ANALYZING PHOTOGRAPHY : THROUGH THOMAS STRUTH

 

What’s behind a photography ?

Why do we worship photography ?

What has to be seen through a photograph ?

 

Thomas STRUTH

Let’s take Thomas STRUTH, now exposing at MARIAN GOODMAN GALLERY, in PARIS.

What is to be seen objectively in this photograph :

Thomas STRUTH has taken this picture in the Shinju-ku neighbourhood in Tokyo, in 1986.

German Thomas STRUTH comes from the BECHER German school where many photographers went, like Candida HÖFER ( see following post ), where  “another” objectivity was taught.

In the 80’s, Japan  was economically triumphant and fascinated  old Europe, even more the declining Germany  not yet unified ( the Berlin wall dates only from 1989 , remember, you, young folks.)

 

 

What does the photographer want us to see, or read :

 

Your point of departure has to be from what you feel when looking at the art work and what impression it gives you ?

 

Thomas STRUTH wants us to see objectively the implacable  inhumanity of modernism. You asked for it ! There’s the answer, objectively !

 

Now to the MEANING :

 

You, the spectator has now to answer  a few damn relevant questions, like it or not :

 

- Is the subject  real or imaginary ?

- Is there any particular scenery put in in the picture ?

- Is there too much of the subject or does it evoke absence ?

- Is the subject political ?

- Is there any religious reference to the subject ?

- Is it real or made up ?

- Do you see it as the reproduction of reality or is it the artist’s own view ?

- Has  the photograph gone through any special photographic retouching ?

- Any artistic or cultural influence in the subject or the way the subject is treated ?

- Is there any irony from the artist’s point of view ?

- Is there any search for beauty in the photograph ?

Well, if you have been able to answer all those questions, you’re ready for PARIS PHOTO from November 10th, 2011 !!!!!!!

See you then !

 

Now to the answers :

Not a soul in sight, total absence of any human being, when the space is huge and when the windows are to be counted by the thousands.

And below ground, the  dark  and horizontal universe where only cars tell of a human activity and presence while above, the vertical universe is overwhelming, using up a 5th of the entire photograph.

And so many more questions are yet to be answered :

- How does your eye circulate in the picture ?

- Are there any links : characters/characters, photographer/character ?

- At which  distance does the photographer stand from the characters ?

- Where does the light come from ?

- Are there any significant details  ?

- Is there any movement ?

 

 

Thomas STRUTH chose black and white , for the strictness and purity of the lines, he has been using a large canvas to be able to insert lots of details.

 

For more on the subject please go to :

http://www.galerie-photo.com/comment-analyser-une-photographie.html

 

See the latest works from Thomas STRUTH at the MARIAN GOODMAN GALLERY

You’ll be surprised as it has nothing to do with the pictures above.

79, rue du Temple

PARIS – 75003

http://www.mariangoodman.com

CANDIDA HOFER : Not a Bloke in Sight; as Usual !

 

Wherever artist Candida HÖFER goes, not a soul in sight.

Either at the LOUVRE in 2006, at the OPERA DE PARIS in 2006, or in the GALERIE DES GLACES in Versailles, she managed to have it all for herself, the damn girl !

 

With Candida, one has the luxury to walk into those empty places when usually those are wormy with human beings.

 

Silent confrontation , a bit like when you take a shell to your ear and listen to that special murmur. It takes you in. Nobody knows where exactly, but somewhere of your own; it is your own thinking and your own feelings coming into the game. Noone to bother you.

Hell, no !

 

Metropolitan Opera in New York, 2005.

 

Detail and perspective : hard to get it all in the same photograph; well, Candida HÖFER does it.

 

Musée du Louvre

 

Ever seen it devoid of any soul ? Never had that luck; had to share the premises with about a thousand sheep like myself .

 

2006 Paleis voor Schone Kunsten I

 

It’s as much about Interior Design than Art. Or “ABSENT ARCHITECTURE” ?

For you to judge at the GALERIE YVON LAMBERT, one of the best on Paris scene.

108, rue Vieille du Temple

Paris – 75004

http://www.yvon-lambert.com

 

PS : If you feel too lonely, go and see my post on Andreas GURSKY for a little sheep herd of real people and stuff. Loads of it !!!!!

A BIRD’S SONG WITH KAREN KNORR AT THE GALERIE DES FILLES DU CALVAIRE

 

“ Transmigrations India Song et Villa Savoye “ by Karen KNORR : long title for a few birds lost in the bright coloured Indian palaces. Stop being ironic Fidji.

I can’t be as I do highly admire her work, be it in the chateaux de la Loire or in London.

