The Exposure Project

Monday, July 6, 2009

Damon Zucconi's Colors Preceding Photographs

I discovered Damon Zucconi's amazing series of videos Colors Preceding Photographs today. Comprised of three different videos, IMG_0258, woodshed and 1535925-Inside-the-Roman-Baths-0, these simple transformations provide a number of perceptual and chromatic surprises. Enjoy.

Still from IMG_0258 (From "Colors Preceding Photographs")
© Damon Zucconi

Still from woodshed (From "Colors Preceding Photographs")
© Damon Zucconi

Still from 1535925-Inside-the-Roman-Baths-0 (From "Colors Preceding Photographs")
© Damon Zucconi

Andrés Marroquín Winkelmann's Zapallal/Yurinaki

Andrés Marroquín Winkelmann's project Zapallal/Yurinaki explores the economic, social and political hardships faced by impoverished Peruvian communities. As he asserts in his statement:

"With the help of the communities of Zapallal and Yurinaki, I started a photographic project, that deals with life conditions in these particular surroundings. I wasn't interested in creating a classic reportage or using a journalistic approach. I wanted the community to participate in the project and involved my subjects in the creative process. They helped me composing the images, selecting and arranging characteristic elements of these surroundings, searching for typical spaces to stage every-day situations in order to deal with social and political issues. Most of the people now living in Zapallal came from the countryside to the outskirts of Lima, hoping to find better work opportunities and establish a solid economical wealth. The high percentage of unemployment and an overpopulated capital city didn't leave them many chances except starting all over again. Most of the people I photographed in this project experienced this social instability. After a few years of development the several tendencies and stages, all emerging from the same origin, became noticeable."

From "Zapallal/Yurinaki"
© Andrés Marroquín Winkelmann

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Ofer Wolberger's Anatomy of a Collage and Collage Portraits

Although probably better known for his series Life With Maggie, Ofer Wolberger's lesser known collage work is some of his most interesting. In the spirit of early 20th century collagists such as Raoul Hausmann, John Heartfield, Hannah Höch, El Lissitzky, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Aleksandr Rodchenko, Wolberger's interest in Constructivism, Surrealism and Dadaism is certainly recognizable. However, his collages are not simply derivations of earlier practitioners. Many of Wolberger's collages address 21st century consumer culture by using contemporary advertisements to construct his montages. Perhaps one of my favorite of Wolberger's collages is his clever and indebted nod to photo history, "After Walker Evans, 1998," which pays homage to Walker Evans' iconic photograph "Penny Picture Display, Savannah [Photographer's Studio Window with Portraits], 1936."

Make sure to look at the rest of the collages from both Anatomy of a Collage and Collage Portraits.

From "Collage Portraits"
© Ofer Wolberger

After Walker Evans, 1998 (From "Anatomy of a Collage")
© Ofer Wolberger

Orgy, 2000 (From "Anatomy of a Collage")
© Ofer Wolberger

From "Collage Portraits"
© Ofer Wolberger

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Harm van den Dorpel

Harm van den Dorpel is a fascinating digital artist who manipulates and deconstructs found imagery and then recontextualizes it by putting back on the internet. His process and philosophy are addressed in this interview with I Heart Photograph:

i heart photograph: is this image [she's referring to the ostrich image below] part of a larger project, and if so, could you explain the basic ideas/impulse behind the work?

harm van den dorpel: this work is part of my project 'semantics'. it is a series of manipulated found images. after applying one action or manipulation i put them back online. in computer programming 'semantics' is opposed to 'syntax'. when i look at media i am always struck by the (stupidity of) visual conventions and expectations; these are these syntactic rules. purposely i generate a syntax error in the visual language of the photos. after the images are processed on a lower layer, they become mine, and carry completely other meaning or emotions.

Also, make sure to watch the video posted below, which is quite possibly the most brilliant 12 seconds of video I've seen in a long time.

Sudden Flare In Total Darkness, 2009
© Harm van den Dorpel

Guards, 2005
© Harm van den Dorpel

Doggggie, 2008
© Harm van den Dorpel

White Rectangle, 2008
© Harm van den Dorpel

Ostrich
© Harm van den Dorpel

Business, 2008
© Harm van den Dorpel

Photographic Typologies: Eric Tabuchi

French photographer Eric Tabuchi wrote me the other day to share the link to his website. His site consists largely of typological studies of various facets of the European landscape. I found this series of Road Signs, however, to be the most endearing and humorous of all of Tabuchi's numerous projects.

Sans Titre, 2005 (From "Road Signs")
© Eric Tabuchi

AVENTUE LAND, 2008 (From "Road Signs")
© Eric Tabuchi

Road Signs, 2005 (From "Road Signs")
© Eric Tabuchi

Blue Sharck, 2005 (From "Road Signs")
© Eric Tabuchi

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Jaap Scheeren's 3 Roses, 9 Ravens, 12 Months

I discovered Jaap Scheeren's work a while back and meant to share it earlier, but simply forgot. While checking out the preview of the new issue of Foam Magazine (one of the most interesting contemporary photography magazines in my opinion) I was pleasantly reminded of Scheeren's strange and enchanting images. I was unable to find any real description of 3 Roses, 9 Ravens, 12 Months, however, these photographs, in all subtle wonder, transcend the need for clarification. Some work loses its charisma when reduced to a defined statement; this, I can only imagine, would be the case with these images.

You can purchase the new issue of Foam here.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Mike Reinders

Recent Columbia College graduate Mike Reinders' photographs explores the American landscape as it addresses the idea of Manifest destiny. In his statement, Reinders explains:

"The photographs describe two views of a contemporary landscape -- one is from a Romantic 19th century tradition where grandness of the land is cherished; the other confronts modern spaces that at times seem completely incapable of living up to a standard set by Western explorers.

In places that were defined by what was once called wild, the Frontier still holds what we are searching for."