More photography has been created for the gallery walls in the last decade than any other period of the medium's history. And the most prominent, and probably the most frequently used, style has been that of the deadpan aesthetic: a cool, detatched and keenly sharp type of photography. Here the reader is at the mercy of the leveling out that occurs when photographs are reproduced in a book. The monumental scale and breathtaking visual clarity that predominate when one experiences the photographic print need to be kept in mind. But what can still be seen in a glance if one looks through the images in this chapter is the seeming emotional detachment and command an the part of the photographers. The adoption of the deadpan aesthetic moves art photography outside of the hyperbolic, sentimental and subjective. These pictures may engage us with emotive subjects, but our sense of what the photographer's emotions might be is not the obvious guide to understanding the meaning of the images. The emphasis, then, is on photography as a way of mapping the extent of the forces, invisible from a single human standpoint, that govern the man-made and the natural world. Deadpan photography may be highly specific in its description of its subjects, but its seeming neutrality and tonality of vision is of epic proportions.
Oxford Tire Pile #8 Westley, California, 1999
Edward Burtynsky's photography is a prime example of what Cotton describes as the "deadpan" aesthetic.
From his artitst's statement-
Nature transformed through industry is a predominant theme in my work. I set course to intersect with a contemporary view of the great ages of man; from stone, to minerals, oil, transportation, silicon, and so on. To make these ideas visible I search for subjects that are rich in detail and scale yet open in their meaning. Recycling yards, mine tailings, quarries and refineries are all places that are outside of our normal experience, yet we partake of their output on a daily basis.
These images are meant as metaphors to the dilemma of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear. We are drawn by desire - a chance at good living, yet we are consciously or unconsciously aware that the world is suffering for our success. Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times.
Shipbreaking #5, Chittagong, Bangladesh, 2000
Shipbreaking #12 Chittagong, Bangladesh 2000
Shipbreaking #21 Chittagong, Bangladesh 2000
Shipbreaking #1 Chittagong, Bangladesh 2000
Deda Chicken Processing Plant, Dehui City, Jilin Province, 2005
Questions on Burtynsky's work-
1. After reading Burtynsky's statement and seeing some photographs, how do you think his work fits into Cotton's definition of the "deadpan" aesthetic?
2. How would you compare Burtynsky's work to a more traditonal landscape phtotographer, like Ansel Adams?
3. How do you think Burtynsky's photographs create, as he says, a "dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear."
6 comments:
Burtinsky falls under deadpan because all of the images are full of detail, crisp color, and are detached. It's like clockwork. The detail of this work is beautiful and I would love to see it in person. The attraction to these big peices of metal in dingy muddy setting occurs because they are astheticly pleasing. They're is uniformity in color and texture and yet you realize that this crap sits around everywhere, and is the reminance of all our waistfullness.
I love how Burtynsky's work is all in focus, clear, detailed and full of different tones and colors. The two photographs, Chicken Processing Plant and Oxford Tire Pile (somewhere in California), don't really seem to fit in to all the other 'Shipbreaking' pictures. I like the Chicken Processing though; they remind me of Oompa-Loompas! (except these are pink and blue instead of white and green, and they're not dealing with candy) I really liked the Shipbreaking #1. The colors in the crisp details of the waves and the sky are just beautiful. I also like what he said in his statement about us being consciously and unconsciously aware that the world is suffering for our success; I think it's very true. Even if we don't think about it, on some level- we know.
I think Burtynsky's photographs are similiar to Ansel Adams only in the fact that they could be called landscapes. Adams showed beautiful isolation and Burtynsky's photos seem to show the darker side of isolation.
My favorite is Shipbreaking#21. That image is kind of terrifying for me, gives me the creeps. The ship is just so large and the people around just look so small and insignificant in comparison.
This falls under deadpan becuase there is that emotionally disatachment. The photo is just there, and you are the one that has to determine it's meaning. It's like Ansel Adams in that it is a landscape photo, just a spoiled version of landscape due to man. It does straddle that line of repulsiveness and fization in that the photos themselves are strong in their geometeries, but at the same the the subjects are rather depressing, such as the chicken plant.
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