Chris Killip

UUB Photography students' look at the Manx photographer, and his latest publication - 'Askam-In-Furness'

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Bibliography

https://aperture.org/shop/shore-uncommon-places-revised-book/ 

http://photoquotations.com/a/7/Robert+Adams

http://www.belfastexposed.org

http://www.imma.ie/en/index.htm

http://www.martinparrfoundation.org

http://www.ken-grant.info

https://www.martinparr.com

http://stephenshore.net

https://youtu.be/cfCuPTU1qOQ

https://youtu.be/bTclm8JXbVM

http://www.galleryofphotography.ie

http://krassclement.com/books/drum.html

https://aperture.org/shop/the-non-conformists-martin-parr-books/

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Stephen Shore - ‘uncommon places’

Shore’s title of work titled ‘uncommon places’ is another look into the ideology of the idea of America built for the car through the use of his own camera and the great American highway. Like Lee Friedlander who I covered in another blog post, both artists share similar ideas when it comes to showcasing visually this alternate America through the use of the natural landscape with artificial elements showcased as the dominant subject.

With this image, the main subject matter is a billboard showcasing a picturesque view of a mountain overlooking a peaceful lake. What has also happened to this billboard is that some vandals have painted over the sky and bottom of the sign, I guess they had taken out the advertising text in the signboard. This photograph that Shore had taken is similar in ways which Friedlander had taken his own (which I talked about in another post) not in aesthetics but in ideology. Seen here with Shores photograph, the human act of involvement of taking out the text and advertisement has restored the beauty to Amerca’s Mid West. By actively seeing through the flash reality of mass marketing and mass consumerism, and seemly restoring the visual beauty back towards the viewer, but this could be subverted as the wooden structure still stands as a token of the America dream.

Shore’s overall body of work explores much deeper in terms of where America was with its ideology in the 1980′s. The recurring theme of cars plays as a motif to carry or rather drive the viewer through the bodies of images presented in Shores ‘Uncommon Places’.

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Robert Adams - ‘The Place We Live’ + Others

Robert Adams was an American photographer that focused and photograph the changing American West during the mid 70′s. Adam’s share similar ideas and themes about the American Mid / West with other artists and photographers who I’ve looked at thus far in my research.

“Landscape photography can offer us, I think, three verities—geography, autobiography, and metaphor.” - Robert Adams

But with the images presented Adams takes his style and meaning and transforms his work in his aesthetic style. The idea with Adams images he himself is exploring the idea of the vast emptiness of the American Mid-West and the theme and identity of the American freedom. This is greatly at play with the photographs I presented, one image of the vast open ocean is greatly juxtaposed with the vast empty desert though two different environments it showcases a common theme that the American dream is just a dream floating across the land and sea, the ideology of the fact is fiction to a lot of Americans who want and travel for the American dream.And the image ontop showcases Adam’s sharp eye for detail and structure the minimal approach works effectively in creating a suburban area as the clean and conservative housewife domain which has been the clique -which is what Adams is presenting us with.

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Lee Friedlander 

 American photographer/artist - Lee Friedlander is known for the documentary look at the social landscape and fond love for triangles and use of leading lines with the majority of his own work.

This image that Friedlander took in the 1970′s is an arch titled on it “Entrance”, this monochromatic image says a lot about a number of things to me. This ideology of the American dream springs to mind when I see this image. The idea in which that the mass media for decades have broadcasted and centrally in 1970′s the media was graining a lot of height with advertisements broadcasted to millions across the USA and beyond.This image speaks of that land of hopes and dreams will come true when you reach this land of freedom. And you would be greeted with the entrance to a new land of nothingness. 

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” - George Orwell.

Friedlander’s image reinforces this American ideology of its own self-obsession with the land of the free, and Friedlander has captured the land of the free nothingness. Additionally, with the inclusion of the road, the other American idea that American was built for the car is also at play here, the use of the road heading off into the perspective horizon gives the impression of an America made for you to drive through.

