Beschreibung:

STEPHEN GILL (1971) Ohne Titel (Brücke mit Pflanzen), 2008. Aus der Serie "Hackney Flowers". C-Print. Bildmass 58,2 x 43,8 cm; Blattgrösse 61 x 51 cm. Verso voll signiert, nummeriert 7/10, bezeichnet und datiert. Unter Passepartout, gerahmt. Provenienz: Privatbesitz Schweiz. Der britische Photograph ist insbesondere für seine Dokumentar-, Konzept- und Experimental-Aufnahmen bekannt. Bevor er zur Kamera greift, liegt in der Regel aber eine lange und ausführliche Vorstudie, in der er den zu photographierenden Gegenstand in seinem Wesen erkundigt. Mit seinen Werken antwortet, umschreibt und reflektiert er intensiv die Zeit, in der wir leben. Seit den 1990er Jahren arbeitet er hauptsächlich in Farbe. Im "Hackney Flowers" Projekt, der Serie, aus der die vorliegenden Aufnahmen (Lose **) stammen, nutzt Gill seine Umgebung als Inspirationsquelle für seine sinnträchtigen Bilder. Er sammelt Blumen, Samen, Beeren und weitere Objekte rundum Hackney im Osten Londons, presst sie und photographiert sie, aufgelegt wiederum auf seinen eigenen Photographien aus der vorgenannte Umgebung, die er mit einer billigen Plastik-Kamera gemacht hat. Daraus ergeben sich neu komponierte Bilder, die einer Collage gleichen und eine dreidimensionale Komponente beinhalten. In "Hackney Flowers" betrachtet Stephen Gill die urbane Umgebung und unser Engagement damit. Stephen Gill has again used his surroundings as the inspiration for this beautiful and evocative series. Hackney Flowers has evolved from his series and book Hackney Wick. This times Gill has collected flowers, seeds, berries and objects from Hackney, East London, that were then pressed in his studio and re-photographed alongside his own photographs and found ephemera, thus building up multi-layered images extracted from the area. The resulting project is an interesting 2D-3D mixture – almost a collage. Apparently for this project, Gill has repeated the process that he has used in some past work: he buried some of the base photographs for a period of time allowing them to decay a little. According to the Nobody Books site, the idea is that this burial (and resurrection?) stresses his collaboration with the area. What is immediately striking is the colourful nature of the collection. Seen as a “contact sheet” (see Fig.2), the photos look like some sort of street carnival and invite interest and investigation. The smaller images make it much easier to see the whole effect of a riot of colour and shapes. The base photo looks very flat and aged (as you’d expect perhaps if it was one of the buried ones). The flower or whatever on top looks extremely 3D – almost surrealistic compared with the base photo. The overall effect is that of the flower lifting off the background. Perhaps it’s some metaphor of urban renewal? Robert Adams as quoted by Alexander (2014) suggests that there are three varieties of landscape pictures: geography, autobiography and metaphor. Taking this approach, we might consider Stephen Gill’s photos as follows: Geography: the uniqueness is not so much about the place, but about how it is decorated by the additions of flowers, seeds, berries etc. The composite is actually quite unique and special and the sheer exuberance of colour makes the overall landscape quite something else. Autobiography: since Gill lives in the area, he has a strong link with the subjects and in a sense his story is also contained in the photos. This connection with the land is evidently strong for him; hence the process of actually burying some of the base photos in the soil for a stronger connection. Metaphor: there is a mix of humour and it seems also the idea of uplifting the ordinary everyday things through decorating the base photo with flowers giving the whole much more meaning than the original photos. ---- If some of the works we have collected examine social issues, others look at the urban environment and our engagement with it. Stephen Gill’s series, Hackney Flowers (2004-06), is a close examination