picture leaves it fall within a more personal category, an informal experience of some sort, where we are placed into a third person's perspective, merely observing the personal emotion between man and photo. 

Next, we stumble upon another "portrait" of some sort, or what should have been one before something "went wrong" - a deliberate action taken by the photographer. A decisive moment, just a moment after it would have ideally been, to really get this womans attention, before she was distracted. She is half naked in the foreground of the image against a wall. Nothing surrounds her, which acts to merge all planes into one flat surface.

Last but not least, we initially notice the absence of any human figures or faces- solely elements scattered on a table. There seems to be no sense of alignment whatsoever, implying a hastened photography process- maybe just a simple documentation of a daily routine- or even, deliberately taken that way to suggest an informal/ unsettling relationship or experience the photographer had in that specific context. In the latter case, the initiative would serve more as a visual diary than anything else. 

Through these images, we fail to see the images as they are, but rather, as a reflection of how Stephen Shore himself saw the places he visited.

- Marina di Ravenna by Luigi Ghirri -

A frame within a frame. However, whats inside the frame extends beyond the frame, limited by another frame. A third frame lies projected on a horizontal axis in a plane past the foreground. This picture, unlike the previous ones we've seen, depicts pureness and serenity. Peace and tranquility of mother nature - Ghirri just lets it be in this shot, keeping everything untouched and undisturbed. The photographer's choice to keep the frame at a certain distance from the lens frame - nearly centered - puts us into a third point perspective focusing on "the greater" context, not just what the frame points out, but the extension of the horizon, the smooth degradation of blue's and other cold colors , playing a huge role in this photograph.

The cool hues of his photographs suggest an immaculate approach of viewing the world, as well as the role of images within it.

With diCorcia, we notice an alteration of technique, and intentions throughout his projects. Varying from iconic quality staged compositions, to the more "informal" snapshots, to his "Decisive moment" technique apparent in others, his work in turn creates a powerful link between reality, fantasy and everyday life.

The two pictures selected from his various works serve as examples to how his alternations are perceived. Both being part of his "StreetWork" project, the first appears as a failed "Decisive moment" approach, resulting in a more reportage feel. It appears as though he was trying to photograph the man in that specified set context, at a specific time with which he would set off his instant flash -  when the woman on the left, intruded into the frame. He took it anyway, and kept her in, together with the distressed man not too far away.

"There is no such thing as privacy in a public place anymore"

 - Philip Lorca diCorcia

Alongside this photo, we look into another of his works of the same project - of 2 men walking together appearing in the foreground, with mysteriously half lit faces - hiding their full identity. The photo appears as if everything was in motion and suddenly captured - naturally and unplanned (as the first). The background and "unobstructed" surface of the image depict it as "decisive moment" material. It could even pass as part of a scene of a staged movie- there seems to be some type of story behind this photo, the background colors mesh smoothly with the earthy tones of the shadowed beings, and in the foreground, we see a minimal pop of color- forcing our eyes and emotions to those of the photo's "protagonists". 

American photographer Gregory Crewdson shows more of an interest in scenic/ surreal settings, as opposed to the “in the moment” approach adopted by most other photographers. They seem to naturally categorize as reportage, where the viewer is told a story through a series of events summarized in one photo. A really planned/ thought out reportage, though.

His twilight project succeeded in leaving his viewers irritated, agitated and somewhat, confused.  I wasn’t surprised to see that one of his major influences when photographing was the famous Diane Arbus. Here we see a cold-toned woman, perhaps dead- in the foreground- floating in a half flooded room. She is in perfect focus, whereas the windows at the back are left blurry, as if in motion. In addition, the abundance of shadows and reflections only further contribute to Crewdson’s desired effect. 

Interestingly enough though, all the remaining objects and furniture pieces in the background remain untouched and intact, unaffected by the water’s buoyant force.

A busy day in Piazza Navona, Rome. 

After several projects, Ive come to realize that you only really get to know a place once you've photographed it. The colors, the different characters, the natural untouched beauty, as well as the everyday patterns we remain oblivious to- act together to define a spot and give it its own identity. 

Just a week ago, I was one of the privileged few to be lectured on the basics of Photography by the famous Marco Delogu, none other than the curator of the MACRO exhibitions himself, where we were exposed to his work collections throughout the years. 

His portraying of people in a series to depict various emotions is immaculate, and his primitive photography techniques only serves to shock his viewers with his talent. 

In his lecture, Delogu argues against Naturality & Spontaneity when taking photos. He promotes research, and understanding of the victim before taking their portrait, in a setting determined by noone but the photographer himself. 

Iannis Xenakis - portrait.

Interestingly enough, having had said that, he proceeded to his gallery - introducing us to his exhibition of 'Composers'. Upon the first reading of the photography, one would notice the shadow-y feel to the majority of them, which is unusual when taking someone's portrait. Half of the facial features are covered, giving a more dramatic and suspicious feel to the photo, yet somehow, we can still understand what the photographer is trying to express. 

He also passionately described another one of his works- mainly of sceneries at dusk. He travelled by horse, and used one of the less advanced methods of photography nowadays - the negative/positive film technique. Although this would usually be expected to serve as a disadvantage due to low shutter speeds of 20 seconds per photo, he worked it beautifully, and his captures managed to attain a whole other level of representation- a fused perception of photography with painting.

"La Natura della Notte" - It appears "Monet-like" as he called it- like a watercolor of a scene in his head. 

This emphasizes the excellence of Delogu- to produce such a masterpiece with such minimal/ primitive techniques.

Here we start to see a similar effect brought to us readers as Diane Arbus. 

His recklessness with framing his subject gives the photograph a somewhat, eerie feel. Nothing is emphasized, yet the black, or darker zones leave an interesting contrast with the foreground. It appears as if the shaded lamp and the woman are presented with an equal importance to communicate his topic.

The abundance of shadows and the blackout room behind the woman makes us question his relation to her and the context he deemed as the "right moment" to take her picture. 

What interested me most in this picture is the unusual angle this photo was taken from, not too much higher than eye level- looking downwards on his subject. 

The Found Object