Niki de Saint Phalle, Film-still of «Daddy», 1972, Coloured reproduction, Inkjet-Print, Sprengel Museum, Hanover
Shoot!
Existential Photography at the Photographer’s
Gallery on Ramillies Street was one of the most original exhibitions I’ve seen.
Curated by Clément
Chéroux, the exhibition focuses on the photographic
shooting gallery, a practice I certainly was unaware of until attending this
show. There is a heavy emphasis on the vocabulary of photography. Terms such as
‘loading’, ‘taking aim’, and ‘shooting’ suggest a link between killing with a
gun and taking a photograph.
One of the works that dominates the 4th
Floor is an installation of a series of amateur pictures featuring Ria van
Dijk, a Dutch woman who first started shooting at the photographic shooting
gallery at her local fair in 1936. Her dedication to the sport is displayed in
a series of photographs that span 72 years! The audience witnesses this woman
age and the times around her constantly change.
The first photograph is a black and white
image and shows a very youthful looking Ria. Surrounded my young friends, Ria
stands upright, eyes sprightly and her hair styled in a sleek, dark bob. The
most recent photograph, dated 2008, shows a much order Ria, now with grey hair,
and much smaller in stature. Her walking stick lays on the stand, and in place
of her friends, her family now surround her in this colour photograph.
Ria van Dijk in 1936
Ria van Dijk in 2008
The 5th Floor is a much more interactive
space. Firstly, there is a real shooting gallery which allows for visitors to
try their hand at triggering the mechanics of a camera to create a
self-portrait for £5 a pop! There is also an video installation by Christian
Marclay, which was my favourite part of the show. Crossfire consists of four screens that are projected with scenes
from Hollywood movies. Marclay isolates clips of movie stars firing guns at the
camera, creating the illusion that they are firing at us. The work is
incredibly fast paced and the sensation of being shot at really is
heartstopping!
Shoot! Existential Photography by Clément Chéroux. Until January 6th.
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