Dedication

I would like to dedicate this entire body of work, "The Photograph as Contemporary Art" to my dearest friend who passed away on Wednesday 21st April 2010, I love you and will never forget you, thank you for always believing in me.

Déjà vu

This weekend I took a trip down to Southend on Sea, like so many others, as the English Summer had arrived!  As my partner and I parked up our Royal Enfield with the other Motorbikes, what became immediately apparent was the sense of déjà vu. As we looked around the seafront, at the fish and chip shops, the penny arcades and the slow burning skins I realised what is was. Martin Parr!

Everything we looked at resembled a photograph like that of Martin Parr’s. From the fish and chip containers left on the beach, to the crying children, to tea and cakes left by pensioners, it was as if we were viewing an exhibition rather than a place. What amazed me and still does, is that places like this prove the power of photography.

As more and more images are taken, published, exhibited and viewed on the web, our environment becomes an ever-developing collage of imagery. Our memories are based upon images rather than experiences. Once we visit those places, we are unable to see past what our memory recalls, those published pictures. What also becomes apparent is the inability to take a new picture, one where you aren’t just producing another Martin Parr.  

Above picture copyright Melinda Gibson 2010.

The Digital Gauge

I found this article in the Guardian today and it is perfect research material for my new project. Jonathan Jones talks about our digital library and the constraints and benefits brought about through this new technology,

“What's more worrying is the lack of correlation between the immense online archive of art and the even more immense reality. Because so many works can be found online, there's a danger of forgetting how many cannot (not to mention the inadequacy of a picture on your screen compared with the real thing).”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2010/apr/12/google-gauge-great-art

More Textual Additions

Above are some more finalised Photomontages, from the series "The Photograph as Contemporary Art". I am still creating, so I will post some of the new photomontages this week, so watch this space.

All works copyright Melinda Gibson 2009-2010.

Abigail Reynolds

The above image is titled, “Piccadilly Circus 1951 / 1973, 2008”and is by the artist Abigail Reynolds who is represented by Seventeen Gallery. She has a new body of work showing at Seventeen, which opens on Wednesday 7th April 2010.

I really love Reynolds works as she uses vintage bookplates and creates these wonderfully three dimensional photographic collages that are beautifully put together. The work plays with the idea of the photographic object ensuring that the audience has feel pleasure when viewing, as the perspectives change when looking at the pieces.

The cuts, slices and folds in the plates, for me, resemble a flock of birds flying up through Piccadilly Circus, or a mass of insects burrowing under the page. I think they are fantastic and I will definitely be at the opening to see the work.

Work above copyright Abigail Reynolds.

http://www.abigailreynolds.com/