The OCA are seeing the Struth exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery tomorrow; I had planned to be there but am delayed in Delhi, waiting for my book to go to press. In fact, I did feel a sense of awe over the prospect of visiting this exhibition, one in which the photographer is being represented very much as the artist rather than merely a photographer.
One can find out about Struth on the net of course. He actually studied art initially at the Dusseldorf School being taught by the now well known Gerhard Richter, who sometimes uses photography in his work. It was however the Bechers who taught him photography. Their approach is a strictly documentary one in which the detail of scenes is accurately communicated; there is something refreshing I find in this honest approach although it might be considered a bit lacklustre. The Bechers for instance mostly photographed industrial buildings.
My first impressions of the exhibition come from other OCA students as well as Gareth Dent who gives a brief account of the visit, saying ... "There can be few photographers for whom the difference between viewing images on web and seeing them printed in a gallery is so dramatic as Thomas Struth"
One student called Jim makes an interesting few points about his experience ...
• That images such as these can provoke some serious thought, way beyond the initial response of ‘I like or don’t like that’.
• You don’t always need a focal point and something to lead the eye through the picture.
• Artistic pictures can be technically excellent as well!
One can find out about Struth on the net of course. He actually studied art initially at the Dusseldorf School being taught by the now well known Gerhard Richter, who sometimes uses photography in his work. It was however the Bechers who taught him photography. Their approach is a strictly documentary one in which the detail of scenes is accurately communicated; there is something refreshing I find in this honest approach although it might be considered a bit lacklustre. The Bechers for instance mostly photographed industrial buildings.
My first impressions of the exhibition come from other OCA students as well as Gareth Dent who gives a brief account of the visit, saying ... "There can be few photographers for whom the difference between viewing images on web and seeing them printed in a gallery is so dramatic as Thomas Struth"
One student called Jim makes an interesting few points about his experience ...
• That images such as these can provoke some serious thought, way beyond the initial response of ‘I like or don’t like that’.
• You don’t always need a focal point and something to lead the eye through the picture.
• Artistic pictures can be technically excellent as well!
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