N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A,
a blog about photography by Sofia Silva
“[…] What I am calling “vulgar appropriationism” is this: the way in which pop/commercial media today often appropriate formal structures from more-or-less “high art,” or even avant-garde art, of the 20th century, and use them in ways that negates the aesthetic or conceptual radicality of those structures. […] Another example is Gaspar Noë’s recent video…
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photo caption (above) © Eric Rondepierre, Couple, passant, 1996-98 © Eric Rondepierre, Confidence, 1996-98 © Eric Rondepierre, Le Voyeur, 1996-98 “That impossible photogram, as Roland Barthes said. An object which is not (even) an object, but at the same time is actually two objects. It doesn’t (really) belong to the cinema or (simply) to photography…
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@ Alexander Gehring, Untitled, from the series Messages from the Darkroom @ Alexander Gehring, Untitled, from the series Messages from the Darkroom The photographic series Messages from the Darkroom investigates the connection between photography and the occult. Based on historical photographs published by early twentieth century parapsychologist Dr. Albert von Schrenck-Notzing, Messages from the Darkroom…
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CRITICAL IMAGE: MICHAL HEIMAN, By Dr. Ariella Azoulay Michal Heiman chose the position of the spectator looking at someone else’s photographs taken by someone else, in which someone else is photographed, which someone else collected. Heiman turns this quintessential position of spectator (in a museum, but not only) into her own, elaboration and giving it…
Read More@ William Miller, NRuined Polaroid #45 @ William Miller, Ruined Polaroid #50 “I think think that this project was more of a realization than an idea. I bought this old Polaroid SX-70 camera at a yard sale two summers ago. Right away I realized the camera wasn’t functioning properly. It sometimes spilled out 2 pictures…
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@ Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs, untitled, from the series Light of other days, 2009 DIRECT POSITIVE PHOTOGRAPHS, 20 X 24 CM EACH @ Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs, untitled, from the series Light of other days, 2009 DIRECT POSITIVE PHOTOGRAPHS, 20 X 24 CM EACH In “End of an Era” Onorato and Krebs continue to explore…
Read More@ Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, hood, from the series Flower City (work in progress) @ Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, gray, from the series Flower City (work in progress) @ Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, twin, from the series Flower City (work in progress) In Flower City I’m focusing on the area where I live (Brampton, Ontario), a relative nowhere city transformed by…
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@ Elise Victoria Louise Windsor, untitled, from the series mise en abyme @ Elise Victoria Louise Windsor, untitled, from the series mise en abyme “A champion of minimalism, visual artist Elise Windsor creates optical illusions that truly captivate the eye. Her three bodies of work leave you wondering: “How did she do that?” Without breaking…
Read More© Melinda Gibson, from the project Photography as contemporary art, 2011 © Melinda Gibson, from the project Photography as contemporary art, 2011 If Melinda Gibson’s photomontages look familiar, don’t be surprised. A flash of Ed Burtynsky here, a slice of Juergen Teller there, they are all made up of elements of some of the major…
Read More© Clare Strand, Signs of Struggle, 2003 © Clare Strand, Signs of Struggle, 2003 AFH: Is photography primarily an expressive tool for you? CS: Photography clearly has an important role in my work but its application is determined by my subject matter. If you look back on my work, I have no one photographic style.…
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© Christopher Williams, Cologne, November 1, 2004, from the series For Example: Dix-Huit Leçons Sur La Société Industrielle. © Christopher Williams, Lodz, October 1, 2004, from the series For Example: Dix-Huit Leçons Sur La Société Industrielle. “What William’s practice has made evident in significant, compelling, and ravishing ways is that photographic meaning is…
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N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A, 