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Mitch Epstein - ‘The City’ / ‘American Power’

As an American artist/photographer - Mitch Epstein bodies of work ‘The City’ & ‘American Power’ the theme of American consumerism is greatly at play within both of Epstein's bodies of work. Epstein great play of colour and tones in both images and of his greater bodies of work creates would great the feeling of enjoyment, but this undertone of cool blue tones is deeply rooted in casting a sense of weirdness. And as I deconstruct the image this undertone of eerieness comes through visually on screen. Furthermore looking at the colour of the first image the recurring dominant colour of the frame would be the cooler blue.The secondary colours would be lime greens and soft yellows on a repeated line. The tones of the second image are very much more muted and seem almost steal and the colours don’t seem to pop with vibrancy. The use of the dominant colour of orange is featured but not only orange, oranges complementary colour blue is also at play, creating a well-structured image of colour. 

The framing in both images is Epstein's strong skills which he flexes and demonstrates to full effect, looking at the first image the sense of lines and order is at play. The pillars in the background shadow and mimic what the subjects are doing in the foreground, the subjects themselves almost seem to support the structure towering above them, and this could be seen as this family-supporting American consumerism and the and the ideology of American advertising and marketing, which is always above them and such a dominant factor in their and our daily lives. The compositional use of framing in the second image is one with the use of dominant leading lines the effective use of the pills in the background make way for the viewer's eye to follow the lines from the top to the bottom of the image assigning everything in the frame.The idea of consumerism is greatly at play in this second image, the portraits of supposed customers are the only connection to people the viewer has. The dominant showing of car and truck parts fill the entry of the frame comprised of new parts the ideology that America is built for the car, and the idea that cars come, first people, second

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Mitch Epstein 

&  Chris Killip 

Looking at both of these images from two distinct artists, I find a similar kind of familiarity with both of these subjects, shot by two different photographers two different styles at face level, but there seem to an undertone of humanity with both of these subjects showcased by both photographers, the sense of spontaneity and the capturing the human thought - this is a theme and a connection I see from both artists in my own opinion.

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Dara McGrath - ‘Project Cleansweep’

Dara McGrath’s main body of work titled ‘Project Cleansweep’, is an exploration into the surveys of the landscape of chemical & biological weapons in the British Isles and the government's secret mission testing since the 1940′s onwards.

The images presented are ones that the viewer might find the mundane and normal environment. Presented are situations which seem at first peaceful and quiet, they seem to hide an undertone of unease with the viewer. Two of the images presented to showcase the looming presence of nucule/coal burning power plants over surrounded by the natural environment, in the last image the building seem to give an eerie atmosphere to an ordinary river bank.

The tones and colours in all images showcased give a muted and dull aesthetic, the use of flat highlights and shadows adds to the representation of the mundane and the ordinary environments. But yet due to the unknown pollution of these sites this could be a visual representation that once these places where full of bright life and colour but now they are only former shadows of themselves and the dullness brought by the pollution of the environment is still impactful till today.

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Victor Sloan - ‘BEFORE’

Victor Sloan’s body of work titled ‘Before’ is a look into the archival glimpse into the artist's history of living and documenting the troubles during the 1970′s and throughout the 1980′s in Northern Ireland. This body of work presents the mundane lives of the people who lived through the conflict that was going on in Northern Ireland at the time. 

Observing and analysing the two images that I have presented the first image from Sloan’s archive material is of an old worn down tree. The image presents itself situated in a local town in Northern Ireland, but however the upon first looking at the image, I take anyway the sense of the image being shot in America in the mid-west. The lone sparse tree is the main focus of the image the strong frequent use of leading lines is effected throughout this image, moving from the outside in the lines guide the eye from the right side of the building following allow the path of the gated fence towards the tree and then moving up the viewer is directed to the electrical telephone poll to be guided the end of the horizon.

