auto focus by susan bright - excerpt
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AUTO FOCUSTHE SELF-PORTRA
IN CONTEMPORAR
PHOTOGRAPH
SUSAN BRIG
The Monacelli Pr
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Copyright 2010SusanBright
All rights reserved. Publishedin theUnitedStatesby
TheMonacelli Press,a divisionof Random House, Inc.
First publishedsimultaneously in 2010in theUnited
Kingdom by Thames & Hudson,Ltd., London and
by TheMonacelli Press,a divisionof Random House,
Inc.,NewYork.
TheMonacelli Press andcolophon aretrademarksof
Random House, Inc.
Libraryof Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bright, Susan, 1969
Autofocus: theself-portraitin contemporary
photography/ SusanBright.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographical references andindex.
ISBN 978-1-58093-300-1 (hardcover)
1. Portrait photography.2. Self-portraits.
3. PhotographersPortraits. I. Title.
TR681.P56B75 2010
770dc222010004383
Printedand boundin [tbc]
1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First edition
www.monacellipress.com
This book isdedicated toMikeandRubyReynolds.
With special thanks to all theartistsand galleries
whoso kindly assistedme andgave their time
andenergyto the project.Thanksmust also goto
thefollowing:Pat Binder,Camilla Brown,Alejandro
Castellote, Alasdair Foster,Gerhard Haupt, Jackie
Higgins, Graham Howe, Allison Kave, Carrie Levy,
WeibkeLister,Paul Moakley, Alison Norstrom,Jeesun Park,Aaron Shulman,Anne Sorensen,
Joe Strubble,Toshie Takeuchi,Hedy Van Erp,
James Wellingand Richard West. And my grateful
thanks to all those at Thames & Hudson,especially
Jacky Klein, Ginny Liggitt,Katie Morgan,Anna Perotti
andDiana Bullitt Perry.
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INTRODUCTIONUNCANNY LIKENES
PHOTOGRAPHERS PHOTOGRAPHING THEMSELVES
01AUTOBIOGRAPHY202 BODY6
03 MASQUERADE 9
04 STUDIO AND ALBUM 14
05 PERFORMANCE 18
Notes2
Further Reading 2
List of Illustrations 2
Index2
CONTENT
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56AUTOBIOGRAPHY
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BROT
In retrospect, I haveactuallynoticed that I reached for the camera
more readilywhen Iwas unhappy. I worked the pain intoa beautiful
object that could be lookedatdetached frommyself, and this consoled
mea little. Inaway its banal,but it isas ifart legitimates grief. I think
inthisway a lot ofartistsmakeindecentuse of their ownunhappy lives
asmaterial for their art.
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64BODY
The body is the only direct way
through which I can know society
and society comes to know me.
The body is the proof of identity.
The body is language.
Homeland (2001)is a seriesof photographs of a performance
of the sametitle. Carefully composedfor the camera,these
images function as stills,documenting actions in which
theartist pusheshis body to extremes. Zhang hasalways
used hisbodyas a metaphor forthe Chinese people and
to comment on therapid socialand economic changes
taking place in China.His performances andthe resulting
photographs are radical, politically provocative and,at times,
masochistic. In hisongoing andexplicituse of hisbody as a
vehicle for self-expression,Zhangtests societys boundaries
of acceptability in artwork.
For this seriesof photographs Zhang whohas worked
extensively outside of China returned to hisnativeland,
to thecity of Qufu in theShandongProvince.This province
hasone of thelargest populations in thecountry andsome
of the poorest living conditions. The quickly developing
cities attract farmers and young labourerslooking for work,
who often abandon their landand villages, leaving behind
the elderly, children and increasinglydepleted farmland.Zhang hassaid that on returningto China,he lookedat
thesky andthe earth andfoundthem to beindignant
andsoulful, so he created theperformance in an attemptto
alter that state.He turnedhis body into somethinganimal,
disguising it entirely apart from hisface with large slabs
of raw meat that grotesquely exaggerate hisshape.In the
imagesof himburrowing into theground like an animal,
Zhangs meat suit creates a protective sheath around him,
butwhenhe standsup, thebloodred casingmakes it seem
as if Zhangs skin hasbeenflayed.
ZHANGHUAN
Leftabove,leftand opposite:ZhangHuan,Homeland,2001.
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30MASQUERADE
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GA
GAECAIn theseriesMe,MyselfandI(200204),Spanish artist Gaeca
mocks thehierarchiesand clichs of arthistory andthe
commercial artmarket.Heassumestherolesofpeople
involved intheoftenelitist andsnobbish artworld, including
artists,curators, dealers andcollectors.Thephotographsserveasa comment onthesubtle manners andbehaviour
that canseemextraordinarilybewilderingtothoseonthe
outside of that environment.The project reveals the
insecuritiesthat thrive in theunstableworldof tasteand
fashion,andwhich oftendominate thebusiness side of art,
commodifyingtheworkandturning it into a cultural
product.WhenGaecaplaces text withinsomeof theimages,
it reads like thethoughtbubbles ofnarcissisticand
complacentcharacterswho wishto reinvent themselves in
order to fitin; Nobody KnowsI AmWorkingClass oneimagereveals,while anotherdivulgesNobodyKnows MyDadDied
Yesterday. Ina complexlayeringof identityGaeca is
pretending tobe a personwhois in turnpretendingtobe
somebodyelse,andthrough this multitudeof identities he
asks whoplaces valueuponartistic creationandwhy. In
termsofstyleandcomposition, theportraitsare elegant and
meticulouslycrafted,andGaeca mimics thevisual language
of advertisingaswell as famousworks of art, from
seventeenth-century paintingsbyDutch artist JanVermeer
to contemporaryworksby BruceNauman.Heuses deadpanhumourto shatter theaura that surroundsthe makingand
selling of fine art, andmanages tosidestep childishmockery
dueto hisintimate knowledgeof theconventions andcodes
of arthistory andthe artworld.
