Aspects of Photography

This curated presentation between Eskilsen´s documentary, Wellms textile, Cravens sculptural, Eskerods contemplative photography and Vandebrugs monotypes not only underpins how art photography has transcended over decades but more importantly how a chosen media becomes coherent with an artist’s intention. Additionally, these 5 artists share a common interest in investigating how imagery can proceed the one-dimensional and how the physical experience of art photography can unfold numerous associations and multiple interpretations.

Joakim Eskildsen (1971) is one of the most published and recognised photographers from the Helsinki School. He is most noted for his documentary photographic monographs that take a very personal view in depicting communities on the fringes of society. Despite seemingly melancholic undertones, Eskildsen achieves an overwhelming closeness in his work, often by living alongside his subjects for long periods. Whether it be the light or the temperament of any given moment, his ability to focus on the centre of what he feels is the essential element in a given picture, lending it a life of its own.

Susanne Wellm (1965) works with photography as her primary medium. Since the 1990s she has explored various photographic techniques, both analogue and digital, often artistically utilised in a merged form. Exploring the physical qualities of the two-dimensional image, she developed a method combining photography, weaving and surface threading, adding complex, tactile layers of colour, contrast, and depth to the expression of the pieces.

Torben Eskerod (1960) has investigated conditions for human existence throughout his oeuvre. Where do we come from, where are we going, life, death and faith? With his works, he asks questions where there is no definitive answer. With his camera, Eskerod maintains sensuality in the light and the dark. He is constantly preoccupied with the relationship between the interior and the exterior, both in the motif before him and in the final physical result with the viewer. Contemplation is a silent activation of our inner life. We lose ourselves. It is a condition that celebrates slowness and devotion. Eskerod wants us there. With sight, we are led via his images into a state of being without fixed answers or language.

Eli Craven (b. 1979) is an artist based in Lafayette, Indiana and an Assistant Professor of Photography at Purdue University. Craven works conceptually with photographic images by re-evaluating the physical and psychological potential of the picture through sculptural and digital interventions. The works exist between the image and the object, attempting to connect the representation to some form of reality. The artist´s interest lies in the ubiquitous and mundane imagery of family portraiture, self-help books, and instructional guides, which, upon close inspection, allude to a range of human fears and emotions. The research begins with the acts of looking and collecting and then progresses to a critical investigation of the image and its relationship to ideologies of sexuality, desire, and death.

Joost Vandebrug is a multidisciplinary artist who studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. He uses a variety of printing techniques, including pigment transfers and silver-gelatin prints, on hand-made Washi, copper plates, and traditional Barite paper. He embraces the susceptibility and fragility of historic photographic techniques, often paralleling his subject matters, and goes against the photographic tradition of producing and preserving unblemished prints. His art reflects a desire to challenge traditional methods, reminiscent of the Assemblage and Xerox art movements.

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