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Reviews |
Green in Black and White
Classic and Contemporary Photography curated by Susie Medley and Kate Maple. |
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Green in Black and White presents a diversity of representations of nature in black and white by ten historical and contemporary photographers. The main difference is that contemporary photography is more inclined to reflect issues of social consciousness, whereas historical photographers mainly used the medium for documentation. The exhibition is divided into two sections: the contemporary works are framed on the wall, and historical works such as those of William Fox Talbot, Gustave le Gray, Eugene Cuvelier and Charles Jones are presented on screen. On the subject of nature itself, a common representation is that of landscape. Both John Davies and Ingrid Pollard have used this depiction to interpret social conditions in Britain. Davies’ landscapes, such as ‘Bowling Green, Stockport, England, 1988’ ,are reminiscent of the work by American photographer Gregory Crewdson, in the sense of showing a narrative in a single image. In ‘Taff Vale Railway, Rhondda Fach 1993’, Davies has captured the transformation of the English landscape from the era of industrialization to deindustrialization. The railway is abandoned and children are playing on the old tracks. Davies writes “We are collectively responsible for shaping the landscape we occupy and in turn the landscape shapes us whether we are aware of it or not.” This concept is also shared in the project ‘Hidden Histories, Heritage Stories’ by Ingrid Pollard. The photographs were taken in Lee Valley Park which has been developed as a leisure site for nearby inhabitants. At first glance her panoramic scene looks natural and rather plain; however, as hinted by the title, it can be read on different layers. She raises the notion of naturalness. Her ‘natural’ scene, unlike the ideal landscape in conventional painting, reveals the contact and coexistence of man and nature in the houses, telegraph poles and canals. Her triptych series also confronts us with the idea of ‘naturalness’: even in the park nature is arranged by humans. The triptychs show the wardens who care for it, the tools they use and things from the park that they look after. Similarly, Stuart Franklin investigates the yearning for nature among city dwellers in China. Parks in a city satisfy the increasing human desire to be close to nature, while at the same time travel to remote areas has become a popular activity amongst the urbanites. |
Jonathan Olley has documented the Newbury bypass protest in 1996-7, which was one of the most stirring environmental protests in recent European history, as it was opposed to the road construction work which covered an area of the National Trust nature reserve. Less conventional are the methods used in the work of Angela Easterling and Sarah Moon. Easterling was inspired by Anna Atkins, the first woman photographer to adopt the techniques of cyanotype and photogram to capture the form of a plant. Her work is visually striking, and because there are no negatives each photograph is singular, and can be regarded as a true representation of nature. The work of Sarah Moon is also unique. With the use of 10x8 black and white Polaroids she creates large areas of darkness, thus giving a sense of mystery and surrealism in her photographs.
The exhibition expands one’s perception of nature through a wide range of photographic styles from vintage documentary to surrealism. The work not only explores the aesthetic of image-making, but also social and environmental issues. Wasana Sriprachya-anunt |
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Fotonet is funded by Arts
Council England |
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Eye Division