We, Parisians, are lucky enough to be able to see her newest trends in her work at the Galerie des Filles du Calvaire till November 19th, 2011.

 

Karen KNORR made also some photographs at the Musée de la Chasse.

 

Best said in Karen KNORR own words from her website :

"Karen Knorr celebrates the rich visual culture, the foundation myths and stories of northern India, focusing on Rajasthan and using sacred and secular sites to consider caste, femininity and its relationship to the animal world."......

Animals photographed in sanctuaries, zoos and cities inhabit palaces, mausoleums and holy sites, interrogating Indian cultural heritage and rigid hierarchies.  Cranes, zebus, langurs, tigers and elephants mutate from princely pets to avatars of past feminine historic characters, blurring boundaries between reality and illusion and reinventing the Panchatantra for the 21st century."

 

All her animals evoke human traits, like in Les Fables de la Fontaine : stuck up, slouchy, fox like.

 

Karen KNORR was born in 1954, brought up in Porto Rico ( would her love of colour come from there ? All the small cobbled streets of San Juan in Porto Rico are all fringed with lovely brightly coloured houses.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talking about “birds” ? What kind of bird is that ?

 

All pictures Karen KNORR copyright.

http://www.fillesducalvaire.com

http://www.karenknorr.com/

GALERIE DES FILLES DU CALVAIRE

17, rue des Filles du Calvaire

Paris- 75003

Till November 19th, 2011.

ESCAPADE TO BRUSSELS : HOTEL ODETTE EN VILLE

HOTEL NEWS /  HOTEL ODETTE EN VILLE in BRUSSELS :

Right next to the best shopping strip on Avenue Louise ( handy for your totes ) and settled in the quiet atmosphere of La Cambre woodlands , Hôtel ODETTE will welcome you with its black and white cozy comfort.

Behind this venture, an unusual and kind story : Odette used to own a small bistrot and had developped a liking for a young boy who used to play outside her place and to whom she extorted the promise to take up her own house when she would die. It was more of a joke then a serious pledge !

Didier THIRY , the small boy , years later, when hearing about her death at the age of 85, remembered his promise and , even tough he was leading a successfull life in London with his Interior Decorator ally and wife Alisa, bought  up the place and transformed it into a small hotel.

What he didn't expect was for his small hotel to become an "it-place" and he had so much success that he decided to drop the same good seeds  in Brussels.

Voilà !

Hôtel ODETTE EN VILLE :






From the lobby to the rooms, the ame mat black adorned with touches of light colours, with the silver of frames.




Black velvets, grey satin, touches of lilacs.


















From the amount of photos shown, you can guess I like the place. So will you !


Hôtel ODETTE en VILLE
25 rue du Châtelain
1050 BRUSSELS
+ 32 (0) 2 640 26 26

http://www.chez-odette.com/

FAN OF GREYS

 

 

 

Pigeon coloured clouds with thunder hues are always a beauty when thick and dense, but to be honoust I prefer greys in the home.

 

 

 

 

 

Greys mix well with whites, silver, pinks, all the aqua spectre  of  blues, lilacs, purples and blacks.

 

Greys can play “country” , or walk on its high heel ultra sophisticated look,  or subtle down to a very zen and contemporary cool attitude, like all Christian LIAIGRE’s furniture and Interior Decoration.

 

Grey can play the industrial part in an urban plan.

 

And for pure and daring style, you can’t go further than this.

 

And when baroque meets design, this is how it may look.

The subject of greys is illimited so I’ll take the permission to keep a few reflections for next time around. I’ll have to fix a GRAY drink for the occasion !

By the way, all pictures from outstanding and illimited PINTEREST.

A GOOD DOSE OF IRONY FOR A FIT BODY !

I should never do that to you, my friends after all the good nonsense I try to put into your nut heads, Darlings, but sometimes the urge to have some stupid fun is overwhelming ! So, there you have it.

Totally human , after all. Had a doubt ?


" Whenever I feel like exercise, I lie down until the feeling passes." 

Robert M. Hutchins







" My idea of exercise is a good brisk sit. "

 Phyllis Diller




" I consider exercise vulgar. It makes people smell. "
 
Alec Yuill Thornton
 
 




" People say that losing weight is no walk in the park. When I hear that I think, yeah, that's the problem. "

Chris Adams





I hope you'll forgive me ! Have a great week-end !

A LITTLE WISDOM NEVER HURTS

The best six doctors anywhere

And no one can deny it


Are sunshine, water, rest, and air

Exercise and diet.


These six will gladly you attend


If only you are willing


Your mind they'll ease


Your will they'll mend

And charge you not a shilling.

