To the Finland station.BACKLIGHT back·light n. A type of spotlight, used in photography, that illuminates a subject from behind. tr.v. back·light·ed or back·lit , back·light·ing, back·lights 05 TAMPERE, FINLAND SEPTEMBER 2, 2005-JANUARY 15, 2006 At a time when cultural globalization globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation seems to smother indigenous cultural ideas, a photography festival such as Backlight, held every three years since 1987 in Tampere, Finland, represents a challenge. By combining Finnish and international photography, the curators of Backlight (both Finnish and international), highlight national differences while simultaneously placing all the images on the same plane of photography. In this edition, the work of sixteen Finnish and sixty international photographers is gathered into two shows revolving around the universal theme of childhood. The problem with Backlight 05 is in the ambiguity of the themes chosen by its project manager, Ulrich Haas-Pursiainen: "Untouchable untouchable Former classification of various low-status persons and those outside the Hindu caste system in Indian society. The term Dalit is now used for such people (in preference to Mohandas K. Things" at the Museum Center Vapriikki and "Spells of Childhood" at the Tampere Art Museum. The other two shows, a Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (born February 9, 1932) is a prominent German artist. Richter is considered by some critics as one of the most important German artists of the post-World War II period and is also one of the world's most expensive, with his paintings often selling for several show (at the Sara Hilden Art Museum) and "Frontal 7," an exhibition of work by students of Thomas Ruff Thomas Ruff (born 1958 in Zell am Harmersbach) is an internationally renowned German photographer who lives and works in Düsseldorf. Thomas Ruff studied photography from 1977 to 1985 with Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Art Academy). from the Dusseldorf Art Academy (enhanced by some pictures of those Dusseldorfers, par excellence, Bernd and Hilla Becher Bernd and Hilla Becher were a German photographer team and a married couple, best- known for their collection of industrial building images examining the similarities and differences in structure and appearance. Bernd (1931 – 2007) and Hilla (b. ) at the photographic center Nykyaika, have little coherence with the main event. The two main shows both feature a variety of individual exhibitions based around the theme of childhood. This delineation appears arbitrary. A sense of dreamy dream·y adj. dream·i·er, dream·i·est 1. Resembling a dream; ethereal or vague. 2. Given to daydreams or reverie. 3. Soothing and serene. 4. romanticism hangs over the "Untouchable Things" which includes work by Maider Fortune, Stratos Kalafatis, Anni Leppala (who won the Backlight 05 Award), Vesselina Nikolaeva, Giuseppe Toscano, Margherita Verdi, and Cristina Zamagni. To be sure, the concept is vague: spells are untouchable. However, their emphasis on childhood might have found them better placed in the museum rather than in the Vapriikki, a former textile mill. Several hard-hitting exhibitions that touch squarely on the notion of the untouchable, include Peter Granser's "Alzheimer" series (2001-04) and Harri Palviranta's imagery from old prison cells around the world, "Prison Sheets" (2005). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Spells of Childhood" also features some tough work, notably Soody Sharifi's images of Iranian teenagers, "Teenagers" (2002-04), a selection of work from Larry Clark's series "Tulsa" (1971), and Donovan Wylie's series "Losing Ground" (1993-97) of down-and-out travelers. This work is in sharp contradistinction con·tra·dis·tinc·tion n. Distinction by contrasting or opposing qualities. con  tra·dis·tinc to classic imagery by Lewis
Carroll and August Sander August Sander (November 17, 1876 – April 20, 1964) was a German photographer.Sander was the son of a carpenter working in the mining industry. While working at a local mine, Sander first learned about photography by assisting a photographer who was working for the whose works served as a mirror to the extremes of romantic and documentary aesthetics. What Backlight 05 has to say about the state of photography is unclear. There is both interesting and less compelling work. The opportunity, though, to see such a wide range of international photography is important--vital even--to understanding commonalities and differences. This is the triumph of an event such as Backlight. It is still quite easy to see who is from Dusseldorf or Helsinki. The real question is, how much longer will it be possible? A festival like Backlight lets us enjoy the differences while they last. Three years is an eternity in our fast-changing world. It is reasonable to assume that the next Backlight will present a tougher analysis, in both artistic and documentary dimensions, that addresses the future through a universal theme such as childhood or food or power or death or birth. It is always interesting and often enlightening to feel the pulse of the world through photography that is diverse and yet thematically focused. BILL KOUWENHOVEN is a writer and photographer and was editor of Photo Metro from 1997-2001. He lives and works in Berlin and New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . see A publication was produced out of Backlight 05. Backlight is available through Valokuvakeskus Photographic Centre. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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