Cotton Chapter 3, 4, & 5

Cotton Chapter 3 - Deadpan

            With the complete lack of expression, the image focuses in on the subject. This allows the subject to completely awe the viewer. The subject is usually something magnificent or becomes magnificent when attention is drawn to it. I love the sheer mass and chaos in Gursky’s Chicago, Board of Trade II, 1999. In the mass, you cannot see the expressions but only the volume and variant colors. In his photograph, Prada I, 1996, no longer are you looking at shoes in pairs and triplets, but they start to stand for us. The shoe represents the foot that fills it and by physical linkage, represents the human race. He also has photos such as 99 cent, Pyongyang, and Shanghai, that all work upon each other. On page 83, it says “Gursky avoids the riskier strategy that most photographers follow of making different and distinguishable bodies of work.” and “a new body of work is considered inconsistent.” By doing so, photographers such as Gursky produce images that keep adding value to the rest as a growing whole.

            Ed Burtynsky’s photograph, Oil Fields #13, Taft California, 2002 is another one of my favorites. There is no expression, but the subject is awe-inspiring. The rich brown color and the feeling of infinity of oil pumps and telephone poles make me want to ride my bicycle more often. These photographs are also taken from an ominous point of view that give it a bland feel which adds to the deadpan aesthetic. It reminds me of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Seascapes.

Cotton Chapter 4 – Something and Nothing

            Something and nothing is a broad subject that covers one of my favorite topics of the presence of humanity without the physical sight of us. This can be applied to anyone and animals as well. Gabriel Orozco’s Breath on Piano, 1993 is a classic example of presence without proof. Wim Wenders’ Wall in Paris, Texas, 2001 not only shows a man made wall, but one that has been built over an existing wall with traces of human existence in the form of graffiti. This is a beautiful shot if you ask me. Not only are the grays rich in color, but emergence of what lies behind, possibly trying to get out.

            One example I believe to be both Deadpan and completely embedded in intimate life is the work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Untitled, 1991 was a work of 24 billboards across New York City with a simple photograph of a bed with white sheets and white pillows. The bed was a little messy, as if a couple just arose from it. The photograph of the bed is a secure feeling of home for most people. It is a place that you rest, make love, give birth, and possibly lay to rest in. A bed is where we spend half our lives in. In this case, this is the bed that Felix and his lover rested in until he died of AIDs. So now this extremely deadpan photograph continues a lifelong conversation with infinite personal meanings to individuals, all from a picture of a bed.

Cotton Chapter 5 – Intimate Life

            The narrative of intimate life does not always refer to the happiness and excitement of love making, but “Art photography, on the other hand, while embellishing the aesthetics of family snaps, often substitutes the emotional flipside for their expected scenarios: sadness, disputes, addiction and illness” (Cotton 138). I feel intimate photography is beautiful, but extremely difficult to work with. I do not think I could pull it off. The time and effort of having subjects intimately exposed for prolong periods of time until the shot is just right…

This also reminds me of someone’s work that I cannot remember of a couple in a car driving but with unpleasant expressions on their face. Most couples get into fights and more than likely they will fight in the car.