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KATALOG 18.3

The photographer Mikkel Seeberg has been to Italy, just as earlier generations of artists have done, and has been inspired by the atmosphere of the country. His photographs were made with a pinhole camera, which means that the entire image is rendered equally sharply. The image proportions are also different to those of a 'normal' photographic image, and these qualities give a poetic and painterly result. For the prints from his negatives Seeberg has also used another old and simple technique - the gum bichromate print. Clear, brief information about pinhole cameras and the gum bichromate process is given at the back of the book. It may perhaps sound as though Seeberg is both nostalgic and sentimental because of his choice of technique and his theme, Italy. This is, however, not the case, as he has in no way attempted to produce the sort of romantic image of the country that might have been produced in the 1800s. He has chosen eleven photographs from the three cities he has dealt with: Florence, Milan and Bari, which represent respectively the cultural and economic centres of the country, and a poor coastal city in the south. The three cities function as chapters in the book, all of which start with a short introduction to the place itself. In the foreword the photographer asks if the pictures express something innately different about each place, or if any difference is caused solely by the viewer's expectations? In other words, he asks whether it is possible to see, by simply looking at a photograph from Florence, that it is an image from a city marked by a long cultural history, or whether it is merely an interpretation that the viewer him/herself makes, based on knowledge of the source of the motif? This is not a particularly difficult question to answer, because as a viewer it is difficult not to be affected by all the extra information one receives over and above the photographic image. This slightly artificial question, however, does not change the fact that Seeberg has produced some very poetic and beautiful photographs from Italy that are more than just views of three cities. The urban spaces are allowed, in a rather special way, to speak for themselves. This is perhaps due to the fact that the exposure times needed for a pinhole camera are so long that the photographer does not have complete control over the motif. What is certain, however, is that it is the combination of Seeberg's empathy with these places, together with the possibilities offered by the photographic medium that has made this possible. I can only hope that this young photographer continues exploring the world's towns and cities, and goes on using largely forgotten photographic techniques.

Kristina Lykke Hansen



Lektørudtalelse

Fotobog med en serie anderledes fotos fra tre udvalgte italienske byer: kulturbyen Firenze, forretningsbyen Milano og provinsbyen Bari. Billederne har bestemt ikke karakter af traditionelle turistfotos. det er kunstfotos optaget med et hjemmelavet hulkamera i sort/hvid, der giver billederne stor dybdeperspektiv og lavet med gummitryk, der understøtter den kornede overflade. Ved denne teknik står alle motivets elementer lige skarpt/uskarpt, og billederne forlenes med denne teknik med en drømmeagtig, tidløs og diset stemning. Denne fornemmelse forstærkes af, at der ikke optræder mennesker på billederne. Overfladerne på bygninger, biler virker lukkede, og billederne tømmes herved for et direkte eller symbolsk indhold, der kunne give dem karakter af mening eller antyde en bestemt tendens. Ved første gennemsyn virker billederne derfor noget stillestående, utilnærmelige og anonyme. Men ved nærmere betragtning udstråler de alligevel en monumental og nærmest mystisk ro, der langsomt gløder igennem. Hver af byerne får hvert sit afsnit med billeder, som MS giver en kort introduktion til. Hans tilgang til byerne er mere intuitiv end intellektuel. Han har ingen intention om at sætte byerne ind i en bestemt kontekst eller historisk dimension. Han ønsker alene at afsøge den magi, som byerne udstråler på hver sin måde. MS beskriver i et særligt afsnit den anvendte meget "antidigitale" metode.

Kent Skov