“Why should the inspiration that comes from an artist’s manipulation of the hairs of a brush be any different from that of the artist who bends at will the rays of light” – Pierre Dubreuil
I decided to go to the Tate Modern to see Shape of Light this Saturday before it ends next weekend.
I’ve always really enjoyed black and white film photography and in these days of fast delivery and super sharp imagery, where resolution and pixels are climbing higher and higher it’s easy to forget how experimental photography can be. So often nowadays I find myself glued to a monitor or smart phone screen, editing and uploading, re-touching and tagging, liking and leaving comments. Whilst this is all part and parcel of the photographic pursuit it’s really refreshing to take some time to enjoy playing with ideas and seeing where they go.
Quite some years ago I spent a fair amount of time in the dark room experimenting with various photographic papers and everyday objects, I’d forgotten how enjoyable it could be to forget about the capture of actuality and using the the tools and media to go in a completely different direction.
After spending a good two or so hours at the exhibition I came out feeling really inspired. The 12 rooms each cover a different aspect of photography and the part it has played in abstract art. The exhibition spans different art forms to include painting and sculpture, film and installation and shows the evolving relationship between photography and abstract art. Artists in the exhibition include – Alfred Stieglitz, László Moholy-Nagy, Brassai, Josef Sudek, Man Ray, Nathan Lerner and too many more to mention.
Starting with traditional painting, sculpture and photographic techniques and how they are distinguished from one another the show takes you on a journey that culminates with today’s work and it’s mix of different workflows and mediums. If you ever find yourself starved of creativity in your photography or just at a road block feeling uninspired with your image making spending some time seeing the world around us in with a less conventional perspective can be a very refreshing tonic. Shape Of Light runs at the Tate Modern until 14th October 2018.