Part 1

• Read the Documentary Deconstruction source text and engage with the research task at the end of the document.

• Add reflective evidence of your reading and watching to your learning log.

ART TERMs

DECONSTRUCTION: Deconstruction is a form of criticism first used by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in the 1970s which asserts that there is not one single intrinsic meaning to be found in a work, but rather many, and often these can be conflicting. (Tate)

TABLEAU: Tableau is used to describe a painting or photograph in which characters are arranged for picturesque or dramatic effect and appear absorbed and completely unaware of the existence of the viewer. (Tate)

I was pleased to see some familiar names whilst reading this piece and looking at the YouTube videos. I am a fan of the work of Gregory Crewdson and fascinated by the way in which he stages his work. I was aware the Jeff Wall also “staged” some of his photographic work and have been a fan of his work since being introduced to his work early on in this degree course. The YouTube interview was a bit of a surprise as I had never seen this work and it reminded me of some images I created for an earlier assignment where I created a “tableau” based on a crime scene photograph from when I worked for the police. I was also further surprised to see an image by Alina Pankova (Fig. 1) “Bedroom of my Parents” (2014) as it is very similar to the image I had created (Img.1). In Pankovas image, everything looks “normal”  until you notice there is a gun half hidden under the bed. In my image, everything looks normal until you notice the broken glasses on the floor by the bed. I had never seen Pankovas image before but this is definitely something I would like to pursue for future projects. I also hadn’t thought of the word “Tableau” when I was creating this image or when I had been looking at the work of Crewdson. I have been thinking of the word Tableau as an “old-fashioned” word representing some staged art from history.

Fig. 1 Alina Pankova, Bedroom of my Parents (2014)

Img. 1 Authors own _ Janet Warner

I had also been introduced to Philip Lorca diCorcias work in an earlier unit and in particular his series “Heads” I hadn’t really thought of these images as having been staged in anyway because the people were real, they were not being asked to pose, they did not even know they were being photographed. Listening to diCorcias interview I realised how much of it had been staged and set up before hand.

“I build these photographs I don’t really find them I choose the place I choose in different ways the subject matter and then I try to put it together with lights and other what I would call dramatizing elements” (diCorcia 2014)

Dr Sam Lackey who is the  curator of the Hepworth Wakefield comments on Dicorcia way of creating his images “blurs the lines between what real and what’s fictional”

“the way these photographs are made is really interesting. The artist will set up a lighting break he might even decide on the whole set take a Polaroid with an assistant standing in for the person who will become the subject of the photograph so that everything’s already constructed in advance Then the subject might enter the frame either because they’re chosen or because they walk in to it accidentally and what this really does is it blurs the lines between what’s real and what’s fictional what’s documentary what the artist is in control of this way of thinking about photography questions the fundamental premise that when you see a photograph you’re seeing the truth” (Lackey 2014)

I think this blurring of the real and fictional is very interesting and possible why I had not thought of diCorcias series as being “staged”: the people were real, they were not posed, they did not know they were about to have their photo taken. I also realise now the they had walked into a staged scene. I was also interested to Dr Sam Lackey talk about the fact that diCorcia  gives the viewer the opportunity  to place meaning on the image.

I think that Dicorcia is really interested in giving the viewer a great deal of authority over the meaning of the works. Dicorcia sets up a relationship between the photographer and the sitter that isn’t one that we’re really used to. He’s not interested in privileging this relationship, instead there’s a kind of distance between the two and this distance means that you the viewer can insert yourself in relation to that person. (Lackey 2014)

By not getting too close to his subjects he is allowing the viewer to do that on their own terms.

My own thoughts are that as soon as a person sees the camera and they believe a photograph is being taken of them then they change. Does this mean that these images are not “real” I guess we would have to define “real” before answering that question!