The birth of the camera, a tool for
photography, is based on the development of optical technologies and chemical
technologies in relation to lenses and films, respectively. Photography was
considered greater than paintings at recording objects, and yet it was the very
capability that placed photography in the realm of technology rather than in
the realm of art. It is irony that photography have pursued the path of
painting to earn a position as an art form. Artists explored a wide range of
potentials of photography both as an artistic expression and as a record of
facts. Photography invented in the 1830s was acknowledged as an art form as
late as 1910 after passing through the era of pictorialism when photographers
were bent on producing images as delicate as paintings.
After the era of pictorialism,
photographers returned to the technological basics of photography. By doing so
they enhanced its artistic qualities and ventured on a new possibility of art
by employing a variety of techniques.
In terms of technology, photography
is composed of two processes: capturing an object and developing and printing
images to be fixed on the paper. Focused on the traits of photography in terms
of the medium and technology, artists have pioneered a new realm of art by producing
unique and experimental images. With the advancement of digital media,
contemporary photography is, in particular, considered a potent instrument to
provide radical visual experiences, rather than just a tool for recording or
reproduction. Against the general assumption that photographs record things
objectively, some artists present a “fantastic” space which cannot be found in
the real world in a way that is to be perceived as real. Others try to convert
a real space into a fantasy using various techniques in the process of
shooting, developing and printing. To sum up, photography, which is based on
technology, has earned a place as an art form, equal to other fine art genres,
in contemporary art history with the dedication of photographers with great
artistic vision who carried out experiments with various techniques.
This exhibition is organized to
explore how such experiments with photographic techniques, an essential part of
photography, have evolved and finally helped it earn a place as art through
MMCA collection of outstanding contemporary photographs by Korean artists. It
focuses on meaningful experiments with techniques and new production methods in
Korean art history aimed at highlighting the diverse features of contemporary
photography. It is a rare opportunity to deepen the understanding of the medium
of photography.
Photographic
Techniques
Artists conducted a variety of
technical experiments with light and light sensitive chemicals based on the
understanding of basic principles of the camera. Some delved into figuring out
how to directly capture objects on the photographic paper without the help of
the camera. Some tried to overcome the differences in the way human eyes saw
the world and the camera lens captured an image of the world. And others
focused on capturing completely staged scenes betraying the general assumption
that images were always real. They introduced various photographic techniques
to express unique notions and ideas to push the boundaries instead of being
content with the traditional function of the camera to simply preserve the
forms of objects.
Darkroom
Techniques
Almost all the processes of
analogue photography including developing and printing are conducted in the
darkroom with an exception of shooting process. Various techniques applied to
the developing and printing processes make images push the boundaries of
photography to become close to painting and by adding manipulation in the
shooting phase, artists are able to reproduce surreal images which are never to
be found in the real world.
Lightroom
Techniques
The lightroom, as compared to the
darkroom, used to be a place in which the photographer conducted ex post facto
works after developing and printing photographs. The lightroom was not
considered as important as the darkroom in producing images since all the works
performed in the lightroom were no more than a simple job such as the
examination of developed and printed images, cutting and pasting photographs or
drawing onto them. But with the development of the digital camera and
image-editing softwares, ex post facto manipulation conducted in the lightroom
has become a crucial part in the process determining the quality of
photographs. These days photographs are usually revised with the help of
softwares and exist as a data in a digitalized form. As a result, almost all
the limits in relation to expression, have been overcome, which helps
photographers explore infinite potentials of photography in a wide variety of
ways.
Installation
Techniques
Photography is not any more limited
to two dimensional frames. Artists have introduced three dimensional
photographs and photography installations, transcending the traditional two
dimensional form of photographs. These techniques have encouraged artists to
reconsider their approach to photography.
