Evidence is one of the most influential photo books in history. The book was created in 1977 by artists Larry Sultan and Mike Mantle. The book consists of photographs that the artist found in archives of American industrial organisations. Evidence means a physical a fact or information to prove something is true, and photos are often an important source of evidence. The pictures in the book have been ordered by the context behind the photos, however it has not been included in the book, just the photos leaving room for the reader to question what is happening.
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I was given two random pictures and went round school taking pictures of the pictures in different locations. I tried to create a story with the pictures or continue their narrative in places I see fit. Overall I found this task quite difficult , as around school there aren't many.
Format 15 Beyond Evidence
Video Notes:
- 1977 Mike Mondale and Larry Sultan
-Book explored a simple yet fascinating idea of taking photos out of context
-38 years later the book inspired an called Beyond Evidence exhibition looking at contemporary approaches to the narrative of photography
- Each image finds their own way of creating a narrative and telling a story
- The exhibition also looked at some of the methods used of presenting the information within the narratives
- Evidence is a seminal book within the history of photography and has inspired many other photographers
- Images were decontextualised and were found in archives in California
- Mondale and Sultan visited over 100 archives, mostly on the west coast and went through around 2 million images only to select 59 that made it into the book
- The images were ordered in the book in relation to each other
- The act of putting pictures into new relationships reconteulisng them
- 1977 Mike Mondale and Larry Sultan
-Book explored a simple yet fascinating idea of taking photos out of context
-38 years later the book inspired an called Beyond Evidence exhibition looking at contemporary approaches to the narrative of photography
- Each image finds their own way of creating a narrative and telling a story
- The exhibition also looked at some of the methods used of presenting the information within the narratives
- Evidence is a seminal book within the history of photography and has inspired many other photographers
- Images were decontextualised and were found in archives in California
- Mondale and Sultan visited over 100 archives, mostly on the west coast and went through around 2 million images only to select 59 that made it into the book
- The images were ordered in the book in relation to each other
- The act of putting pictures into new relationships reconteulisng them
The Grey Area
We are less trustful of photographs at this point in history as editing and AI has become so advanced it hard to tell what is real or fake. This may be challenging for photographers now as audiences have become suspicious and lose trust in pictures due to photoshop. It's hard to prove any picture is real as there is always reason now to doubt. The 'grey area' may be interesting for photographers to look at, as we commonly ignore areas like this, so to draw audiences attention to things we commonly miss. The grey area can be inturprited differently depending on the person and how they view things. 'Documentary uncertainty' means too me that although something may be documented, the story behind it can never be certain or necessarily proven.
I decided to focus on corners as to me they stick out as a 'grey area' as to me they feel isolated, dark and lonely. Corners often ignored, and by standing a corner you are watching everything and observing. I liked how these pictures came out as i feel that in most of them i have conveyed this feeling of empty and darkness. I especially like the picture in the middle bottom. This picture has a sense of sadness and strangely makes me fell sympathy for the rubbish packet of crisps that has been left in a coner.
I explored the grey area further and looked at street art. Street art often doesn't get the attention as art in a gallery would, there for I see it as a grey area. The dull backgrounds against the colourful graffiti brings life to the dreary areas. The grey area lies between the practical use of the buildings in an urban environment and the expressionist nature of the street art that is then applied to it. The usefulness of the buildings that no doubt are all used for several different things contrasts the art as it doesn't hurt the eye.
Jack Latham
Jack Latham is a British documentary photographer born in 1989. He was born in Cardiff, Wales and studied documentary photography at University of Wales. Latham has a few books some of which being, A Pink Flamingo, Sugar Paper Theories which he won the Bar-Tur Photo book award and Parliament of Owls. His book Sugar Paper Theories was about the 1974 Guomundur and Geirfinnur case, where Guðmundur Einarsson and Geirfinnur Einarsson disappeared in Iceland. Six people were arrested for the murders from confessions, however police never found their bodies, any forensic evidence or witness. Latham's book consisted of photographs, text and archival imagery from the case. The images from his book were taken from 2014 to 2016 and he said that the purpose of the book was to "make more people outside of Iceland aware of the case" and wanted to explore the grey area between truth and fiction. Latham also said, "for me, Sugar Paper Theories was an attempt of telling a very complicated case about false memories in a way that reflected the notions of memory". Below are some of my favourite images from the book I found.
Parliament of Owls is another book by Jack Latham. It is another photo book that, " explores the effects that a vacuum of information can cause". The two pictures below feature in the book, the first one being my favourite. I like the contrast between nature and the man made structure, especially in black and white highlighting the difference. It also has an unsettling feeling as the man is staring towards the camera.
Jiro Takamatsu
Jirō Takamatsu was a Japanese artists who used photography, sculpture, painting, drawing to investigate the meaning and fundamentals of art and photography. The image on the right is called Photograph of a Photograph where he hired a photographer to take pictures of his old photo albums. He purposely allowed so of the picture to be obstructed by the glare of light, to confuse the audience of the photos original narrative. In doing this, it allows the view to create their own story behind the picture.
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Justine Kurland
Justine Kirkland is an American photographer based in New York. Justine has a book called Girl Pictures, focusing on teenage girls in a utopian world. The landscapes she takes her photos in feel welcoming and calm, creating a up beat tone. The idea of focusing on teenage girls, gives a joyful and childish feel.
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