ICP Review - Allie Axel

Exhibition Review

The International Center of Photography Museum may have been small but it was able to represent all of the media photography applies to. The gallery presented images ranging from large format photographs to an engraving on a grain of rice which, consequently, required a magnifying glass to view. Most were in black and white while others used color purposefully.

Barbara Bloom’s exhibit combined photography and fragments of her own life and experiences to present to the viewer an ever changing perspective on the world. Her messages were applied with subtlety, exploring illusions and evoking moments of what is real and what is not. There were images of subjects about to fall while holding fragile objects with an added irony of the broken frame and glass the images were encased in. Using filters such as curtains and the placement of her photographs, Barbara Bloom purposely distanced the viewer from the image, inducing and encouraging the feeling that the viewer is merely a spectator with no real involvement. At the same time, the works presented in the exhibit were so intimate, like footprints on a carpet or a worn down rocking chair, the viewer fell easily into the illusion of intimacy with the owner of the objects.

Downstairs delved into the investigation of documentary photography. This exhibit presented documentary in the form of film, print and photograph, as well as some other slightly more abstract forms like the room filled with the September 12, 2001 cover pages of newspapers from all over the world. What struck me most about this room is that all of the newspapers had a different picture of the World Trade Center towers. I believe it stresses our dependence on photography in this modern world. These photographs came from people in the surrounding area who consciously stopped running or helping others to take a picture and capture the image forever. Maybe some knew they could make an obscene amount of money from this image while others might have understood the momentous importance of this event and knew it was imperative to document. Either way, it just made me wonder about where all of the headlining photographs came from and the thought behind the action.

Notes in the Margin of the Black Book was my favorite installation. Glenn Ligon “reinterpreted” Robert Mapplethorpe’s Black Book by taking a series of photographs exposing “the black man.” The images were highly controversial to some but I believe that is where the beauty of the exhibit stems from. They forced the viewer to accept and/or critique the stereotypes of black, gay culture. It is hard to choose one image to assess because I feel each image in the installation complements the next. The lighting of each image purposely exposes the unique texture of dark skin as well as providing illusions of shadows. There is one image I loved because of its simplicity. It was a man encompassed in a circular shadow holding a lily. It was so elegant. The surface of the skin and the petals blended while the dark skin and white flower contrasted brilliantly. A built man holding a flower would normally undermine his masculinity but this photograph presented a strong man in tune with the softness of nature.