Okay, this week I didn’t have anything. Well, I had a thing on two
exhibits of architectural fotos but, as you will see if you read on,
I’m not totally into that genre. But part of what drool’s about is to
report on Ottawa foto-related happenings, to alert folks who may
be interested

So I intended to flesh out this weeks drool by posting some pretty
interesting shots by Boris Mikhailov, whose work recently came up
in a conversation I had with U.K curator Matthew Shaul.

Then I read a post over on Conscientious and, all of a sudden, I got
a rush to the head and a gush of stuff poured out. Funny how one
thing leads to another.

Anyway…..You can take all of this for what it’s worth.

BRICKS + MORTAR

First off….I have to admit that almost all architectural photography
pretty much leaves me cold. I like flesh and blood.

But there are two photo shows happening in Ottawa right now that are
worth mentioning. Both these shows, in conjunction with “Architecture
Week”, feature architectural photography.

I’ve previously mentioned the show at Red Wall Gallery: “Imaging the
Urban Fabric”. And, in the interests of full disclosure, I have a photo
in this show. (Yes, yes, I know that that’s contradictory. Didn’t I just
say architectural fotos leave me kold? And there I go, shooting and
showing an architectural view. Welcome to my life. I embrace the
contradiction.)

l to r: Chantal Sanscartier, Jason Michaels, Laurence Butet-Roch, Crystal Wiesner, T. Fouhse
and Angelina McCormick.

The folks at Red Wall decided to make the fotos big and, as a result,
this is the first show there in a while which doesn’t feel cramped.

As you can see from the pix of the pix above…..the red wall was full
of moody, square B+W photos which were well-served by their scale.

Color was consigned to the entrance……

l to r: Joseph Jeremie Roy, Martin Lipman and Daniel Marchand

Exposure Gallery also mounted a show of architectural photos……

This show contains mostly straight-up architectural views (the
exceptions being Dwayne Brown’s pieced together panoramic
and view thru a rain covered window).

Abigail Gossage

link

Chantal Sanscartier

link

Dwayne Brown

link

Marc Fowler

link

Martin Lipman

So, if bricks and mortar turn your crank, drop by either of these
venues and have a look……..

If, on the other hand, you’re like me and like flesh and blood, I
suggest you have a look at the work of Boris Mikhailov…..

FLESH + BLOOD

Whilst looking at USER, at last weekend’s Mois de La Photo, U.K.
curator Matthew Shaul suggested there were similarities between
that work and the work of Ukranian photographer Boris Mikhailov.

Mikhailov doesn’t seem to have a web site but a Google search
will lead you bits and pieces about him and some of his work.

© Boris Mikhailov. From: Case Studies

In a nutshell….his series “Case Studies” is approximately 400
images he has shot of a group of people who became homeless
after the fall of the Soviet Union. Like with USER, Mikhailov has
befriended these people and made a series of images which look
like collaborations. Though, to my mind, his seem much more
extreme.

© Boris Mikhailov. From: Case Studies

© Boris Mikhailov. From: Case Studies

It’s difficult to find out for sure, but I’ll bet you he has received
some of the same criticism anyone working in this way gets.
Think Jessica Dimmock, Larry Clark and Shelby Lee Adams, to
just name a few.

There are those that feel that to pay attention to, to photograph,
certain groups of people, certain socio-economic sections of
society, certain subject matter is, to put it bluntly, wrong.

They say that, no matter what the intent of the photographer,
the effect of the images is what matters. Though the effect they
seem to imply is almost always filtered through their own bias.

Recently Jorg M. Colberg has blogged about some of these issues,
and in that post mentions his deep unease with The Ninth Floor,
Jessica Dimmock’s long term portrayal of a group of heroin addicts
in N.Y.C.

To quote:

…I have no doubt that the photographer
cares deeply about the subjects, but the
end result, the mix of poverty, drug abuse,
and sex (at least one photographs shows
the subject having sex in drunken and/or
drug induced haze) strikes me as failing
what it might be supposed to achieve. And
I think this needs to be talked about. Again,
it’s not about the photographer’s intentions,
it’s about what the end results really do….

I agree, this needs to be talked about…..

I’m not sure what Jorg thinks Jessica has set out to achieve. I don’t
know if he’s asked her or not. But it seems presumptuous to only
use your own ethics, morals and aesthetic as the “correct” point
from which to judge others concerns and approach. Now, I’m not
above or against making judgments, pronouncements. Lord knows
I do it all the time. But always I know that, in the end, what’s right
for me might just be wrong for someone else. I know and acknow-
ledge that I’m no expert. Which is fine by me, because I inherently
mistrust (or, at lease, question) those who profess to know.

And, he wonders “what the end results really do”.

I’d guess that, to him, the end results just make him question the effect
this type of work has on society at large. To me, the end results of Ms.
Dimmock’s work are to move me, to make me understand a little bit what
it feels like to be a human, to wonder.

On a personal note, I know for a fact (from experience, from people
coming up to me to talk about it) that USER has, to a certain number
of people who see it, the same “result” that I get from The Ninth Floor.

I also know that USER gets attacked for the very reasons Jorg outlines
in his post. And that’s fine with me. I’m sure that there are bits of “truth”
in his point of view, his insights. Dialogue is good and, in my opinion, so
is disagreement.

Everyone who reads drool will know that I’m not without my opinions,
sometimes strongly stated. But drool also stands firm in it’s belief in
no censureship, and that being didactic is only fun if you also recognize
the danger and the inherent irony in taking yourself too, too seriously.
drool believes that there must be humor, humanity and acceptance of
the other as we move thru this endless list called life.

BEFORE + AFTER

J.P. smokes crack cocaine. About 2 hours after I took this
shot J.P. was arrested. He went to jail for 75 days.

A couple of days after he was released I met him again,
and took this photo.