Gerald Slota
Untitled (Women in Purse), 2005
Unique gelatin silver print 10 x 8"
Why does Grandma insist on keeping photographs that are so badly printed you cannot even discern who or what they are of? And what would she say if she saw them now?
I once stood next to a man at the Eastman House who contemplated a group of images by this photographer- Gerald Slota. The man looked for a moment, shook his head and said "looks like somebody ruined some perfectly good photographs."
With rising interest in the "found", particularly that of the happened upon photograph, archives are at the forefront of contemporary art trends. Archives that perhaps would otherwise not have been examined and families that would have been forgotten, right along with the garage sale signs advertising their estate's sale that stayed stapled to the corner telephone post until weather finally took note of the long expired date and swept them away, are now in the halls of famous institutions.
Would the man contemplating the photographs of Gerald Slota have been as equally as disgusted if he knew that the photographs were found objects to begin with? Objects that someone's Grandmother cared about.
1 comment:
I think the man that you stood next to would say the same thing if he came upon those pictures at a garage sale. However, I don't believe that he would be moved to act in any way that would "save" the pictures from obscurity and what he views as "ruin".
In addition, I think older generations treat photos in a more precious manner than younger generations. Older generations were coming to terms with immediate family members moving away and photos were there to honor/commemorate those members. I think for our generation its more acceptable that family members move away and photos are now used for a different purpose in a different manner.
Also, older generations treated objects as cherished things as apposed to newer generations that view objects as disposable.
You know, now that I've written all this I am not sure what the age of that man was, so maybe this entire comment is based on assumption and personal contemplation. Its wrong of me to assume.
I dunno, what do you think?
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