Despite my initial concerns about a lack of research material for my critical review, I have managed to source a number of publications that I hope will provide me with enough information to allow me to proceed. I don’t yet have a title as yet but my aim is to investigate where text sits in relation to photography in particular and art in general and I am particularly interested in text being presented as a main component of the artwork.
One such resource is ‘Photo text text photo; The synthesis of photography and text in contemporary art’, edited by Andreas Hapkemeyer and Peter Weiermair, 1997. This book is the official catalogue for the exhibitions entitled ‘photo text text photo’, at the MUSEION – Museum fur Moderne Kung, Bozen and the Frankfurter Kunstverein In late 1996 and early 1997 respectively. It contains the work of 32 photographers, all of whom use text in their work in one way or another. In some cases, as in Karen Knorr’s featured work, captions are used to suggest what the subjects of the photographs are thinking, whilst on others a statement accompanied the photographs adding context to the work. Sometimes the latter works for me and sometimes not, for example the text accompanying Jean Le Gac’s work is all in French, a language I don’t speak, whilst Douglas Huebler tells me that eight people were photographed exactly after they were told they had a beautiful face or a remarkable face or a special face so the resulting expression was a reaction to this. And then there are those who include text in the photograph; Hamish Fulton, whom I confess to struggling with and will reflect one more fully when I have finished reading one of his books I am working on. Also Willy Doherty who has two images in this book entitled ‘Closed circuit’ and ‘Shifting ground’ respectively and whom I think I need to explore further, Barbara Kruger, hmm, I struggle with her too, and Sherin Neshat, whose text appears on parts of her, or her subject’s bodies. I found Neshat’s work really interesting because having said I found Jean Le Gac’s text meaningless because I don’t speak French, I do appreciate the meaning of Sherin Nashat’s work, despite having no clue about the language used for the text in that. The difference is that Neshat explains her thought processes in an artists statement at the end of the book. This tells me that I don’t need to be able to read the words to get the message as long as I understand there the artist is coming from. The artists’ statements at the end of this book are incredibly useful, mostly – when written in English, or at a pinch German, which given that these exhibitions took place in Germany stands to reason. Some are the in French or Italian though so less useful to me.
One of the tutors who moderates the OCA online forums suggested text and photography had had its day but if I wanted to pursue this I should look at the work of Victor Burgin. Victor Burgin is in this book but I’m wondering why, because apart from one photograph where there are signs informing which changing room is for ladies or gents, none of the other images included have any text at all, nor are there any captions other than ‘ Olympia 1982’. This is clearly another photographer whose work I need to look at before I can make a judgement.
References:
Hapkemeyer, A. and Weiermair, P. (1996). Photo text, text photo. Zurich: Edition Stemmle.
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