‘Square Pegs’ @ The Photographers’ Wall
Date(s)
16th September 2014 - 1st December 2014
Location
Library of Birmingham, Birmingham
Exhibition open daily on the Mezzanine Level of Library of Birmingham
“Square Pegs” is an exhibition about not quite fitting in. About these people who use photography to show more than just the world around us. Moreover, they use the square, a format that’s a bit awkward and that doesn’t always mix with today’s image viewing media (TVs, computer monitors, phones or camera displays).
Contemporary photography has recently been distancing itself from the faithful representation of reality by incorporating elements of chance or fiction in its narrative. Artists rediscover the notion of accident and apply it to the most accurate media created. They are caught in the same issues painters had to deal with when photography just started, the relevance of -perfect- figuration on a canvas, when a photograph can offer near excellent representation.
Now that the ins and outs of the medium are understood, now that we know how an image works, what is the point in carrying on the same old ways? How can we go further than photography? This trend is creeping up through Instagram filters, toy camera photography, manipulation of the subject or the actual print, collages and many other techniques. It is epitomised by the blatant interest the new generation of photographers for defects, errors, randomisation and lack of focus. By the re-appropriation of what used to make painting important as a medium. Why is it that kids, who now have incredibly sophisticated cameras on their phones, destroy the images by applying filters, if it isn’t to fight ubiquitous perfection?
Image credit: Emmanuelle Brisson
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