~Nursery rhyme quoted by Wayne Fields, What the River Knows, 1990

THE BEST OF LIFE : START NOW !

 

 

It’ll get you there !

 

LIVE FOR GREATNESS : DUBAI / LIVE FOR FREEDOM : LIU XIA

 

 

- Dubai and its bling-bling utter fancy luxury photographed by Catalan photographer Aleix PLADEMUNT at the Galerie Olivier WALTMAN : “Dubailand” is nothing more than an ode to the mirages offered by Star-Dubai .

But DUBAI seen with its inacurracies like their ski slopes, set up photographs.

 

 

 

 

From November 3rd till the 3Oth, 2011.

http://www.galeriewaltman.com

 

 

- Want to go for the extreme ?

'” LA FORCE SILENCIEUSE DE LIU XIA”

 

 

 

LIU XIA : Chinese painter, poet and photographer, and … wife of Peace Nobel Prize LIU XIABO, condemned to 11 years in prison for guess what ? yes, as always, a few damn words and political actions, peaceful acts though.

Since 2009, LIU XIA sees her husband only through the gentle and greeting bars of his prison and she is locked up in her own house in China.

This is the very FIRST TIME her works are being publicly shown . Black and White photographs of rag dolls she calls her “ mean babies”. These photographs come with poems probably to the attention of her husband and for freedom.

 

 

LIU XIA at

Salle des Fougères – Grand-Place

92100- BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT

Till November 9th, 2011.

What’s Up Larry ?

 

What ‘s up at the GAGOSIAN GALLERY PARIS  ?

 

Now that the FIAC has closed its doors, back to the Gallery.

 

- RAUSCHENBERG : paintings and sculpture from the man who used to say : “To paint, one can do with a pair of socks as well as with wood, nails , oil or fabric.” Well, if it’s as easy as that, I might be good at it myself.

 

Till November 12th, 2011.

 

- JOSEPH BEUYS : Performer, sculptor, painter, theorician,, Joseph BEUYS was a real star when alive, not only because he was a pilot for the Luftwaffe who made it through a plane crash by having his entire body covered with grease, lying under heavy felt blankets and being fed with honey by the Tatars who thus, saved his life.

 

Felt, grease and copper became one of his trademarks in his work. He then never went out without wearing a felt hat, like Andy WARHOL his blond mane.

Joseph BEUYS couldn’t help creating an “event” every time he stepped outside , a little exageration on my part, but that’s almost true ! See his performance “I like America and America likes me” : he spent 3 days living with a wild coyote under  his heavy felt blankets. Political gesture in favor of the Amerindians and against Vietnam.

 

- ANDREAS GURSKY : one of the “more-than-a-million dollar photographers , followed by Cindy SHERMAN and Richard PRINCE, ( in 2010, his “PYONGYANG IV” went for 1,8 million dollars, told you, guys.), German Andreas GURSKY  is  “the” photographer of our society with our consumerism tightly tied ; see his supermarkets, skyscrapers, Wall Streets and other Madonna’s concerts : humongous crowds so realistically depicted, well, let’s put it this way, his mega big canvases tend to make quite an impact too.

“ 99 cents “

 

See “ Ocean I-V ” in his Bigger than Life serie, you’ll quickly understand what I’m talking about.

 

 

GAGOSIAN GALLERY PARIS

4, rue de Ponthieu,

PARIS - 75008

http://www.gagosian.com

ODE TO AUTUMN–John KEATS

 

 

 

 

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness !

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with me how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o’erbrimmed their clammy cells.

 

 

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store ?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,

Drowsed with the fumes of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twinned flowers;

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cider-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

 

 

Where are the songs of Spring ? Ay, where are they ?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too?

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft

The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

 

by JOHN KEATS

 

WHAT DO I REALLY WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU : SO MUCH ? Bloody Hell, Yes ! That’s exactly IT : TO SHARE.

 

Out of the blue : what is it that I really want to share with you, in other words, why this blog ? I guess every blogger wonders.

In fact, at one point or another, you have to slide down the mask and go uncovered.

You do have to reveal who you are or at least more about you, as you share so much on a blog.

 

So I might as well start now to unveil a bit more ! It’s 11pm, I’m in a warm and comfortable cottage in the Dordogne area in France, the clock is ticking the hours with calm, my glass is a third full with an old rhum from Martinique , special mention to RHUM CLEMENT, the best in this world, hard to get, but waow, sends you miles away … with taste !

