LISETTE MODEL AND HER SUCCESSORS – a critical review

LISETTE MODEL AND HER SUCCESSORS

 

at Presentation House

333 Chesterfield Avenue, North Vancouver

 

 

 

“Lisette Model and her Successors” (March 15 – April 20, 2008) is a photography show featuring, as the name suggests, works by Lisette Model and her students.  The black and white photographs that adorn the gallery walls represent a wide range of point of views but Model’s influence runs like a thread through each photograph connecting all of the works.  Model was an incredibly talented and artist and an amazing teacher.  This show features some of her famous students like Diane Arbus and Leon Levinstein.  The characters in the photographs seem to be given precedence over any other formal elements at work in the piece.  As a film, video and intermedia student currently studying at Emily Carr Institute the debate over film and digital seems to be ever present.  While viewing the “Lisette Model and her Successors” show I was aware of the photographic film process which I enjoyed. When looking at the prints there some technical imperfections were sometimes visible but these marks on the prints seemed to aid the photographs by adding to the honest quality of the photographs. 

 

As a current media student I have been studying many different types of digital art. I believe that in today’s world an artist is at a great disadvantage if they do not possess the technological skills to use digital media to communicate their point of view.  This photography show contrary to my above statement offers a great argument for film.  The range that film is capable of is really highlighted by the fourteen different photographers shooting in wildly different environments some of the photographs possess a hard high contrast sharpness while other possessed an ethereal delicate quality. 

 

When we are bombarded by glossy digitally altered images constantly in our day-to-day lives, I felt like this photography show was in some ways a reprieve.  It was a chance to see photographs of real people that live seemingly real lives.  Each photograph seems to be a jumping off point, a small window into a stranger’s life.  The technical imperfections formally complement the natural imperfections of the subjects featured in the photographs.  The black and white palette calls attention to fact that these photographs are not trying to emulate the real world but rather observing it from a certain point of view.  Because all the photographs are in black and white it helps create cohesive flow between photographers working during different time periods with very different subject matter.

 

I really enjoyed this show.  I felt very inspired by how the photographers communicated through their imagery.  I felt like the artists really pushed the medium by making every specific choice matter.  I feel like I am constantly reminding myself when I am working on my own projects that every element of an image has potential meaning so it’s important to consider every choice and the potential for communication.  This show is rich in layers and because it features fourteen photographers really does feature a spectrum of subject matter and formal choices.

 

If you are interested in Lisette Model’s teaching practice I found two interesting youtube videos featuring one of the co-curators, Larry Fink, who was also a student of Lisette Model. 

This is part 1

and 

This is part 2

 

(Part two has better sound quality)