FREE FREE FREE FREE EYES WIDE OPEN 1503 CHRISTIAN TAGLIAVINI Artemesia PHOTOGRAPHY NOW PHOTOGRAPHY 05 [f22] www.f22magazine.com 1 T THE END OF LAST season, Paris hosted dump for obsolete technology on the out- cal surrealist landscapes by Scarlett Hooft informed risk, so that the range of contem- two contrasting photo events: the annual skirts of a Ghana slum. Added to the mix is Graafland, also at Hoppen, I visited some porary photography on offer is brilliant, Paris Photo, and the galleries of Saint- what the sponsors want to show off: the JP aerial landscapes by Edward Burtynsky at diverse, thriving. For the galleries present Germain-des-Prés. The former is an interna- Morgan Chase Collection, for example; and Flowers. In contrast to the pastoral patch- it's a time to show off discreetly and prove tional proclamation of today’s (and tomor- the major and institutional acquisitions: work quilts of yesteryear's countryside, themselves worthy. Every artist wants to row's) top dog names, the latter a celebra- such as the Tate buying in of Daido these present an abstract etching of land be represented and included therein. And tion of the mythical quartier, with its Moriyama for an exhibition next year; and rendered by industrial exploitation, with the visitor gets a snapshot of the organis- 1950’s heritage of art, jazz, cabaret – and the Musée de l'Elysée's purchase of the spectacular effect. I landed in Baudoin ing mix that makes up the contemporary women of experienced virtue. Paris Photo Charlie Chaplin archives. Lebon and discussed Madagascan race art+photography world, in which the is based on a business model of free mar- X and identity issues with the artist Malala French particularly excel, as well as the ket pushiness, where high expectations X Andrialavidrazana. Her starkly intimate inte- opportunity to garner the most valuable entertain big bucks chasing the best of Finally, and overwhelmingly, there is what rior shots reprimand the tourist's idealised opinions around. unique names. The first Festival Photo the market wants to show: the expensive view of her native country. Then some por- X Saint Germain-des-Prés is a much cosier classics supported by established galleries traits to end: Barbara Probst's Exposure X affair of family-run, entrepreneurial gal- in Paris, London, New York; emerging pho- #49 presents a disconnected, standard- Festival Photo Saint Germain-des-Prés is a leries. Where each customer is wooed as a tographers from Scandinavia, China, and ised view of an organised, asexual, self- sexy contrast to Paris Photo. St Germain- friend and cosseted, and the gallery direc- artists based in Berlin. The well-oiled assured and (terrifyingly to me) neutral, des-Prés is, today, only questionably a hap- tor's uniquely experienced eye determines onslaught of photographs from the North contemporary woman. I found light relief pening place, with a predictable pose that the taste, albeit with a sens des affaires. European states tend to favour ice-ridden with Christian Tagliavini's series of portraits: panders to the myth – and to tourism. X landscapes, penguins and climate change slightly caricatured modern takes on his- However, it unquestionably remains a per- X over nudes. Sharp-coloured houses bun- torical female icons of the genre. sonality place. Many of the art galleries, It's Paris Photo Press night and for the first dled and isolated within snowscapes by X photo agencies and dedicated art book- time in 15 years, it is being held in the vast Tiina Itkonen at Gallery Taik, was a good X shops that concentrate along and around expanse of the sturdy greenhouse that is example. The Chinese focus on the individ- Reed Expositions France organise 450 the rue de Seine are well-established and the Grand Palais. The 135 stands stretch ual versus the collective: such as Maleonn trade and consumer events each year in supremely specialised. At their helm is the out into quads to display the many, many (Ma Liang) at Magda Danysz, who fetishis- 32 countries, and Paris Photo is a high-cul- Parisian photo agency, Roger-Viollet, who photographs and some photo-books. There es memories to record past, personalised ture jewel amongst them. Mostly, these are maintains the photo archive for the Ville de is so much work to look at! Plus the educa- emotions; and the confusion of manipula- commercial trade rather than high-brow, Paris and makes them available to the gen- tional extras, installations (one by Markus tive and excessive communication in Du like Funeral Paris, which followed on from eral public online. The Photo festival had Schaden) and performances laid on to Zhenjun's Towers of Babel series at RX Paris Photo and promised to be a ‘perfect the feel of an extended street party and entertain and surprise in any spare Gallery. These are collated from architectur- place to communicate, learn and enjoy was unusual, because it involved some moment – plus awards being