August Sander / Michael Somoroff: Absence of Subject
BY DIANA EDKINS
Michael Somoroff’s ‘Absence of Subject’ is a poignant homage to the legendary photographer August Sander’s monumental work ‘People of the 20th Century’ (Menschen des 20 Jarhunderts). It is a thoughtful and passionate meditation on memory, imagination, human resilience and creativity.
The originality in this body of work is based on Somoroff’s keen sense of observation and interpretation. Absence of Subject lets you revisit August Sander’s work allowing you to understand the richness of Sander’s intent. In each of August Sander’s pictures Michael Somoroff has erased the subject retaining only the background. The unprecedented digital revolution has brought the potential for manipulation into focus. Through the use of software Somoroff has taken out what we have always believed to be the “essential element” – the subject, the portrait. The backgrounds once a secondary fragment now become the primary motivator. They have now been translated into new fully conceived images that rightfully belong to the “post-modern” idiom.
The exhibition Absence of Subject is a perfect example of a delicate balance of alchemy and inquiry. Conceptually and humanistically oriented each of Somoroff’s images demonstrates the persuasive power and aesthetic of August Sander’s oeuvre even without the human subject. This is not photography as we are accustomed to but more about the idea of creativity. The images embrace chance and acceptance. What Somoroff celebrates is to establish that post-modern art isn’t dislocated, but something with roots, tradition and continuity.
INFO:
The exhibition at Villa Vauban, Luxembourg City Art Museum is curated by Diana Edkins and Julian Sander and organized by Admira, Milan in collaboration with Feroz Gallery, Bonn. It is part of the European month of photography 2015. The exhibition runs from 24.04.2015 to 13.09.2015
PHOTO CREDITS:
Circus Workers, 1926-1932
© Die Photographische Sammlung/SK-Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Koln – VG-Bild Kunst, Bonn, 2011 Circus Workers, 2007
© Michael Somoroff
Farmer’s Child, 1919
© Die Photographische Sammlung/SK-Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Koln – VG-Bild Kunst, Bonn, 2011 Farmer’s Child, 2007
© Michael Somoroff
Soldier, c.1940, August Sander
© Die Photographische Sammlung/SK-Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Koln – VG-Bild Kunst, Bonn, 2011 Soldier, 2007
© Michael Somoroff
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