A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details Paintings of the Future: Photography in the Digital Age with Particular Reference to Andreas Gursky, Jeff Wall and their Contemporaries Katia Mai A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Sussex July 2012 Statement I, Katia Mai, hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. July 2012 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary v Acknowledgements vi List of plates viii I. Introduction: What Happened to Baudelaire’s ‘Secretary’? The Role of Digital Technology in Contemporary Photography 1 II. Oscillating between Urmalerei and Urphotographie: Gursky’s Journey from Analogue to Digital 27 1. No Place for the Pictorially Illiterate 27 2. Gursky’s Conglomerate of Influences: Subjective Objectivities 30 3. Work Process and Production: A Medieval Workshop in Contemporary Times 42 4. Work Principles and Subject matter: The Even Distribution of a Pictorial Cosmos 45 5. Analogue and Digital Compositions: Gursky’s ‘Grip on the World’ 56 III. Images of our Time: Jeff Wall, ‘a Painter of Modern Life’ 72 1. ‘Filming in One Shot Only’: Decoding the Photographic Tableau 72 2. The Post-Modern Flâneur: Setting Out ‘To See the World’ 78 3. ‘I Begin by Not Photographing’: Cinematographic, Near-documentary and Documentary Photographs 88 4. The Photographic Author: Literary and Pictorial Models 95 5. Digital Compositions: The Photographic Hieroglyph 104 IV. Photographic Nuances and Variations: Contemporary Photographers in Düsseldorf and Vancouver 115 1. The Düsseldorf and Vancouver ‘Schools’ Debate 115 2. The Bechers: Teaching at the Düsseldorf Art Academy 120 3. Gursky’s Fellow Students: Variations of Becherism 128 4. Thomas Ruff: Explorer of Photographic Structures 142 5. Ian Wallace: Mentoring Jeff Wall 155 6. Wall’s Fellow Students: The Diversity of Photo-Conceptualism 160 7. The Inescapable Look and the Eye of the Beholder 168 iii V. Suspense or Surprise: At the Interface between Photographic Images and Film Stills 176 1. From Standing Still to Moving On: The Moving Photograph 176 2. Unseen Places: Gursky 178 3. Photographie Noir: Wall 182 4. Semi-documentary of a Genius Loci: Douglas 189 5. Vision without Motion 196 VI. Conclusion 198 Plates 206 Bibliography 235 iv University of Sussex Katia Mai Doctor of Philosophy Paintings of the Future: Photography in the Digital Age with Particular Reference to Andreas Gursky, Jeff Wall and their Contemporaries Summary The thesis investigates the oeuvre of Andreas Gursky, Jeff Wall and their contemporaries. It aims to provide an art-historical assessment, including the conceptual and philosophical context, complemented by an investigation of the production process of their photographs. One central focus is how the use of digital techniques and advanced printing technologies has affected their photographs. The thesis provides a traditional descriptive investigation and comparison of the artworks discussed; in addition, it relates these photographs to other art genres and thereby offers broader connections to the art world. This modus operandi is enhanced by the inclusion of specific writings on the history and theory of photography, wherein neither the art genres nor the theoretical sources are subject to any temporal or chronological restrictions. The thesis comprises six chapters: I. ‘What Happened to Baudelaire’s ‘Secretary’? The Role of Digital Technology in Contemporary Photography’ provides the theoretical framework for an understanding of photographic developments in the past, the influence of production processes, digital manipulation, perception and popular understanding of photographs. II. ‘Oscillating between Urmalerei and Urphotographie: Gursky’s Journey from Analogue to Digital’ examines Gursky’s use of analogue and digital photography through a number of case studies. III. ‘Images of our Time: Jeff Wall, ‘a Painter of Modern Life’ investigates Wall’s artistic development, by focusing on his utilization of Baudelaire’s concept of ‘the Painter of Modern Life’. IV. ‘Photographic Nuances and Variations: Contemporary Photographers in Düsseldorf and Vancouver’ analyses the academic environment of Gursky and Wall and their fellow students. V. ‘Suspense or Surprise: At the Interface between Photographic Images and Film Stills’ looks at the impact of the film genre on photography, and considers similar and comparable aesthetic and stylistic elements. Chapter VI provides a conclusion and a brief outlook in respect of photography. v Acknowledgements Without the most generous support of various archivists, scholars, curators, colleagues, friends and family this study would not have been possible, and I am indebted to all of them. I am particularly grateful to Annette