 

I’m pretty sure there might be a mouse or 2 hanging around and ready to cause havoc as soon as we’ll get to our bedrooms, but for the moment, all is calm on that front. No wind in the trees tonight ( and believe me, the trees are so old and tall you freak out when the wind starts blowing and you crave to be back in your comfortable and secure building in Paris !), no storm ahead ( we’re middle of October so, you’re safe from that hell ), the fire is lightly shrieking from times to times depending on which timber it attacks, chestnut or oak , chestnut darts with dashes of sudden explosion when oak just dies of peaceful and elegant noiseless death.

So back to truth , so, back to ME !!!!

 

In my late forties, ( come on, stop playing the cougar, you see, it doesn’t bring any luck, see Demi with Ashton, sad as hell ) , living in one of the best cities in the world, need I say more or do I let you have a guess ?

Let’s face it , it can only be :

- Rio

- Paris

- London

- New York

- Grozny ( what a bad joke !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

Enjoying every minute of life, be it while heavely sweating when feeling obliged to go for some sports, ( told you, I’m in my late forties so can’t just sit there slouching , nor can you, Honey, whatever your age Babe !!!), or discovering with wide eyes full of admiration the new works at this years FIAC, or having my mouthful with scrumptious food at the latest restaurant in town, or setting my high heels through the door of a new boutique that I feel to be the only endeavourer to discover, a real digger of new trends !! Cut the bullshit, Fidji, you work full time, right now you’re spending your time  between London and Paris so how could you do it in the first place, so cut it out and be honest ! ( I hate talking to myself… sounds so silly )

 

So yes, true, I am actually navigating between London and Paris, but that’s even better to feel the joy of living in such a city as Paris,not that I don’t like London but it does put everything into perspective and one sees cities with their differences.  and it gives me the urge to share it with my fellow bloggers, followers and friends.

 

SHARING is in fact one of the best feelings on this earth, and there are so may ways to do it. Anonymous ways, one-to–one ways, one-to-many ways : YOUR way will always be the BEST.

Because to be YOU is the BEST.

But to be you means a lot and to me too !!!!!!!!!!!

So I do love to have a little bit of everything in life :

 

1/ Start the day early, with a mug of coffee on a small leather tray, slouching ( already ? , that’s early for that Hon ! Well, told you I was going to be truthful ! So, bear it )on my sofa  ( the best in town , honest to God !), opening up my laptop to discover the new posts my fellow bloggers from around the world have sent over those international waves, and ready to take in the new quotes Darling BITS OF TRUTH will deliver, take a few lessons from a Be Fit blog so that it might prevail me from sitting there until the last minute !

2/ Now that I have read all that “ Reason” , I have to flee my sofa, and get ready to do a few hand mills or a few squats so that I don’t look ridiculous and … and feel bad all day long because of what I write in the meantime on my blog “ Do that and that, and blablabla !)

3/ Going through a few fellow blogs  early morning every day is one of the best pleasures of daily life : it brings happiness, it is like talking to friends, taking care of friends. Getting in touch, no matter where you are or what you are. Marvelous feeling.

Precious feeling; not to be wasted, but to be highly cherished.

4/ Having a blog, means wanting to share, and the more you share, the more you want to share MORE !!!!!!!!!! Dah !!!!!!!!!!!! True !!

It just becomes impossible NOT TO share a new piece of information you find, or a fantastic picture your eyes come upon, a new pair of stilettos twinkling from the window at your purse, or  the latest exhibit which sends pure and strong emotions through your whole body and soul; how can you just keep it in ? Impossible ! 

SO, TO SHARE  !

THIS IS THE TRUE PURPOSE OF A BLOG.

Waow, I’ve never ever written something so serious, is that OK Doc ?

WORK YOUR HEART OUT BUNNY !

 

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious. "

~ Vince Lombardi

 

Sunday morning in Paris, 8.46 am to be precise.

Weather : about to be beautiful.

Get your sneakers on Bunny and HIT IT !

I’m sure you DO have a park nearby, or lovely streets or even a beach ( ugh !), hills, a road, a mountain, so be honest, it is just IMPOSSIBLE not to join in for a good cause, the BEST : YOU !

You’ll take that precious time to reflect, to plan an interesting new week, to thank whoever you want to for such a life, for such friends you have, for such beauty all around.

 

ENJOY !

PREP UP YOUR HOME WITH A FEW BUCKS OR IDEAS

With a few bottles and old photographs, and a mantelpiece, new ideas, and cheap one at that, for an aqua atmosphere

Stack all your coloured candles on a large round tray for ethnic style you bet !

New way for displaying your magazines, shabby chic style

Go all white for  zen style

Tear out the wall paper for Shabby Chic Grand Style !

I wonder if Interior Decorators would agree with me !!! Hope noone reads me !