Sunday 5 October 2014

Documentary in the gallery space

Exercise 45 – look at the ‘Cruel + Tender’ brochure and listen to the interviews with Rineke Dijkstra and Fazal Sheilk. Make comments in your log.


Not having seen this type of document before, I was very impressed by the ‘leaders kit’ produced by the Tate: -
  • Having been to the ‘Beyond boarders’ exhibition at the Impressions Gallery in Bradford and been fortunate enough to meet the curator and receive a talk on how the exhibition was created, I found the introductory section fascinating – especially the intended inter-play between portfolio between photographers and across time.
  • I felt it brought all of the elements of the exhibition together and then developed questions specific to the artist and/or portfolio; then further developed these questions into more general discussion points. The follow-on questions are very logical when they are written down in front of you, but unfortunately less so when you are trying to develop your own theme/scope for a project – these sections are certainly food-for-thought.
  • Reading through this brochure and gaining a better understanding of some of the artists referenced, brings home the relevance of a good number of the exercises we have covered in this module. It’s almost as though the Tate is reinforcing the relevance of the work/topics we have been studying with the OCA!


I was also particularly interested in the section on Tate Modern’s approach to learning: -
“… encourages students to think not of one correct reading or interpretation of an artwork, but of plural readings. These will be based on the evidence of the artwork itself as experienced by the individuals viewing it, …”
So often in school I was asked a question and then given the correct answer – this is a very refreshing change.


Interview with Rineke Dijkstra – Bullfighters and Mothers
  • Both sets of images very effectively portray powerful and mixed emotions – pain, relief, pride, confusion and exhaustion
  • Dijkstra’s aim was to capture a different view of these individuals, one not normally on ‘public display’ – in other words, to portray the experience rather than tell the story of the people
  • Another aim was not to take stereotypical images, nonetheless, there is a strong element of stereotyping, in Dijkstra’s own words “men fight and women protect” and both portfolios depict these characteristics
  • Most interesting was the comments re the impact of the womens’ photographs – the appreciation of the women that the pictures truly captured what it was like for them and that somebody had actually given them a voice, versus the ‘opinion’ of the men that the women were being exploited at a time of vulnerability.
I found this interview very interesting and felt that Dijkstra came across as being open and genuine. I found the images of the women very touching and felt that they captured the gentle but possessiveness of the situation. Whereas, I felt the bullfighters just look relived to have survived their ordeal!


Interview with Fazal Sheikh – Somalian Refugees
  • Over a 2 year period initially, Sheikh spent time living with/in 5 different refugee camps along the Eastern and Southern Somali borders.
  • His aim was to ‘flush out’ what it was like to live in these borderland desserts; hence the duration of his ‘visit’ and the format of his images – stripped of everything other than the individuals so that they are the sole focal point
  • Sheikh disliked the portrayal of the Somali people by the American media and decided to return to the camps some 8 years later and to ‘catch-up’ with the children he’d photographed; the aim being to show that whilst their plights were desperate they were survivors!
  • By way of explaining his use of a Polaroid camera for these images, Sheikh states that “I’m not very comfortable actually during the act of photographing. I decided to make it a community affair, wherein we would decide together who and how they [the people] should be rendered.”
  • The exhibition includes testimonials from the individuals as well as diary like elements from Sheikh’s travels to the camps. He feels that whilst photographs are great in certain circumstances, they are not very effective for communicating the full story when it comes to “political and social turbulence”- thus the exhibition is a ‘marriage’ of text and image to create the overall ‘piece’.

Sheikh’s images portray people with determination and real strength of character – rather than the waifs the American media were implying, as such, I am confused by his discomfort at taking these images and telling this story. The use of a Polaroid and the level of engagement implies that the people were actually involved in taking the images, but at no point does Sheikh confirm this. I felt there was something lacking with this interview, almost as though it was a prepared script – a good story to tell to the camera.

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