Saturday 19 May 2007

Very Big

It was in Tate Modern that I saw a photograph by Andreas Gursky for the first time. It was up high on one of the biggest walls I had ever seen. It would have been too high for somebody else's pictures. But it added to the instant impact and drama of an Andreas Gursky picture. Size matters. Imagine this one when it measures 207 x 336,9 cm.

Chicago, Board of Trade II 1999
Huge. The King Kong of photographs and it works. It's 100% form before content. It creates an air of distance and less emotion. It's cool but cold and it kills emotion. I cannot imagine people crying or laughing or whatever when they see or saw a Gursky. But it creates a mood, an atmosphere and so it does something to you. When you watch you get involved. When you get overwhelmed, and I can imagine that it happens, the picture sucks you in. Although I am a B&W fan, his selection of subjects and compositions demand for colour and... I like it.

99 Cent 1999
He uses digital manipulation not only to clean up reality but to construct his own universe. Gursky is a God.
Colour, manipulation, no emotion and I'm impressed? I'm a fan. Andreas Gursky is an exception in my book.
http://d-sites.net/english/gursky.htm

Tate Modern, London_2006
Chelsea won the FA Cup. It would have been a boring afternoon but for one divine moment featuring John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. Drogba scored his number 33 of the season. Chelsea beats Manchester United 1-0 and wins the FA Cup that could have been the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final.