Jenny Altschuler and Anthony Strack
by Carla Lever
Jenny Altschuler's 'Participations With Women' is a collection of 12 black and white silver bromide prints of women, some part of the photographer's intimate family circle, others strangers. All explore the complex relationship between photographer and subject in varying ways. Each photograph is accompanied by a comprehensive caption, adding at times subjective detail that colours the viewer's interaction to the primary text of the photographs themselves.
On the other hand, Anthony Strack's exhibition, entitled 'close', is an exploration of a singular relationship - that of the artist to his girlfriend. It comprised a selection of nude colour portraits, in varying degrees of abstraction, shot at (quite literally) close range. The title is thus a play on both the intimacy of the relationship and the format of the shots. In his series of nude prints, Strack utilises medium format and archival photographic paper, ensuring that the detail of the prints is extremely high.
With all sorts of ideas in my head about the contrasts between these two very different exhibitions, I first caught sight of Rodene Studios during the busy opening night of the 'Night Vision' festival. As roving spotlights perfectly illuminated the external wall of the building, I saw a giant painting of a cartoon woman proclaiming the somewhat ambiguous words "Here's Joy", an ironic start for an exhibition dealing with women as subjects of photography.
Once however past the plate glass doors and smart door guards, I was plunged suddenly and unexpectedly into what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse, complete with cold concrete floor and spare light cables trailing out the ceiling. Blaring music and the obligatory Storm model girls circulating with sponsored vodka and snacks completed the strange picture before me. Like Dorothy I wanted to cry out to Toto: "This isn't Kansas anymore".
However much artistic currency the 'shabby chic' look may currently hold, there is no doubt that, once inside, the venue let down the artworks to a great extent. Extremely poor temporary lighting (the venue itself had no light fittings) made the pictures, most notably Altschuler's, almost impossible to view. Indeed, one had at times to walk past the picture one intended to view and glance back at it in order to avoid the glare of the bar wall lights positioned directly opposite Altschuler's main exhibition wall. This often had the somewhat eerie effect of having the women swim in and out of focus in front of one, as opposed to the Strack nudes, which shone out clearly and coldly against the stark interior.
At times, Altschuler's 'Participations With Women' draws interesting attention to the complex relationship between the photographer and her subject. In the opening image the subject's gaze is reflected back at us through a mirror, thus calling into question our own position as viewer. However for the most part, the subject is dealt with relatively lightly, which detracts from what are ultimately some good quality and extremely rich photographs.
In her written introduction to the exhibition, Altschuler comments: "The photographer and the subject participate in a confrontation of sorts, where the connection between them allows them both to speak". Bearing this statement in mind, I came to question just how much agency or speech these women are allowed since ultimately, it is Altschuler's choices - her camera, her framework and her words - that shape our viewing experience.
While the venue did little to enhance the works, the presentation of certain photographs left much to be desired, with Altschuler's prints especially poorly mounted. While it must be remembered that many of the artists participating in the festival were doing so on a modest budget, there is no excuse for the frankly substandard presentation of some of the work. In this regard Strack's extremely polished and commercial presentation contrasted sharply with Altschuler's - her work appeared hastily and, at times, carelessly presented - detracting from the overall aesthetic experience.
Interestingly, Altschuler utilised relatively comprehensive captions as an enriching element to her work, something that up till now she has avoided. While they undoubtedly added another level to the visual experience, I felt that, overall, they raised more questions than they answered, at times creating problematic relationships between text and image that may have detracted from the visual experience, and indeed, the original intention of the artist.
For instance, the discourses of inclusion and exclusion that are set up by the images is heightened by Altschuler's habit of naming family figures, in contrast to her use of generic pronouns for the 'other', the woman on the street. Yet this also has the effect of keeping the viewer out. Disturbingly, we do not know who, for example, Vircilla, Roz and Liza are, even though we are sharing intimate moments of their lives, giving us a sense of discomfiture or even voyeurism. We are invited in, but only so far.
As a whole, the Altschuler exhibition seemed to suffer from a lack of coherence and depth to the subject matter. There was a curious combination of the documentary image and family snapshot genres (emphasised by the familiarity of the first-name basis of the captions), which, while they decidedly highlighted the differing relationship of photographer to photographed, seemed at times to sit uncomfortably together.
Strack's presentation was far slicker than Altschuler's, and his placement at the far wall of the building allowed him to escape the worst of the glare of the bar lighting. Aesthetically, many of the shots were beautifully composed. Yet this exhibition was, by the artist's own acknowledgement, one concerned entirely with surface. While it was possible to engage at an aesthetic level with the shape, form and composition of the images, I found the lack of depth or sense of emotion disappointing, indeed, somewhat disturbing, with the usual questions of objectification and commercial exploitation of the female form springing to mind.
In this case, the male gaze predominates; the woman is broken into body parts to be enjoyed purely in their own right. Nowhere is there any hint of the woman behind the image. In this regard, it is interesting to bear in mind the positioning of Rodene Studios near an X-rated shop and a strip club. (The studios form an almost perfect triangle with two of Cape Town's major adult outlets.) While the works seemed heavily influenced by commercial fashion photography, the artistic history of the female nude was clearly at work, lending credibility to the abstracted images.
However, many questions can be asked about the positioning of woman as subject/object in both instances. Altschuler, whether or not she was successful in her attempt, clearly endeavoured to engage with the women she photographed as subjects in their own right, while Strack is very clearly setting up the woman in his shot as aesthetic object. Altschuler places her subjects within very strong political and social discourses that colour the perceptions of the viewer. Strack, on the other hand deals with a contextless body, a body that becomes a politicised space solely by virtue of its vulnerability and exposure.
Opens: March 20
Closes: March 30
Carla Lever is a student of Art Criticism, currently studying her Honours at the University of Cape Town. Jenny Altschuler and Anthony Strack's photographs were exhibited at 16 Rodene Studios, Bloem Street, Cape Town.