Opposite:Gaeca,NobodyKnowsVermeerToldMe This, 2004.
Right:Gaeca,Untitled, 2002.
Pages132:Gaeca,NobodyKnowsMy DadDiedYesterday,2002.
Page133:Gaeca,Untitled, 2003.
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48 STUDIOANDALBUM
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Memory ofMemories (2001) began as a site-specific
installationin a garageand balcony intheGudaibiya
district of Bahrainscapital city, Manama. Thislocation was
important, as Al-Shaikhwanted the site to be relevantto his
investigationof memory,and thisbuildingreminded him
ofthe house inSaudi Arabiawhere hegrewup.Some ofthe
photomontages from theproject arecomposed of family
pictures juxtaposedwithhistorical imagesor ephemera.
Onegroupof photographs combines pictures of Al-Shaikh
asa child posing ona balcony withan image of the identity
card hisfather used when he wasworking on theSaudi
Arabian railwayin the 1950s. Duringthatperiodmany
Bahrainisleft to work inSaudi Arabia, which wascreatinga
modernurban infrastructure andwas inneed of manual
labourers. In another work,a photograph of Iraqi military
equipmentdestroyed intheGulf War inKuwaitin the1990s
isplacedon top of a picture of Al-Shaikh as a boy witha
group of smiling children.A picture of theartist as a child
withgrapes, anapple and a bananafloatingin the air inthe
foreground, refersto a recurringdreamhe hadin his
childhood, inwhich helookedup ata treeand saw thatit
bore allthreefruits.Each of these fruitsappears
individually in otherphotographs,suggestingthefluid
boundaries between real memories andthosethatare
made up or re-remembered throughexposure tofamily
albums. Thediagram of geometricshapesthatappears in
allof theimages reflects componentsof Al-Shaikhs
heritage,combining elements of Arabic andIslamic
cultures and beliefs.The largeinstallation,from which
thesepictures are taken,shiftsfrom investigationsof
personal identity to widerexplorations of national identity
intheMiddle East.
ANASAL-SHAIKH
AL-S
Opposite:AnasAl-Shaikh,MemoryofMemories1 , 2001.
Aboveright: AnasAl-Shaikh,MemoryofMemories3 ,2001.
Right:AnasAl-Shaikh,MemoryofMemories6 , 2001.
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Choreographiesemergeduring the
night,with themovementsof the two
sleepers sometimesseeming almost
synchronized.Yet they arepresent intheworld ofdream,beyond the realm
of photography.
Tocreate theimages in theseries SleepwithMe (2007),
Saarhelo invitedvariouspeopletosleep inherbedwith
herforonenight, andthenphotographedthe experiences.
Sheproduceda suiteofsevenoreightphotographsof herself
with each guest, andtitled eachworkwith thenameof the
secondperson.Saarheloplacedthe cameraabovethebed
andprogrammed it to takea picture everyhalf hourthroughout thenight.Asa resultof having thephotographs
taken automaticallybya timing device,Saarhelocededsome
control over theimages,andwas thereforeoftenunsure
ofwhether the resultswouldbeaestheticallyinteresting.
Portraiture is commonlyunderstoodas a balance ofpower
betweenthesitter andthe artist; byplacing herself in the
frame,Saarhelofurther relinquishedher control.Sheplaced
herself andher co-sleeper ina vulnerable position,inwhich
neither hadany influenceoverhowheor shelookedwhen
sleeping.In describing this aspectof theworkSaarhelohassaid,Sleeping together isa situationof trust and
unconscious dialoguebetweenfriends or strangers.
Althoughthephotos include individual people, it is difficult
tomake anyvalid assumptionsabouttheiridentities. The
quality of photographedhumanrelationsthusbecomes
subjectedto theviewers ownassociationsandexperiences.
ThelimitationsthatSaarhelo imposedupon theprojectecho
thelimitationsof whatphotography canand cannotcapture.
Theseportraitsare carefully pareddownsothat theeye is
drawntothefleshandthe recurringappearanceof theartist,
whohasmanaged tocreate a compositeself-portraitof
herself in thepresenceof changingbedfellows.
NANNASAARHELO
Oppositetop:NannaSaarhelo,SleepwithMe,TuomoK(detail),2007.
Oppositebottom:NannaSaarhelo,SleepwithMe,Pihla (detail),2007.
96PERFORMANCE
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SAAR
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