Depth Of Field (DOF)
dal 18/11/2011 al 23/12/2011
Segnalato da
18/11/2011
Depth Of Field (DOF)
Stieglitz19, Antwerp
Contemporary Belgian photography. In the concept of this exhibition, there is a dialectical connection between the sharp and the blurb image, between the fading and the extreme sharp image. One does not exist without the other. The differences in the strategy used by the different photographers provokes different concepts in esthetical and ethical judgement.
Works of Bert Danckaert, Lara Gasparotto, Francois Goffin, Jimmy Kets, Charlotte Lybeer and Arno Roncada.
The exposition “Depth of Field” (DOF) shows art photographers who work at the border, who are investigating the different layers of photography as we presently know it. In a sense, they describe the context how the world presents itself toward them.
Depth of Field symbolises in this case the control over the parts of the images in focus or not in focus, a concept which is of great importance in their artistic work. Traditionally, Depth of Field is a concept of confusion amongst photographers. To fade the object or not, that is the question. To focus to try to make the world more dramatic, is to hunt with an eagle eye after the subject that is of real importance, or not. In this perspective, the relation between photography and reality is sometimes paradoxical. This is the ultimate challenge for the photographers on display in this show: Arno Roncada, Bert Danckaert, Charlotte Lybeer, Elke Boon, Francois Goffin, Jimmy Kets and Lara Gasparotto.
For these artists, the real issue is not any more about the photographic surfaces, but about the spaces that relate to eachother. Photography does not exist independantly anu more, it is an aspect of a new world with a more complex virtual structure. This exhibition shows us an actual overview of this new sensation. In the concept of this exhibition, there is a dialectical connection between the sharp and the blurb image, between the fading and the extreme sharp image. One does not exist without the other. The differences in the strategy used by the different photographers provokes different concepts in esthetical and ethical judgement.
If we look at the historical debate between pictoralism (Leonard Misonne) and straight photography (Alfred Stieglitz), we can determine that the works on display of these young photographers demonstrate us 2 objects: to stimulate a poetical imagination and to create a space for new interpretation. On the other hand, their work supports autonomous photography that symbolises freedom, regeneration and organised arnarchy. Their pictures amaze us by their unconventional way of workng and stimulate our imagination.
The photographers are real innovators , fort hem photography is a tool to show their experience and philosophy about life in general, in a sense as their colleague painters Michael Borremans and Luc Tuymans do it in painting. The medium photography contributes to the re-birth of the photographer as a painter-photographer. The battle between an old profession and a 172-year old medium is over. The photographer does not undergoes the world, but conquers it with a new gaze and it’s Depth of Field. And this is extremely inspiring to experience.
Image: Bert Danckaert, New York
Depth of Field: Antwerp - Beijing
3 December 2011 - 6 January 2012
3 Shadows Photography Art Center Beijing - China
Opening saturday 19 november, 4 pm
Stieglitz19
Klapdorp 2 - 2000 Antwerpen Belgium
Hours: Fri 16-18, Sat/sun 14-18