Saturday, May 16, 2009

Mårten Lange's Anomalies

Mårten Lange is yet another cryptic and intriguing photographer whose work possesses all the attributes of the new, specifically Swedish aesthetic in photography. Along with people like Thobias Fäldt and Klara Källström, Lange and his Swedish contemporaries have forged what might be the most exciting, and perhaps recognizable, photographic movement in recent years. As Gordon MacDonald, editor of Photoworks Magazine, thoughtfully asserts:

"Lange's photographs also seem to reference photographic modes from the document and the archival oddity. They are reminiscent of the book, Evidence, by Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel, where the dislocation and seeming randomness of the objects and scenes photographed imbue the work with an atmosphere of intrigue. The harsh flash and ultra-high contrast also lend Lange's images a forensic feel, as if they had been made to prove or disprove some criminal allegation. They are, I am sure, made for no such reasons, but it is hard to disengage yourself from the history of practical uses of photography when faced by such enigmatic work. It would also be easy to view Lange's images conversely, as sitting outside reality because of the technique that he employs, as untrue representations of the 'real' object or as caricatures..."

The monograph of Anomalies is available for purchase here.











All photographs from the series Anomalies

All Images © Mårten Lange