still photo or video?

[gns]

In the last couple of days, I came across these 2 similar cases of something that really falls smack in the middle of still and moving images. One by Alec Soth and the other by Susan Lipper (two photographers I've followed for a while).

I've always considered that a still photograph, being made in an instant, has no time component. But we don't experience a photograph in a 100th of a second. There is a much longer period of time in which we consider it. It seems to me, this is part of what is being addressed in these pieces. I found them interesting.

Does anyone know of other work in this vein?

http://www.susanlipper.com/or_video.html
https://vimeo.com/53032732

Thanks,
Gary

 

[telenous]

There are a few other examples in that vein. Some structuralist films(?) of the 60s/70s pop to mind. For example, Wavelength (M.Snow, 1967), where the function of zooming in particular is explored. (Among the few people who appear in the video is Hollis Frampton.) There are a few other attempts at staticity within film but I've mostly read about them, not watched them. They can be trying or engrossing depending on where you attempt to watch them (watch them at home in a portable device and die slowly, watch them in an appropriate space like a museum and get engrossed).

Perhaps closest to what Lipper and Soth did is some of the work of Gillian Wearing. In 1997 she won the Turner prize with a video where she assembled a few police officers and had them pose stiff for a sixty-minute long take in front of her videocamera. I can't find the video/photograph itself but the following have more on this: https://sofiefr.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/gillian-wearing/ and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1997/turner_prize/36273.stm .

By comparison, I have the feeling both Lipper's and Soth's efforts refer to their photographic heritage and that makes them particularly interesting to watch if you come from a similar background.

.

 

[robert blu]

I knew about Soth work (I'm a fan of his photographic work) but didn't know anything about Lipper. I remember since menu years ago of the Wavelength (OMG, so many years ago?)
I'll investigate about Gillian work.

It's interesting to see this kind of work, even if it is not my preferred. Thanks for the links.

robert