This exhibition at Tate Modern looked at ways five contemporary artists have used the camera 'to explore, extend and question photography as a documentary medium. I had never seen any work by Boris Mitchailov, Mitch Epstein, Luc Delahaye, Akram Zaatari and Guy Tillim before so was interested to see how their work would present itself.
I was drawn to Mitch Epstein's 'Amos Coal Power Plant, Raymond, West Virginia' part of his American Power series as I could relate its composition to recent work on balance. Looking at the image, I thought the juxta position of the power station and the house produced an interesting balance effect drawing the eye firmly to the domination of the power station in the lives of the people who lived so close to it.
In looking at a selection of pictures from Guy Tillllim's ' Congo Democatic Series' , one particular image drew my eye i.e. a photograph showing a presidential candidate entering a stadium flanked by his bodyguard. The composition was very powerful - a sloping horizon gave the image momentum, the head and shoulders of the candidate right in the centre of the frame indicating sheer power by the bulk of his frame and a watchful bodyguard behind him looking out at the viewer at an angle that emphasised his wariness.
I also was intrigued by Boris Mikhailov's use of colour in his series of photographs charting the politics of everyday life in the Ukraine during the Soviet era and its aftermath.In 'Red' ( 1968- 75) he uses the colour red as a symbolic reminder of the Soviet regime ..it appears often as the sole colourin a photograph - sometimes a small splash of colour but somehow omni present. In 'At Dusk' he used a cobalt wash to hand paint each image ...a literal and symbolic representation of Ukraine's twilight.
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