I can recall spending primary school art lessons hunched
over, drawing imaginary lines of telegraph poles, railway lines and valleys
with snaking rivers, all in the name of learning that valuable skill for
realistic drawing : perspective. When I saw Stanley Kubrick's photographic
exhibition by chance in Milan last year, I felt he had never forgotten those
school lessons on perspective. In his early work on travelling circus
performers and the Irish immigrant population in New York City, his camera seems
at the whim of his subject: grubby boys stand scowling, while gymnasts twirl
and pose in a continuation of their performance. However in his later work,
focused on travels in southern Italy and around the student population of
Columbia University, he molds his subjects into position. They become shapes
that fit into invisible diagrams. The photos of the line of
fishermen particularly reminded me of the telegraph poles; rope passing through
hand to hand down a seemingly endless line. Then there is the Italian
series, the man looming large and dominant in the
foreground of every shot, a tiny espresso cup adding a comical edge. The woman
remains subordinate in the far hintergrund, passive and small.
My favourite by far is the group under the cross, because it shows the power of
the photographer to craft a vision that was never really there. An innocent
sightseeing party become almost demonic in this Wickerman-esque tableau; the
looming heavy cross, the dramatic wisp of cloud or smoke, the ambiguous
expressions. Again, it is a question of perspective. Taken from above, or level
with the subjects, it would never have the same effect.
The camera's power to enhance, enlarge or distort
fascinates me. Fashion bloggers, many of whom are also their own photographers,
have a huge amount of control over their image and how they can manipulate it.
Over time, we build up a projection of ourselves through the camera lens - the
most dishonest and untrustworthy of
eyes. What perspective are
you looking at?
Roz of Clothes, Cameras and Coffee wrote an interesting piece about the power of the photographer to craft an image in their favour on her blog this week. Read it here.
All pictures scanned from the book to accompany the exhibition