Looking at the second image in this set, the image itself presents itself in a local community estate judging from the housing architecture and number of children that are in the frame. Reviewing the framing of this image Sloan has crafted an image which makes your eye wander throughout the frame, the use of a child cut off in the lefthand side your eye jumps into centre frame with the one child who is at eye connected with the viewer. This gives a personal connection with the viewer with Sloan's work and this idea of community engagement throughout. The next child who is on the right of the frame, the direction of which his bike is moving your eye off the foreground and meanders your view of direction to the middle ground and background of the image.

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Krass Clement - ‘Drum series’ / ‘Dublin series‘

The renowned and famed photographer Krass Clements presents both bodies of work from his classic ‘Drum series’ and his recently published Dublin series’.

The location: Ireland throughout the 90′s, the time frame which these images are shot in don’t seem to say time which they were shot in. Clement’s bodies of work present the working rural and urban communities of Ireland. The first image presented is from Clement’s series ‘Dublin’ this grainy monochromatic image showcases us (the viewer) two men at the Docklands in Dublin Bay. The setting is stark and isolated, the only available light source is the ambient street light lamps reflecting and bouncing the black waters and footpath briefly lighting shadowy figures below.

The use of a high angle shot is effective in creating the feeling of distance and solidarity with the subjects presented in the frame. The vast wave of darkness that surrounds them is ever more highlighted by this angle which Clement has framed the two subjects in, creating further the sense of isolation with even the viewer looking at the image, and common sense of ambiguity and lack of identity is greatly at play here.

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Bertien van Manen - ‘Beyond Maps and Atlases’

Looking at the work of Bertien van Manen, and her latest body of work ‘Beyond Maps and Atlases’ takes us through the vast landscape of the Irish land. Dutch artist this is Bertien’s first body of work produced in Ireland, and this started after her husband had died she was lost in the Irish landscape, and I think that translates into this body of work. Tilted ‘Beyond Maps and Atlases’ Bertien has taken astray from the conventions of traditional maps and has found her own way in which travelling through the Irish coast and inland. This body of work seems to represent her finding her way through the Irish land encountering the surrounding of people and land in her wake.

There is a real sense of distance and mystical qualities to her work, her poetic style of photographing she envokes hidden quality in the landscape that she has alible to translate well into the visual medium. Taking only a point and shoot camera, Bertien has been able to capture spontaneous and impulsive moments in her travels, the effect wouldn’t be sustainable if a more obtrusive camera was at a show the same effect wouldn't be effective in delivering this theme of mystical poetry. there is a raw pronounce quality that these images present towards the viewer. 

The effective use of colour pallet and aesthetic I feel adds to the idea of her poetic style photography. The milky yet darken images presented gives this take on the media’s representation of Ireland that has been seen in the past number of decades. The tones of the images show the magical mythical land that Bertien was apart off, the ghostly quality of the two men showcases the people in a distance space detached from the viewer in a hazy atmosphere.

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Nan Goldin - ‘Weekend Plans’

Nan Goldin's body of work titled ‘Weekend Plans’ is an exploration of the workings of Ireland and showcasing the representation of Ireland in stereotypical ways. The selection of these two images showcases the theme of farming and animals in the Irish landscape. Goldin’s classic use of highly saturated colours is a classic stable of her work, leading back to her major body of work - ‘ballad of sexual dependency’, the use of the highly saturated colours are seen here too. The effect of having these vibrant colours gives the traditional more so the stereotypical view of Ireland seen in the media in past few decades. 

Goldin is further showcasing this but in her own deeply personal way. The images presented however don’t give the viewer this deeply romanticised vision of Ireland such as lush green hills and small cottages are seen in other mediums of art. Goldin as in her other work shows the raw and detailed aspects of people and subjects. The second image is a great example of Goldin showing the rawness of framing and possibly bloodiness which was happening during her stay in Northern Ireland at the time.

