Artist Case Study

Case Study Tom Hunter

Tom Hunter acquired his degree in 1994 at the London Collage of Printing. Hunter’s works have been exhibited both nationally and internationally due to his exceptional photography.
Tom Hunter has also published three books and has received several awards. One of his most recent achievements is receiving an Honorary Doctorate of the Arts from the University of East London; this was in respect of his work which documents the issues facing the communities living in east London. 

The following Photo is From the Series “Living Hell and Other Stories”. In 2006 Hunter is the first artist to have a solo photography show in the Nation Gallery.  The commissioned work “Living Hell and Other Stories” has a full and profound effect on the series as he is invested in the message he is portraying, as the images are a result of incidences that have occurred in his surrounding neighborhood of hackney.



“Halloween Horror Trick or Treat Thugs break Mums Bones” - “2004 - Cibachrome print”

This photograph is a recreation of an actual event that took place in Hackney, of which Tom Hunter read about in the local newspaper called the Hackney Gazette.  This image is part of the “Living Hell and Other Stories” series which is an exaggerated documentation between the relationship of the newspaper and the community of Hackney. His work is known for its mixture of political commentary, history of art and technicalities of photography. This can clearly be seen in this photo.

The Title “Halloween Horror Trick or Treat Thugs break Mums Bones” is slightly tongue in cheek in the sense that one would associate humor and fun with trick or treating; however that is not the case in this image, the title and the image have a dark humored nature to it when not associated to there being an actual event link to it as in the case. His empathy is evident in the reference to “mums bones” as it personalizes the image to the viewer.

A visual possibility of this photo is that there is a line of view in the sense that all the lines lead towards the victim and the attackers

In this image one can see a spot light on the victim of the crime that is taking place; the spotlight enhances the emotional impact of the image. The spotlight also emphasizes the isolation of the victim even though she is being surrounded by her attackers. The curled up defensive positioning of the victim suggests that this she is defending herself from a prolonged attack.
The use of red in the background shop/home as well as the red on the clothing, suggests a theme of violence and blood, as well as aggression.  The extreme bold colours and exaggerations of light are reminiscent of renaissance art.

One can see that the victim is hiding her face and the attackers also have the faces concealed through the use of Halloween masks. The anonymity of this creates an ominous and “creepy” tension in the photo. The lack of other people also creates a tension in the image that is also ominous.

Reference

http://www.tomhunter.org/html/info.htm

http://overhereplease.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/a-photo-that-made-me-think/

http://www.studio-international.co.uk/photo/tom_hunter.asp

Precis

precis of chapter 2 in the book "The Photograph as Contemporary Art" by "Charlotte Cotton"

Chapter 2
Once Upon a Time

In this chapter the use of storytelling in contemporary art photography is discussed. This is referred to as Tableau Photography the use of a photo to narrate a story; it has its roots in figurative painting of the 1800s-1900s in the sense that a choreographed images elements convey a story or scene and that the viewer can recognize from those elements.  However in the end, interpretation of the story is determined by the thought process and understanding of the viewer. However there are many elements that influence the viewer’s interpretation of the tableau/narrative photo.

Some photos are clear in their intent through the reference of myths and stories as well as basic tools such as popular details and props; various photos indicate how some photos are compositionally structured to lead the eye to clues about the scene/story this is reminiscent of a typical renaissance art style. The use of props and light help in the understanding of the image’s intent as well.

The body language and emotion or lack thereof in the people in the photos tells a story of its own and links to the rest of an image creating a more powerful story. The use of children to portray dark and morbid scenes are used often as it is shocking and thought provoking.

Some staged photo’s have reference to historical images/art or events, however they are recreated in a modern, staged and contemporary style, thus requiring the viewer to have some knowledge of the history or the intended message will be lost (eg :artwork :Soliloquy by Sam Tyler Wood)
Tableau’s also create a context of time and space through the use of merging different time frames or images  to convey a time frame this can be compared to renaissance altarpieces of different moments in one picture

It is then discussed how the amount of detail effects the photo;  the removal of context in a documentary photo can create an entirely new “story” than that portrayed by the unedited image, this is sometimes done to intentionally confuse the viewer and force them to think more about the assumption as the result of context (for example lack of detail and background context). The same can be said when an image is hyper-real and intentionally abstract, the tableau’s message becomes the viewers interpretation entirely.

Lastly; Landscape or architectural Tableau photos rely on light, lack of people, and the assumption of what should logically take place there or what did take place, based on knowledge of the world. In some cases fake replicas with slight changes and imperfections are made, yet even though the viewer acknowledges it is not real they still enticed to see a narrative in the image.

To conclude the narrative meaning of a tableau photo is in the end dependent on the viewer which is influenced by the response to recognizable elements of a choreographed photo.

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