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18/3/2010

Sugary Photographs with Tricks, Poses and Effects

Different Venues, Antwerp

I hate nothing more than sugary photographs with tricks, poses and effects. So allow me to be honest and tell the truth about our age and its people. (August Sander, 1876-1964)

In the above quotation, Sander was venting his irritation at what he saw as the dominant style of photography in the early part of the 20th century. Sander critiqued that photographers seemed too concerned with pursuing the same artistic strategies as painters (such as heavy reliance on landscape imagery and Rembrandtesque lighting) rather than working with the unique features of the modern medium of photography. For Sander, subjects photographed in this manner were misleadingly transformed from their actual reality: the young farm boy became a prince and the servant girl a court lady. As a response Sander endeavoured to work with the specific characteristics of photography. Without the intervention of special effects or equipment such as filters or retouching, he sought to create images that emphasised his belief in the capacity of photography to relay truth, through documentation.

Though photography has arguably expanded its field from documenting subjects to perhaps more abstract, conceptual and altogether more subjective manifestations, the above thoughts on the nature of the medium serve as an appropriate departure point for a festival concerned with its contemporary uses. An artistic climate in which technological progression has forced photography to enter a (relatively) new phase of its development, namely the digital, the medium itself is faced with the possibility to re-evaluate its means and modes of production. Through self-critique and self-reflection it is possible for photography to do this. What is the medium-specific character of photography? Why do artists choose this medium and what forms of meaning can photography produce in a contemporary art context?

'Sugary Photographs with Tricks, Poses and Effects' will attempt to raise and explore some of these questions through the bringing together of over 50 international artists and artworks across 8 different locations and through the facilitation of debate surrounding contemporary photography and its uses and contexts.

Image: Gian-Reto Gredig & Goran Galic, “Photographers in Conflict”, Instalatiezicht, Kunsthaus Glarus (CH), 2007 @ FoMu Galerie

Press & Communication
Charlotte Op de Beeck +32 476 284247 charlotte@timetomeet.org

Persconference: 19.03.10, 11am, FotoMuseum
Official opening: 19.03.10, 5-7pm, FotoMuseum
Openings other locations: 19.03.10, 7-10pm
Symposium: 21.03.10, 1-6pm, FotoMuseum
Filmprogramma: 24.03.10 + 31.03.10, 9pm, Novylon
Artist talks: 01.04.10, 8pm, NICC


FotoMuseum, Waalsekaai 47, 2000 Antwerp
Novylon, Zendelingenstraat 38A, 2140 Borgerhout
NICC, Tulpstraat 79, 2060 Antwerp
Atelier SolarShop, Dambruggestraat 48, 2060 Antwerp
SECONDroom, Ernest van Dijckkaai 4, 2000 Antwerp
Van Geertstraat 81, Van Geertstraat 81, 2140 Borgerhout
DepotDam, Lange Lobroekstraat 210, 2060 Antwerp
Madam Fortuna, Sergeyselsstraat 20, 2140 Borgerhout

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