The Photograph as Contemporary Art

Jocelyn Lescarbeau

In chapter three of Charlotte Cotton’s book, “The photograph as Contemporary Art,” titled “Deadpan,” she explores a common contemporary style of the deadpan aesthetic. This aesthetic became popular in the 1990s due to certain shifts and changes going on at the time, especially with landscape and architecture that fit so plainly on gallery walls and really helped shift photography into the contemporary art realm. Before this time, photography had been purely subjective and expressive but Deadpan photography allowed for a renewal in the field and was a highly desired aesthetic because it was a fresh mode of representation. This shift and large prints also helped to place photography closer to fine art, in that it demanded more gallery space, much like earlier installations and paintings. Photographs produced under this style are often large and remote while the images are mainly objective as opposed to subjective. The prints are large and evocative when seen in real life; the real aesthetic comes to the surface when the viewer feels the detachment of the photographer to the subject because they are no longer sentimental or exaggerated emotionally. Deadpan photography aims to capture objects or scenes exactly how they are, from a universal perspective instead of from an individual standpoint. Although the images are represented in this detailed way, the viewer is able to understand the entirety of human vision. Common subjects for deadpan photography include many manufactured sites like industrial, architectural, ecological and leisure industry areas.

As explained by Cotton, deadpan photography is often times described as ‘Germanic’ not only due to the nationality of many key figures n the area but also because many were instructed under famous German photographers such as Bernd Becher in Dusseldorf, Germany. The school Becher taught at, called Kunstakademie, promoted the use of “independent and artistically led pictures” as opposed to educating under photojournalism curriculum and other professional practices. In addition, the ‘Germanic’ classification also comes from a style of German photography emerging in the 1920s and 1930s called New Objectivity, which aimed to create typologies of everyday culture. Albert Renger-Patsch and August Sander are two of the most prominent artists who worked under this model long before contemporary artists began to use the deadpan aesthetic. These guys would photograph single subjects under all typologies such as, nature, industry, architecture and modern society, which changed contemporary photography for the better. Hilla and Bernd Becher are quite well known for photographing vernacular buildings in pre-Nazi Germany like water towers and mills from the exact same perspective to create a system where each can be compared to its counterpart. Much of the Becher’s work spoke to the modern consequences of industry, which had never been brought to the public’s attention within the gallery space. Their objectifying approach helped to raise these social and political issues as well.

Moreover, there is one photographer that stands out today as the leader of the contemporary deadpan aesthetic who is Andreas Gursky. Gursky creates photographs on a large scale, using a mixture of large format images for clarity and then using digital means to refine his images. Many of the prints he produces are meant to be viewed separately and never as part of a series, therefore allowing all of his work to achieve a better reputation. Gursky does this so that his earlier works are not confused with, or compared to newer works, thus allowing each release to stand on its own as another successful print. This inconsistency is why Andreas Gursky has had so much success. In his work, Chicago, Board of Trade II, he chooses to shoot from a perspective from up above, which allows the viewer to see everything as opposed to being in the center of the crowd and seeing it there. It is this distance that inherits the deadpan photographic style. In Gursky’s Prada series, the perspective from a human height and the intense lighting suggest the mystery of contemporary society’s addiction to shopping and consumerism.

On another note, Walter Niedermayr and Bridget Smith work with deadpan photography to breakdown the stereotypes of landscapes and tourist locations. Walter photographed a tourist town located in the mountains from a distance until they looked like models made by an architect. In this view, Walter calls attention to our desire to escape reality on vacations when really we are submerging ourselves into the same structures of society that in reality look and feel no different. Bridget Smith does this too by photographing a Las Vegas airport during the day with hotels shown on the horizon. This description is far less glamorous than the strip that would usually be glowing and magical at night, which expresses that the city is really nothing special. Ed Burtynsky also photographed a Californian landscape tainted with oil drills and other machinery from the foreground to the horizon. The neutral stance manifests the consequences objectively while at the same time there are social and political issues embedded in them. In a way the photograph is just stating the facts and it is up to the viewer to decide how they feel about it. Takashi Homma photographed landscapes in suburban Japan occupied by desolate housing units. His crisp depiction of the perfect houses and landscaping manifests a loss of personal and unique housing that is now omnipresent even before we decide to buy a house.

Moving into the architectural realm, both Lewis Baltz and Matthias Hoch use geometry in the deadpan aesthetic to represent contemporary environments. Lewis Baltz took color photographs of the technical aspects of industrial spaces in his series, Power Supply, to show how crisp and organized these important places were. Mattias Hoch photographed interiors when architecture was a primary subject in deadpan photography. The unoccupied space he chose to shoot illustrates the stark and calming places before they are inhabited. Another artist who explores architectural spaces, such as offices and boardrooms, is Jacqueline Hassink. In her approach she asked many companies if she could photograph their workspaces and displayed the refusals and acceptances on a graph next to the prints. The relationship Jacqueline imposes a collective connection between businesses and the spaces in which they work. Candida Hofer is a contemporary artist that photographs locations in which collections are stored. Often times, it is her vantage point that displays the symmetries of the spaces and makes them interesting to look at, even if they aren’t to begin with.

