On the 10th October I visited The Photographers Gallery in Oxford Circus that boasts a hand picked collection of notable works.
Several of the works were very morbid, which I undeniably found quite interesting as this darker matter spiked my curiosity. Perhaps the most interesting exhibit in the gallery was the one that showed a camera in use that was used to take arial pictures of dead bodies at a crime scene. The images produced as a result were eerie in the way that the angle was looking down on the casualty from above as this one from which you never see images of bodies. In fact, I had never had many opportunities to see an uncensored image of a dead person, so I spend a long time taking in those that were presented to me in this exhibit. The quality of the photographs was incredibly high and no wonder this was such a useful tool at the time because the viewer is able to clearly see all injuries and a large proportion of the room around it which would undoubtedly come in useful when trying to find the cause or perpetrator. The beauty of these images lied with the original format they were still in with the black and white tones and notes surrounding them; it gave them a rawness that isn't comparable to any photographs I've ever seen and confirmed the purpose for which these images were taken very well.
Another part of this exhibition that I found interesting was a collection of monochrome photos that this time revealed everyday items in super close up, high quality what we miss at a glance. Footprints, fabrics, fabric fires, stains and marks were all amongst the pictures on the wall.
Again, it was this aspect of opening my eyes to look at things from a different perspective that really interested me with photography and came as something unexpected. Prior to this exploratory week I used to look at pictures and not consider the photographers motives behind them, however that has changed and I found that an incessant part of viewing these works was reading the information plaque next to them to find out just why they were taken.
The gallery space handled these images well without making them look imposing. Plenty of white space and equal distribution of the images meant that viewers were not congested whilst taking their time to take in the works placed on the walls.
Another favourite part of the gallery was one featuring a video that showed the reaction from Nazi officials when shown the reality of concentration camps after the were liberated in 1945.
Through the noise of the old footage, the horror on the men's faces is clear. This video was so captivating and showed an element of the war that I hadn't even considered before as I too watched in horror at the reality of life in the death camps. The footage brought the viewer face to face with the problems faced by the creator of the film as it documented its making and purpose which was to persecute the Nazi officers.
I didn't completely understand the exhibition on the top floor of the gallery, but it made me greatly appreciate how aesthetics are important within photography. Even if something has all the meaning in the world, it doesn't mean much to a broad audience if it doesn't look nice and to me, that's exactly what the images below emulated. This part of the exhibition was interactive as I was able to look through glass to piece together a photograph which gave it a 3D effect, and people were taking in turns to stand in front of a stunning view blown up on one wall. To me, this room featuring these pictures I knew nothing of still managed to pique my interests and allow me to appreciate this art form.
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