Performing for the Camera, edited by Simon Baker and Fiontán Moran with an essay by Jonah Westerman, Tate Publishing, 2016. Paperback, 240 pages.
Why do so many people spend so much time and effort posting pictures onto social media in an attempt to craft a coherent identity which may have little relation to their true selves? Do people inevitably put on a performance when faced with the lens of a camera? Are they, indeed, any different to those artists who deliberately set out to record performances? These are some of the questions asked by Performing for the Camera.
Produced to accompany the exhibition at Tate Modern, Performing for the Camera contains some short essays exploring the relationship between photography and performance (both records of actual artistic performances and, more interestingly, performances of the ‘self’) illustrated by over 300 well reproduced pictures.
The paper is of reasonable quality and thickness; white, smooth and slightly glossy. Unfortunately the book does not open out flat and the cover is made of quite thin card (although this is doubled over). As an object it feels nice in the hand, but a little prone to damage.
The main part of the book is divided into seven sections, each with its own short introduction highlighting the photographers featured. Documenting Performance examines photographers recording artistic performances, focusing mainly on the work of Shunk-Kender. Staging/Collaboration asks is it the performer or photographer who directs, notable here are Nadar and Eikoh Hosoe.
Photographic Actions examines the photograph as a way to record a performative act. Among others we have Carolee Schneemann in her studio, Ai Weiwei dropping an ancient urn, and Francesca Woodman alone in a decrepit room, her figure seemingly just another part of the surroundings.
In Performing Icons ideas about gender and cultural roles are examined; Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills, Man Ray’s portraits of Marcel Duchamp in the guise of his female alter ego, David Lamelas imagining himself in the role of rock god, and F. Holland Day imagining himself as the crucified Christ.
Public Relations considers how the self can be created and performed in a world of mass media, Hannah Wilke challenging feminist criticisms of her choice to use her own naked body in her art, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons mass producing art as product.
In Self-Portrait ideas about cultural roles are challenged, Jemima Stehli literally dealing with the ‘male gaze’, Martin Parr giving control over his representation to commercial photographic studios who set him in stereotypical settings and poses, Hans Eijkelboom inserting himself in the role of father in otherwise seemingly normal happy family portraits.
Performing Real Life is the final and perhaps most interesting section. Romain Mader’s Ekaterina series, charting his ‘search’ for a Ukrainian bride is a masterful blending of semi fact and semi fiction. Boris Mikhailov’s portrayal of a family holiday under the context of the constant acting out of expected roles demanded under Soviet Communism is at once performance and reality, satirical and sincere. Masahisa Fukase’s From Window series in which he photographed his wife Yoko from an upper window every day as she headed out from work, is compelling. It is part documentation, part performance on Yoko’s part. Fully aware of what her husband is doing, she sometimes plays to the camera sometimes glares at him (but is that too a performance?) Which brings us to Amalia Ulman’s Excellences and Perfections series, a fictional narrative posted onto her personal Instagram account. Like Mader, Ulman blurs the line between what is real and what is fiction. It was a planned and staged performance, but most of the tens of thousands of people who followed her were not aware of this. In an age of Instagram, Ulman is asking us, do we all to some extent create a fictional version of ourselves for the world to consume and comment on?
While I am unlikely to be able to get down to London to see the exhibition before it closes, Performing for the Camera is a fascinating and generally well realised book and well worth getting for anyone interested in photography and its use in creating versions of ourselves for others to consume.
Tags:
Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern, Shunk-Kender, Nadar, Eikoh Hosoe, Carolee Schneemann, Ai Weiwei, Francesca Woodman, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Stills, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, David Lamelas, F. Holland Day, Hannah Wilke, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Jemima Stehli, Martin Parr, Hans Eijkelboom, Romain Mader, Boris Mikhailov, Masahisa Fukase, Amalia Ulman
