Dept. Visual Arts Workshop

Peter-John Freeman — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:09:48 +0000

For workshop images, click here.

Soil & “Pimp” Sessions, Cape Town

Peter-John Freeman — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:25:05 +0000

Some shots I took of Soil & “Pimp” Sessions, Cape Town.

Motoharu on sax.

Midoryn on drums.

David Goldblatt Interview

Peter-John Freeman — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:10:24 +0000

David Goldblatt Interview
David Goldblatt is a South African who has since 1948 photographed the developments under Apartheid, and more recently, its aftermath. His work is unique because so few coherent bodies of work exist from that period, besides the journalistic coverage of riots. His latest book, Some Afrikaners Revisited, is a fascinating and intimate portrait of the Afrikaner culture during the years of political isolation. It follows another recent book, Intersections, which explores the influences between the South African landscape and its inhabitants in classic large format photography. – Interview by Peter-John Freeman
TFD: You must have an enormous body of work by now. How do you go to about selecting images for an exhibition or revisiting images that haven’t been printed? Does your archiving system ever influence or inform your selection?
DG: I tend to spend a lot of time on the selection and sequencing of photographs. Two tendencies are in tension – coherence and subjective ’satisfaction’. I try to resolve that tension in the choices I make. The archiving system is simply the tool to facilitate this process.
TFD: Do you ever discover or rediscover images? Do old images find new life in new contexts or do you lock specific works in specific groups to preserve their original context?
DG: I frequently discover/rediscover photographs and frequently change my perspective/view on them.
TFD: Is your view on Afrikaners evolving? I remember seeing your exhibition in the South African National Gallery and then recently Some Afrikaners Revisited in the Michael Stevenson Gallery. I can’t help but feel that the latest exhibition is slightly softer in its views. Is it a change of heart, mind, style or print size?
DG: Yes, my anger and fear have largely dissipated or become less immediate, so allowing for a more inclusive and softer response.
TFD: You were educated as an economist, how does that inform your work?
DG: Economics is the science of human action, which is based on the premise that in all conscious action we demonstrate our preferences. The ordering and expression of these preferences is largely the subject of my photography.
TFD: It is said that one cannot be a successful anthropologist in your own culture. Do you think there is much truth in this statement? To what extent do you see yourself involved in the culture of the Afrikaners you photographed?
DG: I know nothing to speak of about anthropology. I am hopelessly out of touch with Afrikaner culture, especially as manifested in the lives of contemporary young Afrikaners.
TFD: Architecture and structures (and their absence) play an important role in your work. I’m thinking about your works in MOMA. (Mother and Child in Their Home after the Destruction of Its Shelter by Officials of the Western Cape Development Board, Crossroads, Cape Town. 11 October 1984 and Sunday Afternoon, Oukasie, Brits, Transvaal. 30 November 1986) Can you say something about MOMA’s choice in purchasing those specific works?
DG: Architecture as a field of knowledge is not of great concern to me. I know very little about it. But structures as expressions of value are highly significant to me. I cannot speak of other countries and cultures, but I do believe that in ours, structures are often particularly telling signifiers of the values underlying them. I cannot answer for MoMA. Ask Susan Kismaric.
TFD: Is there a danger to photographers like yourself when galleries buy one or two works out of a huge collection to illustrate their own agenda. I imagine it possible to put together a very damaging view of Afrikaners from your body of work – if that was one’s intention. Do you feel a strong responsibility here?
DG: Once photographs are out in the world they become rather like children who have left home. You’ve got to trust them and let them make their own way.
TFD: South Africa has so much political energy fused into its art and academics, do you ever struggle to emphasize the personal aspect of your work?
DG: As far as I know all of my personal work results from a dialogue between me and myself in the first instance and then with my compatriots - or at least those that I can identify. But essentially personal work means just that.
TFD: You have your own wikipedia page. Did you know?
DG: I was recently told about it. As far as I know, anyone can put anyone into a Wikipedia page. It has very little significance.
TFD: I’m amazed at he shadow detail in your work. Africa’s sun is incredibly challenging to work under – did you use any High Dynamic Range techniques for combining photographs into a single exposure.
DG: I don’t know what High Dynamic Range techniques are. My technique is essentially based on the classical precept: expose for the shadows develop for the highlights. In other words expose generously. What isn’t there cannot be rendered. Digital control of the image in the hands of a sophisticated and skilled operator is an astonishingly flexible tool. Tony Meintjes is such an operator. I have a pretty good idea of what I want and expect to get out of a particular negative. He makes it happen.
TFD: Your camper was parked outside the Michael Stevenson Gallery, I’m assuming its the one you used to make Intersections? Any do’s and  dont’s on fitting a camper for that kind of expedition?
DG: Do you want the long version or the short version? The camper: For 10 years (1983-1993) I traveled the country whenever I could in a VW Camper, in search of structures to photograph. That work was published in South Africa: the Structure of Things Then. Based on that experience I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted in a camper for my present ramblings. After fairly extensive enquiries about various makes/models etc I bought a 4×4 Isuzu 2.8 litre turbo charged diesel single cab bakkie, took off the box and had a body built onto the chassis to my specs. by Pottie Potgieter of Mobile Designs in Pretoria. The vehicle has a pop-up roof so that when encamped one can live and work quite comfortably in the camper portion. This has a 2 plate gas stove, a fridge (gas/12 volt/220 volt) a hot water geyser, an emergency shower, double bed and storage space for groceries, clothes, books, maps, equipment. Equipment can be reached from a hatch on each side of the vehicle so that one doesn’t have to climb in and out to get to it. The roof is reinforced so that I can stand on it. Stabilizing legs can be fitted to prevent swaying of the vehicle in the wind when working on the roof. The ladder to the roof comes off and becomes an A form stepladder for working away from the vehicle.
TFD: Thank you very much, David. We wish you all the best with your current European tour and promotion of Some Afrikaners Revisited. It is certainly a unique and highly collectable book, not to mention fascinating. I know proper correspondence is hard to keep up while traveling, so extra thanks for taking time out for this interview.
DG: Thank you.
Many of David Goldblatt’s books are available on Amazon.com, including his collaboration with Nobel Prize winner, Nadine Gordimer – Lifetimes Under Apartheid. Here is a short list:
David Goldblatt: Intersections (Hardcover)
South Africa: The Structure of Things Then (Hardcover)
David Goldblatt: Photographs: Hasselblad Award 2006 (Hardcover)
Lifetimes Under Apartheid (Hardcover)

iStockphoto

Peter-John Freeman — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:08:04 +0000

I am a commercial photographer & avid contributor to iStockphoto. You can see my stock portfolio at www.istockphoto.com/the_flying_dutchman. iStockphoto has kindly awarded me a few recognitions over the years including Artist of the Week, Stock Pick of the Month & two Hotshots (eight images chosen from the 6 million at iStockphoto to be exhibited with Getty’s top images every week). I have recently been accepted into Getty through iStockphoto & hope to shoot reportage for them soon.

commissions

Peter-John Freeman — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:27:32 +0000

Although most of my photographic efforts are aimed at the internet market , I do take commissions. I especially enjoy portrait & documentary work. Feel free to contact me with questions regarding.

independent

Peter-John Freeman — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:18:20 +0000

I try to maintain a sense of my own narrative & aesthetic instincts. A camera can be a pretty good Geiger counter for these things. See the blog for more independent work.

Triad tattoo, wetmarket, Shulin, Taipei, Taiwan.