The prints are intended as enlarged contact prints of the large format 8”x10”
colour negative film they were made with. The making of contact prints from
negatives inherently demands that all parts of the film are transferred to the
positive print.
To remain loyal to the integrity of the process, the choice has been made to show the
whole picture, from the complete sheet of film. We have been blessed by
advances in technology which allow us to scan the film and create “enlargeable”
contact prints from high resolution digital scans of the negatives. The
opportunity has been taken to print these scans at an enlarged level to enable
viewers to scrutinise the images; to immerse themselves in the details
revealed.
Honest. Naked. Aiming to reveal both what was intended to be rendered as well as what
was accidentally captured. Nothing is hidden or cropped away from what was
caught on the film.
An authenticity should be revealed to the viewer where flaws are not hidden,
cropped or retouched away, that augments the authenticity of the subject matter
contained in each view. The story that motivated the artist to create these
photographs is complimented by the truth
of the process of picture making with the film, camera, scanner, chemicals,
instruments, machines and tools. There exists an acknowledgement to the process
of production by skilled crafts men and women, in addition to the artist, who
have been necessary to deliver an allegory.
There are parts of the sheet of film that have been exposed to light and there are parts
that haven’t. The inclusion of both the exposed, positive area as well as the
negative, unexposed rebate, delivers a whole. The presence of the photographer
and his process is thus acknowledged within the context of the photograph
shown, which gives further dimension to what is ultimately an intense
biographical reckoning. The medium is part of the content of the piece.
-
Tristan
McLaren, 3 November 2020.
“In practice, and as others have noted, the rebate always appears when contact
printing, unless special measures are taken to prevent it…When I look at a
contact print with the black rebate describing the film holder’s retaining
tabs, and the film’s notch code, with the pristine, rich, three dimensional
image glowing within it, I’m reminded the print is the result of an arduous
process, involving multiple, complex, sub-processes and materials. For me, it’s
not about bragging or boasting or posturing, but my sense of awe and wonder at
the whole thing, and I confess I feel that same way when I see others’
beautifully made contact prints that retain the rebate. I marvel at what is
concealed within the apparent simplicity of it; it’s just a negative laid on
paper, and exposed to light, but beyond this simple truth lies a complex chain
of decisions and manipulations, every one of which presenting the opportunity
for total failure. For me, the rebate is like the frame of a magic window, upon
which is written some of the spells and incantations that make it magical.
Whether this adds to the image or detracts from it is a personal matter, I
think. I think that for those for whom the rebate has no context
(non-photographers), it almost certainly detracts. For me, it’s always a treat.”
- Jay DeFehr, 14 November 2010.
“To see something spectacular and recognize it as a
photographic possibility is not making a very big leap. But to see something
ordinary, something you’d see every day, and recognize it as a photographic
possibility – that is what I am interested in.” – Stephen Shore
I was born, raised and am still living in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Johannesburg is itself a city born from the need for money, wealth and dreams fulfilled. The photographs of this series
have been made in and around Johannesburg during my journeys as a sales engineer, working for an industrial cooling company.
The work is the first volume of what is intended to be a continual photographic exploration of signage, public
proclamations and semiotics.
In this first series, I’ve set out to frame elements in the urban landscape to present a story that is slightly different
from the one intended by those who erected the signs that anchor the images. I have found myself marvelling at the scale of effort given to such a subliminal part of our culture and built environment.
These photographs have been made with a large format 8”x10” camera, using colour film, during the course of 2010 –
2011. The wonderful nature of large format photography is that it produces extremely fine detail that allows the viewer into the frame to further explore the image, as well as subtexts found alongside and within the primary subjects.
These stories are aesthetic, ironic, absurd, critical or even just about nothing. Irony is a key element that runs through the series. Sometimes it’s subtle and other times more prominent, which make these images multi-layered in their narrative. Particular elements are always the anchors in these images and the primary reason for creating the photograph. Irony is produced via the context of the sign, it is also the story within the sign in tandem with the sign’s real-time place in the world.
The following essay was written to explain the motivation behind the project ‘Signs of Our Times’. Posting it now, in 2020, and observing some of my younger self’s naivety is at times a little embarrassing. It was written as an approach to a potential exhibitor. It didn’t work, fact it was a dismal failure - he dismissed me out of hand!
However, I thought sharing it in all its flawed glory would be interesting. I hope you find it interesting too.
‘Signs of Our Times’ - 20 June 2011
In short the project I’m working on is all at once an exploration, celebration and confrontation of and with the signage that dominates our urban horizon. To begin with let me give you some context.
I am 33 years old, married with 2 kids and employed as a Sales Engineer for Tektower (Pty) Ltd. We have a bond, 1 car paid, the other with a year to go, life insurance, house insurance, medical aid, credit cards and overdraft that we bounce off the bottom of, cell phones, telephone, school fees, vet bills - did I mention the 2 dogs - groceries, clothes, garden, club membership, RA, DIY, Dstv & ADT.
And more.
I used to be a full time photographer.
Having done my fair share of advertising, editorial and generally-whatever-work-I-could-get, I focused my efforts and realized my dream of being a specialist architectural photographer. I sold work to guys like Paragon Architects, Enrico Daffonchio and StudioMAS, who I’m sure you know are top ranked local architects. However, for a range of reasons, not least of them the lack of need for a specialist architectural photographer, I limped along financially, always hoping that things would turn. The day arrived when I lost that hope, so I grabbed an opportunity to get a job - any job - in Feb 2010 to sell cooling towers. Yes… cooling towers…
The blessing in disguise was that for the first time in years I was able to engage with photography without the constant pressure of needing to make money from it.
