Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
sUccessoFAUtHoritiesortriUMPHoFPHotoGrAPHY?
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theauthoritiesand,inparticular,thedepartmentofjusticeofthenewstate,both
throughthespecialritualisticcharacterofportraittakingandtheelementsofthe
models’outfits.Theauthorshowstheimportanceoflithographicandphotograph-
icalbumsforgeneratingandgatheringknowledgeinthehistoricalandpolitical
contextoftheoriginsofcontemporarySwitzerland.
Theissueoftherelationbetweenpowerandphotographicimageisalsotaken
upbyJadwigaKamolainhertextdedicatedtotheconferenceArtistComplex.Im-
agesofArtistsinPhotography,heldinBerlininOctober2018andtheaccompany-
ingexhibitionofthesametitleattheBerlinMuseumofPhotography,wherethe
curatorshowedphotographicportraitsofartistsfromBaselitztoWarhol,bysuch
photographersasBrassaï,FlorenceHenriorHenriCartier-Bresson.Inthiscasewe
areconfrontedwithaspecificunderstandingofpower:thephotographsrealise
andpreservethetoposoftheartistpresentinculturesincetheRenaissance,their
ideologicalandiconographicmythologisation.HTheartistexistsinasenseasacol-
lectivelyimaginedimage,constantlyshapedandtransformed,”writestheauthor.
SeenthroughtheprismofCarlGustavJung’sphilosophy,thisimagereflectsthe
archetypeexistinginthecollectiveimaginationandmaterializesinphotography.
Theissuealsoincludestextsthatgobeyondtheleadingtheme,especiallyAlex-
andraWhittaker’sarticleonplantphotographsbyFortunataObrąpalska.Theau-
thorsituatestheseworks,mademostlyforuseasillustrationsforpublicationsor
commissionedbytheAdamMickiewiczUniversityBotanicalGardeninPoznań,in
theoeuvreoftheartistknown,aboveall,forherclosetoabstractimagesandre-
gardedasoneofthemostimportantrepresentativesofPolishexperimentalpho-
tography.Whittakerdemonstratesthesignificanceofthesephotographsinthe
processofcrystallizationofObrąpalska’soriginallanguageofcreativeexpression.
Theauthoralsoshowsusthefluidityofsomedefinitionsandmeaningsofimages.
Realizationscommonlyconsideredpurelyutilitarianareatthesametimeacre-
ativeexperiment,andtheirredefinitionchangesthestatusofphotographsthat
balancebetweenthescientificandtheartistic.
Inthelightofthevariouscasestudiespresentedinthisissue,itappearsthatin
itsbattleswiththeauthoritiesphotographyhasoftenbeendefeated.Manytimes
itbecameavictimofthesystem,aninstrumentofthecruelregimewhichused
itinordertoachieveitsowngoals.Nevertheless,byreachingtherighthands,the
cameramayleadtothedeconstructionoftheforegoingexhibitionandcolonial
narratives,ithasachancetoinfluencethetransformationofthesocialorderand
thecurrentbalanceofpower,asChristopherMortonhasexcellentlyshowninhis
text.ThestrategyadoptedbyKarolinaGembara,aphotographerandactivistas-
sociatedwiththeSputnikPhotoscollective,wasanexcellentexampleofthisphe-
nomenon.ItwasherinitiativethatledtotheNewVarsoviansproject,inwhich
photographyregaineditsdrivingforce(fig.3).Thankstothismedium,thosewho