Völker, Andreas Gursky’s personal assistant, at the Sprüth-Magers Gallery in Cologne, Germany. Her documents directed my attention to certain details which have helped my research significantly. I would also like to thank her colleague Andreas Gegner at the Sprüth-Magers Gallery in London and Axel Köhnen at the Johnen Gallery, Berlin, Germany. Dr Veit Görner, Curator and Director of the Kestnergesellschaft, Hanover, Germany, kindly provided me with information to better examine the origin of Gursky’s photographs. I am also grateful to Charlotte Cotton, Curator and Department Head of Photographs, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Peter Galassi, Chief Curator of the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, for their advice. My gratitude also goes to the art critic and writer Guy Lane and to Ben Luke, the former Editor of Art World magazine. I would like to thank especially Sandra Hamilton and the film director Jan Schmidt-Garré, both from Pars Media, for their generosity in supplying me with a copy of the art documentary ‘Long Shot Close Up’ about Andreas Gursky, and the producer Ric Beairsto at Laughing Mountains Communications Inc. and Harry Killas, Associate Professor, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, for all the information which they provided on the TV documentary ‘Picture Start’, about key members of the Vancouver School. Professor David Welch, University of Kent, Centre for the Study of War, Propaganda and Society, helped me throughout with support and encouragement, and Dr Charlotte Horlyck, University of London, Centre of Korean Studies, pointed me in the right direction in respect of Korean propaganda. Wolfgang Grieger, chief executive of the Grieger company in Düsseldorf, Germany, kindly took the time to explain to me the fast-changing environment of professional photo laboratories. I am also grateful to the photographer and artist Peter Fraser for giving me the opportunity to talk to him, and would like to thank Cheryl Siegel, the Librarian and Archivist at the Vancouver Art Gallery, for supplying me with valuable information about the Vancouver art scene. I am grateful to Boris Knezevic at the Interlibrary Loans Department, Courtauld Institute, and would like to thank Virginia Catmur for pointing out the idiosyncrasies of the English language. Writing this thesis has made me very aware of the debit that I owe to my former English teachers. vi I am greatly indebted to my supervisors Professor Maurice Howard and, in particular, to Professor David Mellor, who has, with great patience, not only advised me on the art-historical elements in my thesis, but has also made much more obvious to me the cultural difference between research and academic writing. Finally, I would like to thank my family who have provided me with the necessary strength and confidence to write the thesis; Ulf Schmidt, my husband, has always supported this endeavour. I am grateful for his übermenschlich patience and his understanding at every stage of the project; I also like to thank my son Luca, who helped me to stay motivated in the very last stage of this project and I like to thank our rescue dog Bella, who reminded me every day during this study that even I need some fresh air! vii List of Plates Plates appear in numerical order after page 206. Copyright remains with the artists. 1. Gerhard Richter, ‘Grey’ (1973), 300x250 cm, oil on canvas, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. 2. Andreas Gursky, ‘Untitled I’ (1993), 186x224 cm, C-print, Sprüth-Magers Gallery, Berlin/London. 3. Andreas Gursky, ‘Autobahn Mettmann’ (1993), 186x226 cm, C-print, Sprüth- Magers Gallery, Berlin/London. 4. Andreas Gursky, ‘Stateville, Illinois’ (2002), 206x307 cm, C-print, Matthew Marks Gallery, New York. 5. Andreas Gursky, ‘Untitled V’ (1997), 186x443 cm, C-print Sprüth-Magers Gallery, Berlin/London. 6. August Sander, ‘Rheinschleife bei Boppard’ (c. 1936),16.5x23 cm, gelatine silver print, Private Collection Sammlung Rhein Romantik, Slg.-Nr.160. 7. Andreas Gursky, ‘New Year’s Day Swimmers’ (1988), 130x155 cm, C-print, Sprüth- Magers Gallery, Berlin/London. 8. Andreas Gursky, ‘Rhine’ (1996), 186x222 cm, C-print, Sprüth-Magers Gallery, Berlin/London. 9. Andreas Gursky, ‘Rhine II’ (1999), 203.8x357.5 cm, C-print, Sprüth-Magers Gallery, Berlin/London. 10. Andreas Gursky, ‘Chicago Board of Trade’ (1999), 207x336.9 cm, C-print, Sprüth- Magers Gallery, Berlin/London. 11. Andreas Gursky, ‘Pyongyang I’ (2007), 307x215.5 cm, C-print, Sprüth-Magers Gallery, Berlin/London. viii 12. Andreas Gursky, ‘Kirchfeldstraße’ (1980), 53.7x43.2 cm, C-print, Sprüth-Magers Gallery, Berlin/London. 13. Andreas Gursky, ‘Untitled XII’ (2000), 279x185 cm, C-print, Sprüth-Magers Gallery, Berlin/London.