Installation view with Alexei Rebrov, #4266 (right). Courtesy of Akasha Art Projects
“Pushing the limits of parallel photographic ideologies,” is the theme that Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival Open Exhibition at Akasha Art Projects successfully explores. Conceived and curated by artist and gallery owner Sonja Scharf, the group exhibition compares, contrasts, and blurs the line between film photography and digital media, two distinct yet parallel methods.
Sonja Scharf, Impermanence, Chromogenic Print, 9.5 x 18.5 inches. Courtesy of Akasha Art Projects
Sonja Scharf has been actively involved in traditional picture making and darkroom techniques since 1982. She has been aware of the debate and discussion taking place in the world of fine art photography, as analog techniques have become less available in an era that increasingly relies on the digital. Owner of a framing business and gallery space specializing in photography for over five years now, she has gradually come to accept digital techniques as a different but valuable approach to the medium. For this year’s CONTACT, she has organized a show that brings together the best of both worlds, and breaks the preconceptions to which the two ideologies are commonly subjected. Four analog and four digital photographers were selected for this group exhibition, and their combined work challenge our understanding of the possibilities each medium offers. Alternating between abstract, marvellous, fleeting, meticulous or puzzling, the photographs on display and the scenes represent by them reveal the multifaceted nature of photography, as well as the complex relationship between its two branches. With works that push the boundaries of each medium to new levels, we are left to wonder which exactly of the artists are the ‘purists’ and which are the ‘manipulators.’
Wayne Hoecherl, The Queen of New York, giclee print,24 x 24 inches. Courtesy of Akasha Art Projects
V. Tony Hauser, Narcissus, Hiawatha Portfolio, Hand coated platinum print from original camera negative, 9 x 19 inches. Courtesy of Akasha Art Projects
Indeed as analog photography is at times denied its straightforwardness and truth to nature, the definition of manipulation itself is challenged and new worlds are created, limited only by the artist’s and viewer’s imagination. Such is the work of Osheen Harruthoonyan who, exclusively working with traditional darkroom techniques, creates stunning images. Their compositional complexity and emphasis on manual craft are reminiscent of early pictorial photographic movements and prove that traditional photography is equally capable of creating intricate compositions just as digital manipulations are.
Osheen Harruthoonyan, Pour Étienne et Son Ciel, 2013,sepia slenium toned gelatin silver print, 24 x 24 inches. Courtesy of Akasha Art Projects
Conversely, Lissy Larrichia’s ethereal and dreamlike images surprise and baffle the viewer through their complex spatial representations. While the presence of digital manipulation is obvious in her work, we are left to wonder where and how the artist intervened in the making of the image. Her vaporous figures, suspended in empty rooms, create a new space-time continuum and challenge our conception of spatial representations. The manipulation not only happens in the picture, but also extends to the viewer through a disorienting but delightful loss of visual references.
Lissy Larrichia, Up In The Air, photoshop,20 x 20 inches. Courtesy of Akasha Art Projects.
The Purists/The Manipulators displays an array of works that successfully represent the two branches of contemporary photography and the unlimited possibilities they both offer. However, instead of simply contrasting the two, it cleverly thinks outside the box and emphasizes the complex interconnectedness that characterizes the dialogue between the two medium.
Aurore Mathys
*Exhibition information: May 1 – 31, 2014, Akasha Art Projects, 511 Church Street. Gallery hours: Mon-Wed 10-6, Thu-Fri 10-7, Sat 11-5pm.