delivered al and political images collected from the yourself with your fellow professionals’. public institutions that normally remain (notably to Paul Graham) and book-signing internet, to create visual parables for the Reed claims their events promote the irre- aloof from the private sector. highlights (Edgar Martin annotating his The times, such as Old Europe, 2010. placeable ‘power of human contact’, aka X Time Machine). X social networking, making useful friends. The organising committee was typically X X And they probably do. homegrown with three members of the X To whet the appetite of the eye, there was X Aittouarès familly leading the Board. The Then there is the theme issue. Firstly, some homoerotica à la mode with Walter Certainly, these art fairs require stamina. theme, images et mots, reflected the dual L'Afrique à l'honneur, dictated by the Grand Pfeiffer at Sultana, followed by some dated They are like propaganda hypermarkets aspect of the area: the pleasures of eman- Palais event organisers, directed by newly glamour from Guy Bourdin at Michael with their highly-selective offerings. An cipated female flesh and the philosophical appointed Julien Frydman (former chief of Hoppen. In the frenzied but polite rush of it aura of exclusivity and excellence is main- existentialism of its poetic soul. Magnum Photos, Paris). Decorated and all you get to meet and discuss with the tained. Does the ‘hot’ dominate the ‘new’? X nonchalant black bodies pose and dance heroic galleries who organise the market, Yes, there is a tendency to equate expen- X – Malik Sidibé was well-represented – on and the singular artists who supply the sive with successful, it's the unimaginative Although retaining high heels entrenched one hand; and suffered poverty on the goods. So then the incitement to spend is default option. Nevertheless, there is also in the postwar past of the charming and the other – Pieter Hugo's photos of a vast beguiling. After some light-hearted, theatri- an abundance of genuine expertise and damned, the cherchez la femme thing has 2 f22 [www.f22magazine.com] ,OUISE"OBBE &!DPDF CONTENTS >> EDITORIAL | 05 Unless you are a press photographer the news – barely reported – that CNN have laid off a dozen staff lensmen went unnoticed. Although dressed up in good corporate speak, the gist of the news organisation’s position was that with so many citizens around, all armed with good definition new media gadgets, why continue to pay for what is readily available for free? Now CNN might have a point if one takes an expanded perspective. The law of averages suggests that the worse snapper in the world can take at least one good shot. Of course, the professional can take one good shot, then another, and another. But the sheer number of people out there – in every corner of the planet – all armed with a digital or phone camera, brings to mind the apocryphal chimpanzees, typewriters and the Bible. Combine this with the insatiable desire of those addicted to the new media for personal recognition and it is logical to view them as a cheap source of budget pictures. Especially news images, what are known as reportage photographs. News photographs are the ultimate in perishable goods and picture editors have only one imperative – the event, the moment, the image. History may well re-value any given image at a later date, but the longer the delay the more diminished is the impact in today’s world of instant communication. And no news gathering agency can have staff positioned everywhere at all times, no matter how percipient the editors are. Clearly ‘citizen journalists’ and their capability for instant, eyewitness reports, will have a role to play in the media of the future. There has been a wholesale move into ‘fine art’ photography by JE NE REGRETTE RIEN... those who previously worked exclusively for the newsprint media – not unrelated, one World Photography is Paris in November suspects, by the fact that the fine art world market has appropriated reportage images for 08 their own purposes. The genie is out of the box. In an effort to counter the unstoppable flood of photo-based detritus that assaults the eye at every turn, attempts are being made to raise the bar. But when the art market drives German photographer, Andreas Gursky, into the ‘most expensive’ slot for Rhein II (at £2.7 million) it clearly has a long way to go. But then 40 PERISCOPE Tulipomania amongst the sober and prudent middle class of Holland and Germany Check out these hot was equally inexplicable. shows in PARIS Mike von Joel, Editor MANO-A-MANO COVER IMAGE | ISSUE 05 12 Two photographers, one conversation, a lifetime behind the camera CHRISTIAN TAGLIAVINI Artemisia from 1503 series U THE SWISS-ITALIAN photographer was one of the darlings of the 2011 Paris Photo with his ingenious blend of craftsmanship, photography and art history, reconfigured in the modern idiom for the quasi-Renaissance series, 1503.