Peggy Ann Kusnerz. Beyond Art.

Kusnerz, Peggy Ann: Beyond Art. In: (ed) Elkins, James. Photography Theory. Routledge. 2007.  (pp216-218). From the 'Assessments' section.

Kusnerz notes that 'there is a certain irony in needing to note that photography is more than art.' (p216), and goes on to mention numerous localities, institutions and media (including literature) that need to be incorporated in studies of photography.

In respect to The Art Seminar, Kusnerz also notes the lack of actual photographs mentioned in the discussion.

David Friend. Watching the World Change (7).

Friend, David. Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind 9/11. I.B. Tauris. 2006. London / New York.

 Just as everyone's a critic in the age of the blog - Everyman is now a cameraman. And it has ever been thus. (p222)

Friend goes on to quote from Stieglitz (1899) discussing the simplicity of producing photographs as well as the interest they engender, '... even extremely poor ones.'

Slemmons makes the same points, again referencing Stieglitz, in a recent interview. See the post Rod Slemmons.Interview in Proximity Magazine (#5) for more on this.

Nancy Shawcross. Seeing is believing: An Afterforward on Photography.

Shawcross, Nancy. Seeing is believing: An Afterforward on Photography. In: (ed) Elkins, James. Photography Theory. Routledge. 2007.  (pp208-210). From the 'Assessments' section.

The term 'community of images' to incorporate all visual images. (p208)

Failure to acknowledge Barthes's conclusion that the photographic punctum is time truncates his analysis, thereby misrepresenting it. (pp209-210)

This reconfiguring, or expanding of the term 'punctum' takes place in the second half of the book.

Noting the disregard Barthes has for trick photography, Shawcross goes on to note:

... what, if anything, constitutes "trick" photography in a digital environment? (p210)

Shawcross also wrote the excellent Writing the Image After Roland Barthes (1997).

Peter Norman (or: the importance of context).

So I decided to look up the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute photograph. I will not reproduce it here. I am sure you will know which image I am referring to: John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the podium, receiving medals, fists raised, heads bowed: 'one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympic Games.' And then a white man on the left, looking ahead, hands by his side. Seemingly apart - oblivious. A man called Peter Norman.

That both Carlos and Smith were booed at the time, and their careers damaged by this show of defiance and solidarity is well known. Less well known (to me at least) is the involvement of Norman; his visible sympathy (wearing the Olympic Project for Human Rights badge, along with Carlos and Smith) and the detrimental affects this had on his career also. 

Norman, who was sympathetic to his competitors' protest, was reprimanded by his country's Olympic authorities and ostracized by the Australian media. He was not picked for the 1972 Summer Olympics, despite finishing third in his trials. He kept running, but contracted gangrene in 1985 after tearing his Achilles tendon, which nearly led to his leg being amputated. Depression and heavy drinking followed. He suffered a heart attack and died on October 3, 2006. Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute. Last modified: 14/11/2009. The previous qutation is also taken from this URL).

Now, of course, the photograph - what is shown in the photograph, the actions of the individuals - is heralded as a great moment in history. And it is. Yet without locating such events contemporaneously, this importance cannot be understood. Only within this context - and a wider context concerning 1968 (which was not that long ago...) - can it be understood, can we learn, for instance, how aghast Time magazine was at such actions (Daily Mail anyone...)

And only through seeking out such context can I learn about that man, the man who seems in the photograph to be so remote from the event taking place: a man called Peter Norman.

Michael Leja. Index Redux.

Leja, Michael. Index Redux. In: (ed) Elkins, James. Photography Theory. Routledge. 2007.  (pp206-207). From the 'Assessments' section.

Leja notes the importance - and problems - members of The Art Seminar place on notions of the index. Leja indicates a preference for notions of the indexical, but also for a more prominent incorporation of both icon and symbol. Further:

Photography theory would benifit from treating photography as less sui generis and more deeply implicated in the semiotics of larger visual traditions. (p207)

This quote I find interesting because - while privledging notions of the index (and acknowledging its expansiveness: hair, plaster mask) - Leja seeks to lessen the importance of the the index as specifically photographic.

Also of interest is Leja's comment that notions of the index in relation to photography gained traction in the 1970s '... as part of a rationale for minimal and process art, in which photography became absorbed...' (p207).

So, the relevance of notions of the indexical to conceptual art, a privileging of the index, as well as icon and symbol, and the incorporation of theories of photography with a broader 'the community of images' - which I will return to in a later post.

sui generis:

... a Latin expression, literally meaning of its own kind/genus or unique in its characteristics. The expression is often used in analytic philosophy to indicate an idea, an entity, or a reality which cannot be included in a wider concept.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_generis (last modified: 13/11/2009).

Pumphouse Gallery. Shake It: An Instant History of the Polaroid.