The continuous thread so far…money.
“How to make money.”
The world I live in is all about this. This is the meaning of life - “Make as much money as you can”.
Yes, this world is Johannesburg, a place that I was born & bred in - and still live in.
Everyone comes to Jo’burg cause its where the money is. Few people leave. Those that do have made as much money as they could.
Its all there is to the place - making money.
At first it was by digging for gold. It still is, but even better is by selling stuff.
“How do you make money?”
“I’ll tell you how”.
“Sell! Sell! Sell!”
“How do we sell?”
“Tell everyone about the shit that you sell!”
“Talk to them. Tell them. Show them.”
“If you tell 100, at least 10 will buy, so tell thousands!”
“Tell them where they can see it. Put an ad up - everywhere!”
“Fuck it! Sell adverts too! As many as you can, wherever you can, to whoever you can!”
“Brilliant!”
“What? You say it looks kak? Who gives a shit? It looks awesome, just make sure the bastards pay us before you put it up.”
There are other places, I believe, where the pursuit of money is not the sole purpose of existence, but they are elsewhere, and this story isn’t about them. I also don’t know them, and this is my story.
In my time spent in Johannesburg, I’ve developed both an acute sensitivity to the pursuit of money, due mainly to my lack of talent for it, and an acute awareness for the built environment, which I have substantial talent for.
And so the fruition of this project.
The benefit of the sales job which I currently occupy is that it has taken me to the far corners and beyond of greater Johannesburg, mainly to industrial areas, in order to trade my wares.
I’m a photographer. I even stuck out 3 years at Pretoria Tech for a diploma to prove it (although I never actually picked up the certificate).
This project has been brewing in my mind for a while, although the process has been a latent one since it has admittedly been dormant for a long time. In 2008 I made a start by photographing billboards at night. My efforts fizzled out because of the strain it placed on my available resources at the time. However, the night billboards form an important chapter in the project. They are a theme of it that I still want to return to at an appropriate time.
However, the main body of work is that which I have shot on 8x10 colour negative during the past year, having made a start working on it on the 4x5 format.
After a short period in the Tektower job, I began to pack my camera in the boot whenever I knew that a distant site was to be visited the following day.
(For years I’ve wanted to pursue a personal project relating to architecture, but could never manage to justify the time, effort and expense required to really follow through with it. For the same reasons, I’d also never really developed any substantial theme to explore, so this set of circumstances finally presented me with my opportunity.)
To begin with, the signs project was a dead one in my mind and a part of the dark chapter of my failed photographic career. So in the attempt to begin something fresh, I decided to explore the concept of thresholds, which was the last design project I did before I dropped out of architecture at Wits in ‘97. The theme has always stuck with me and it was a decent enough place to start. It was a subject matter that I was getting plenty of exposure to via Tektower thanks to spending so much time travelling to all the diverse places.
But the more I looked out for interesting entrances to places, the more I started to see that they were adverts for those places, and so the more aware I became - again - of adverts (I’m talking primarily about billboard adverts). Then it was like those 3D posters where you suddenly see something that’s right in front of you and you wonder why it took you so long to click.
Its nearly impossible to look in any direction in or near Johannesburg and not have a sign, poster or billboard that’s advertising something in your line of sight. When photographing buildings, the constant challenge was to avoid the signs but get the best angle of view. With this project, technically, I’ve followed the same discipline as before, only I’ve turned the camera a little to the left.
Another way in which I relate so strongly to these public pronouncements is of course my struggle to come to terms with being a professional commercial photographer. I was a core participant in propagating these signs and indeed several of my assignments have been displayed on billboards and similar public adverts (eg trucks).
I believe there are many other points of discussion which this project has the potential to stimulate:
- The nature of our capitalist, free market based economy and how we engage with the principles of it locally.
- Our urban design and architecture.
- The political influences which enable our place to be what it is.
- Our collective culture and the physical manifestation of cultural influences.
- Our aesthetic.
All of the above sweeps broadly over the basis upon which the project is founded. The work itself perhaps speaks more metaphorically. The specific signs that I’ve chosen to photograph are quite a diverse range of samples. I’ve firstly chosen to photograph scenes which have caught my eye and attempted to not be too bogged down by anything other than making the photographs tell as interesting a story
as they can. These stories are aesthetic, ironic, absurd, novel, critical or even just about nothing. They’ve been captured in quite an opportunistic way because I’ve only been able to take photographs as and when my travels have allowed me – I haven’t really been able to plan shots.
Stephen Shore is an immense influence on me and the following by him is golden:
“To see something spectacular and recognise it as a photographic possibility is not making a very big leap. But to see something ordinary, something you’d see every day, and recognise it as a photographic possibility - that is what I am interested in.”
As it stands, I am in the infancy of this project. I have a bunch of negatives - about 40 on 8x10” and about 10 on 4x5”. I don’t know of anyone in South Africa who is capable of properly scanning my 8x10” negatives, so I will need to get them done overseas somewhere. But I’m at a point where I need to enter into conversation about it all before I continue.
1. Is my work and the concept behind it any good?
2. Does it have any value in ways that you are interested in being part of?
2. Are you interested in partnering me?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Tristan McLaren