The work of ‘Weekend plans is a combination of times spent in Ireland (1979 & 2002) with famed artist Vivienne Dick, this work was never seen before until the exhibition at IMMA showcased Goldin’s classic work of the ‘Ballad of Sexual Dependency’. 

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Ciarán Óg Arnold -  ‘I went to the worst of bars hoping to get killed, but all I could do was to get drunk again’

Ciaran Og Arnold body of work - ‘I went to the worst of bars hoping to get killed, but all I could do was to get drunk again’. Presents to us the claustrophobia of the confines of the rural small town in Ireland. The images selected are from his photobook and I feel as though they encapsulate the energy of male masculinity and stereotypes of men and the representation of Ireland. The use of predominantly monochromatic images featured throughout this body of work is used to show the black and white vision these men have of their surroundings, and or once they have consumed enough alcohol their own vision of their surrounds change to a dull and depressive state of mind. Furthermore, the use of experimental expressive slow shutter speed blur movements adds to the idea of this small rural town being a parallel world from the real one, the actions seem to be slowed down as time seems to bend and melt around these men. 

Additionally, the photographer himself has used interesting ways in which he frames and composes the images, the first image seen is very reminiscent of the German expressionism movement that started in the ‘20s and subsequently carried on into the medium of film, one example being a film about a bomb disposal expert, with a drinking problem. Looking at this image and the relation to the expressionist movement the comparisons of the object of size being distorted and elongated. Use of high grain is evident in all of these images, this aesthetic lends itself well in what Ciaran is telling the viewer of his town, this dirty grainy quality adds a level of distance between subject and viewer.

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Chris Steele-Perkins - ‘England, My England’

Chris Steele-Perkins is a British documentary photographer and member of Magnum Photos, he is known for his images of documenting other countries around the world including this body of work titled, ‘England, My England’.

Looking at this image the use of the mass wave of consumerism is greatly at play within this image. The place setting is England in the late 70′s early 80′s, and it’s summer judging from the mass influx of people at the beachside.The composition and framing of this image wide, Perkins has captured a moment of humour and reality of what a British summer at the sea would look like 30 years ago. The humour of the dog going to the toilet and the man reading the paper, this picture is a picture of many other smaller moments all happening at once, this could be a visual representation of the what holidays were, rather than what they were advertised to be in travel agents. And the idea of a fun relaxing family holiday is shown in its reality as this mass wave of holiday goers all travel at once.

The use of colours used are vibrant oversaturated hues of oranges and dominate blues from the ocean. The mixed array of colour seem to clash with one another, and start to play with the ugliness of the idea of a summer holiday in Britan. 

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Martin Parr - ‘The Non-Conformists’

The famed and renowned photographer Martin Parr is one with no introduction needed, but having shot colour photography for 30 plus years, I thought it would be interesting to look back into the earlier years of his career and the times when he shot black and white film.

‘The Non-Conformists’ is a body of work that Parr shot during his early career into the world of photography the images were taken in Yorkshire in the town of Hebden Bridge. This was Martin’s first major body of work coming out of art college and with good reason. Martin style of colour is lacking here as obviously these where shot with black and white film, the lacking use of colour some would say is Martin’s trademark, which in many cases yes that is true. But Martin has an excellent ability to look at the particular situation that he is in and capture and document the ordinary moments in people lives and to full comedic and or a real of human endurance. And with this body of work, it can compare itself to other works that Martin has done (The Last Resort, Think of England).

The body looks at the country people of the town of Hebden Bridge, and their norms and daily lives, from the first image you can say that there is a real sense of convenience and consumerism at play here, as the woman waiting for her hair to be blow dried is most likely watching a tv from the low angle she has her head viewed pointed at. But there are times when Martin presents the challenges living in a rural community as seen from the lone house on the road, the image creates feelings of unease and isolation, greatly attributed by the decrease in light and the three main lights casing a ray of light the house.