Matt Brownlow - Style Writing

Søren Dahlgaard

Dahlgaard’s collection of work, Dough Portraits, maintains uniformity in the framing of/distance from the subject he is photographing. The contrast is above average, the colors are well saturated, the setting is utilized to the advantage of the photo most of the time, the direction of light is clear — the photos are uniform. This leaves the only uniqueness is the newness of the individual behind the dough and, of course, how the dough rests on their head. He uses a DSLR with a 50mm lens to capture a narrow depth of field. The portraits are literally of subjects whose heads are covered with 10 kilograms of dough which evokes sly humor and curiosity to those viewing the scene. The best way to describe these photographs is odd yet inviting; you end up wanting to meet each individual beyond the baking ingredients. Each photo allows the merging of sculpture, photograph and performance art into one peculiar image. It also comments on the history of portraiture and gives new life to postmodern portraits. They teach the eye to look for information outside of one’s facial features and expression; it creates something interactive from every end of the spectrum. Dahlgaard’s work, even outside of his Dough Portraits, implore some element of oddity or misplacement that creates a more interesting narrative than if it were simply a high-quality photograph. Humor is also a large aspect of his photography that leaves the viewer with a feel-good attitude regardless of the underlying subject matter.

Charles Harbutt

Harbutt has focused solely on black and white film work in all of his collections, including his more personal endeavors. He photographed people and places and the connections between them; Harbutt told stories with his collections, usually finding a cohesive vision within a single piece of inspiration. Within Travelog, he transforms the Book of Common Prayer quote, “From all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil, good Lord, deliver us,” into three bodies of work that followed central themes that paralleled each other. He allowed his subconscious to select and sequence the photos for each section: the World, the Flesh, the Devil. Then relating his selections to the Bloomsday odyssey, finalized the direction of the story that transgresses through the body of work adding the section, Home, to the end. His framing of the photos are rarely shot with a wide angle which draws the eye into the detail of the scene; it packs a lot of information into the frame. Not to say that there is an absence of negative space, but that negative space is used to the advantage of the photograph and the narrative being told. The photographs that Harbutt includes people in are definitive moments in time that capture an action. That action can be physical or emotional and these actions pose questions regarding the context of the image being created. When motion isn’t included as an element, facial expressions or increased detail replace it as an attribute. Harbutt’s images are distinct because while his collections successfully speak to a greater narrative, each individual photograph does such an effective job at representing a moment in time as a piece of a plot.

Richard Mosse

Mosse is most notable for his work that incorporates the use of color infrared film in the Democratic Republic of Congo, presented as a collected titled, Infra. This particular body of his work followed primarily the Rwandan Hutu rebel group. This group travels collectively without being seen, ensuring that they remain within the lush landscape of Congo until they emerge to ambush or loot civilizations and they must do so then and only then. His choice to utilize the color infrared film to capture this journey along with them created a landscape that appeared both alien yet familiar because of the centralized color adjustment. He makes sure to have a variety of subject matter — it could be a direct interaction being captured or it could be a visual representation of the scenery in order to familiarize the viewer with the setting and conditions of the conflict. This approach also paralleled the very specific films prescribed use which is to be used as surveillance technology that helps locate enemy groups that do their best at remaining hidden. Having this metaphorical attribute and pairing it with a curiously eye-catching composition created an incentive for the viewer to look deeper into the events being photographed. Mosse is intrigued specifically by conflict and primarily chooses to photograph these conflicts using alternative film as vehicles of a complex chronicle of incongruity occurring in impoverished countries or areas directly affected by war. His work is also not centered around or intended to be associated closely with advocacy — rather it serves as a documentary of the events involving conflicts that occur around the globe while tying in his own creative liberties to encourage an interesting perspective that can serve as an informative attribute to the collection of photographs.