Mentioned at http://www.savepolaroid.com/, the current exhibition at the Pumphouse gallery has some interesting fringe events to coincide with its Shake It: An Instant History of the Polaroid exhibition, including a screening of Memento.

06/10/2009 - 13/12/2009. Battersea Park, London, SW11 4NJ. http://www.pumphousegallery.org.uk/.

The invention of photography (1).

The first of a new series of work, the invention of photography, is available as a PDF download: print (on photographic paper if possible) / exhibit.

Random for now (or: a few excellent links) 2.

The following links lead to sites that are both entertaining and thought provoking, and which I visit often. You might that you have come across them before - in which case click again - there might be something new. If not, sit back, relax, have a great morning/afternoon/evening/coffee-fueled early hours of stimulation!   

http://www.quadrantgrove.net/ - poetic photography, photographic poetry. Lots of very interesting work here. A joy to come across.

http://www.alicedison.com/ - Infringement is a very interesting body of work. It reminds me of some recent Polaroid work I did in Melbourne, as well as the work paramatta! paramatta!

http://www.annabelledalby.co.uk/ - some of the images here remind me of screen-grabs... Lots of fasciniating work to look through.

http://www.meggangould.net - the verso project is situated beyond the photographic (the material turn, anyone?). I mention it here as I have explored similar themes in some of my work collected here.

http://www.clarestrand.co.uk/ - incredible work here, including use of the found image.

http://www.ralfgrossek.de/ - beyond the actual photography - which is good - what I find interesting is the free availability of pdfs of coherent bodies of work as a means of projecting the work beyond the image on the screen - an issue addressed here through the download section.

http://schmid.wordpress.com/ - in common with the link above, I find the approach to publishing of fascinating. The work is, of course, also excellent.

http://www.epassportphoto.com/ -

ePassportPhoto.com is the Internet passport photo booth, empowering people around the world to make free and valid passport photos. We put an end to the passport photo rip-off - join our revolution today by following 3 simple steps for making free passport photos!

Does what is says on the tin.

http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/ -

Information and discussion on all aspects of British photographic history ranging from exhibitions and museum news, publications, and jobs...

Update on 16 11 2009 by S. Cousin

If themes could ascribed to some of the links above it would be about alternative distribution paractises: print on demand and PDF; and the use of found images. So the recent post at http://5b4.blogspot.com/ was a nice surprise:  In This Dark Wood by Elisabeth Tonnard, concerning a print a print on demand book containing found images.
See: http://5b4.blogspot.com/2009/11/in-this-dark-wood-by-elisabeth-tonnard.html (14/11/2009) for the specific post.

And of course, this led me to the excellent http://elisabethtonnard.com/ (which reminds me of the work of Joachim Schmid, linked to above).

And if you need something to listen to while you browse, may I recommend: http://undergroundspiritualgame.wordpress.com/ and http://www.the-adventures-of-loki.org/.

So, a feast of links to explore, to to take through the week - and further.

Robert Verkaik. Britain's Abu Ghraib: Did Britain collude with US in abuse of Iraqis?

Verkaik, Robert . Britain's Abu Ghraib: Did Britain collude with US in abuse of Iraqis? The Independent. 13/11/2009.
Available online at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britains-abu-ghraib-did-britain-collude-with-us-in-abuse-of-iraqis-1820545.html.

Claims that British soldiers recreated the torture conditions of Abu Ghraib to commit the sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi civilians are being investigated by the Ministry of Defence.

It goes on to say:

In one of the most disturbing cases, Nassir Ghulaim, a young Iraqi, says his torture was based on the photographs taken from Abu Ghraib.

The article ends with the testimony of Nassir Ghulaim, 24 ('They made us pile up like at Abu Ghraib') and Hashim Khinyab, 35 '(A soldier exposed herself in front of me').

What photographs might come to light from this, I wonder? Photographs of abuse recreating photographs of abuse...?

Also see a recent post at http://prisonphotography.wordpress.com: Redacting Violence: The Photo-Manipulations of Josh Azzarella on the use of the Abu Ghraib photographs as a means of investigating and highlighting such abuse '... using photo-manipulation as the tactic and purpose for his work.' (http://prisonphotography.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/redacting-violence-the-photo-manipulations-of-josh-azzarella/. 05/11/2009).

Update on 16 11 2009 by S. Cousin

http://prisonphotography.wordpress.com/ has a more in depth and interesting look at this issue in the post British Army Accused of Sexual Abuse of Detainees in Iraq, in which Peter concludes:

Personally, I have no desire to see these images. I sympathise with arguments to say that only through release of such images can the world know the full extent of what happened, but I also doubt what we can actually and accurately “know” from photographs that we wouldn’t otherwise learn through full disclosure and description of events.
(http://prisonphotography.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/british-army-accused-of-sexual-abuse-of-detainees-in-iraq/ (15/11/2009).

Fuck the right (after-study 28).

fuck the right (no right turn). (after-study 28).

For context see: fuck the right (after-studies).