Naoya Hatakeyama is a Japanese artist that uses deadpan photography to emphasize the process of construction by showing the chaotic movement within the big city. Alex Hutte photographed city lights at night and displayed them with light illuminating them from behind. Dan Holdsworth also photographed at night with very long exposures capturing an illuminated landscape that looks uncanny. In both photographers’ work, there is a heightened sense of observation for the viewer, a common trait of deadpan photography.

Richard Misrach presents a flooded desert, which contradicts our preconceived notions of a desert. Misrach’s objective stance allows the viewer to be a witness to the occurrence in this case. Thomas Struth photographed inside the gallery space and its visitors to call attention to the way we observe art and the way his perspective of the scene allows us to do so. John Riddy’s use of color photography enables him to express the architectural spaces and their histories juxtaposed with the modern form of transportation visible in the distance. Gabriele Basilico does the same thing but in the form of cityscapes that have been destructed by bombs. The presence of humans in the city below represents the resilience of humanity after a tragedy.

Simone Nieweg likes to photograph places that she lives in Germany, particularly farms so she can observe the changes they go through over time. In the picture shown in Cotton, there is clearly a disconnect from the linear lines of crops and the areas of soil that don’t take the crop especially well. In this same theme, Yoshiko Seino manifests the domination humans try to have over nature when, in time nature reclaims itself. Along these same lines Gerhard Stromberg works with man-made landscapes that offer a narrative that evokes the brutality of the actions taken beforehand.

Jem Southam’s Painter’s Pool, depicts an area in the woods where a painter once dammed an area to create a pond to paint over the course of 20 years. Jem went back to this place to photograph it in each of its seasonal states and from differing degrees to discern the difficulties the painter must have faced when he was working in the same landscape. The rephotographing of the space sensitizes not only Southam to the space, but the viewer as well. Boo Moon is a Korean artist that makes us privy to the ungovernable forces of nature by shooting the China Sea where the only movements visible are those made by the light shining through the clouds.

Portraiture is another way photographers use the deadpan style to depersonalize them. Thomas Ruff does this by photographing individuals in front of a neutral screen and telling them to remain expressionless. The detail accentuated in the “passport-like” pictures help the viewer to “discover the character though their appearance”. Hiroshi Sugimoto photographed wax people to emphasize our observance and search for human characteristics through body language, posture, and expression, even though we know the figures aren’t real. Both Joel Sternfeld and Jitka Hanzlová use street portraiture to portray the limitations on what we can know about a stranger’s outward appearance. It is also the disconnect the subject feels when wondering why the photographer would want to photograph him or her. Albrecht Tubke and Mette Tronvoll take a different approach by photographing people in costume to portray them in their natural and comfortable environments and to speak to the little bits of our true identities that are not visible. Lastly, Rineke Dijkstra took portraits of three different women, one hour, one day, and one week after giving birth. The photos are unpleasant and cal our attention to the physical and emotional labor that goes along with having a baby, which is rarely glamorized in that way.

One artist who I think could easily fit under this deadpan photography section is Alec Soth. The way he photographed JCPenneys in a cold Minnesota winter speaks to the way our society values consumerism, even when it is cold and slippery outside. He photographed more than one but each image is gray and dismal that calls our attention to the less attractive aspects of shopping like parking and spending too much time and money once inside. Each perspective is from the street outside of the mall and each image begins to look the same.

Kate Bingaman takes photographs under this aesthetic and topic as well. In her image of the wedding dressed she speaks to the unnecessary need to try on a million dresses and spend a bunch of money on one that will only be worn for one night. After this significant night, the dress is of no use to anyone because each woman wants her own to emphasize her feelings of uniqueness and importance on her day. Although this image and these dresses are of no importance to anyone in particular, by photographing them together and ragged on a rack, Kate plainly states their unimportance to the rest of the world.

Another artist that I think operated well under the deadpan aesthetic as Larry Sultan. Since he chose to photograph within the walls of his own parent’s home, he was displaying exactly how domestic life was and is for most people. In one image his dad is sitting down watching tv because he was bored with the shoot and his mother is not only acting as the supportive mother but is doing so in participating in Larry’s work. Also, the bright colors are rigid and add clarity to the image. The perspective is also from a natural grown man’s height, reinforcing the universal vision of family within the home.