1 
2In this digital era, new technologies of photography are frequently
announced, this leads to the assumption that in the future, the quality
of digital images will be better than films, influencing photo shooting
to be entirely digitalised. However, photographs taken in an analog way
with conventional developing methods has its value and unique meaning
behind the scenes.
Lisa Crowley and Joyce Campbell are exhibiting
two distinctive photographic exhibitions in Auckland city. “City of
Earth” – by Lisa Crowley, at Jensen Gallery, shows a kind of aesthetics
of ruins. At the first glance of the massive black and white prints,
the sublime ruins are compelling that it drags audiences into the
actual sceneries of pictures. This series of images is captured in film
and it investigates the relationship between colonist history, settlers
and the almost forgotten villages or industrial places in mid-west of
New Zealand.
Joyce Campbell’s exhibition at Two Rooms Gallery –
“Crown Coach Botanical”, exploits the ambrotype, which is an antiquated
method of developing photographs, to produce her plants images. She
captures different species plants to compare it with various identities
of people in Logs Angeles, testifying who they are and where are they
from.
Ambrotype was invented in 1850, which in the same year, the
city of Logs Angeles was municipalised. Normally, the developed image
on glass appears as a negative. When it lies on a black backdrop, it
will turn up as a positive image with a unique grey tone. Owing to the
difficulties in controlling the developing time with the use of silver
nitrate solution, this development would usually leave stains and
watermarks on the glass. Nonetheless, these effects have become a part
of mechanisms of Joyce’s photographs, which consolidate and strengthen
the subject matter of her artwork. This is the reason why Joyce
capitalises the characteristic of ambrotype images for her project. In
fact, she engages this antique photographic method and botany to reveal
the metaphors where when something has already been forgotten, it
actually still exist.
Similarly, the motif of Lisa’s photographs
illustrates some kind of retrospections, but unlike Joyce’s printing
technique, Lisa uses the basic film process to present her images in
massive prints, and employs the 1950s’ photographic techniques and
equipment to reconstruct the style and themes. Her photographs are
distinctive to other landscapes, because, those pictures are so
compelling that it draws viewers back to the early colonialism. The
developed forestry with chopped trees and open cast mines interprets
that the places must have been isolated for a number of years.
Coincidently, these two different artists with varied interpretations
in their photographs have explored same subject matter; which is the
inaesthetic historical human beings. As well as demonstrating an idea
of obliteration which transforms into our current notion of society.
Indeed, important remembrance may be forgotten or deliberate erasure of
bad memories. However, there are thing that we cannot get rid of, for
instance our history, which is valuable and worthwhile to sustain.
In
addition, the syntax of these pictures is surrealistic. A quotation
from Susan Sontag’s book – On Photography – on P.68, she said, “any
collection of photographs is an exercise in surrealist montage.” It is
an appropriate comment, because if audiences only look at the pictures
without reading the text, they might not be able to perceive the
meanings behind the images, and understand what the artists are wanting
to explain. Although a good series of photographs would be given a good
syntax in terms of visual communication, the abstract concepts of the
motif in the artwork itself might not be entirely articulated by its
visual context. For example, Joyce Campbell’s botanical images included
with chemical stains are superficially associated with environmental
protection issue. However, there was another underlying meaning which
is our obliteration. This abstract idea of human being has visually
exceeded the function of visual language, and it has to be explained in
the form of written language. It generates a “hyper-meaning” in its
context and leaves a surreal feeling to viewers. Thereafter, it leaves
a space for imagination with audiences to further conceive what the
true meaning behind the artwork is. Perhaps one day in the future, a
new photographic technology would be announced, which could articulate
the photographers’ significances without any description.
3 
41.) Untitled 2, City of Earth, Lisa Crowley, http://www.jensengallery.com/exhibition/?at=Lisa%20Crowley&wt=Untitled+2&a=3&w=377
2.) Palm, Crown Coach Botanical, Joyce Campbell,
http://tworooms.versionproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ccpalm1.jpg
3.) Untitled 3, City of Earth, Lisa Crowley, http://www.jensengallery.com/exhibition/?at=Lisa%20Crowley&wt=Untitled+3&a=3&w=378
4.) Sunflower, Crown Coach Botanical, Joyce Campbell,
http://tworooms.versionproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ccsunflower2.jpg