![]() If it sounds like I'm bemoaning the anonymity of being a photographer, I'm not. Everyone knows the names of famous directors, but few people, unless they're movie buffs, or work in the industry, know the names of famous cinematographers. ![]() I love the work of Jay Maisel, Joe McNally and Vincent Laforet for example, but when I talk about them to people who aren't photographers, most have never heard of them. Today's famous photographers are only really famous to other photographers. That's why, when some people look at your photography they somewhat infuriatingly proceed to say to you: "Great picture, You must have a really good camera." Of course, as photographers we know that's far from the case. To many, the image is the important thing, and the artistry that may have gone into capturing that image, is never really thought about. Despite the protestations of some photographers that they "make the image, not take the image", to the average person, a photograph is something that was a moment in time that was captured by someone who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. To the general population, the photographer is an invisible artist. Almost everyone knows the famous haystacks painting of Vincent Van Gogh, but who knows who the photographer who took the iconic image of the Soldier and Nurse in Time Square in 1945 is. Everyone knows who painted the Mona Lisa, yet who (from the general public) can name the photographer that took that famous picture of the Afghan girl from the cover of national geographic. By contrast, everyone knows the names of famous painters, and many people who aren't artists will know who painted certain famous paintings. ![]() Their work may be well known, but the artist that created them, to most of the world, is invisible. Apart from Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson the world's most famous and influential photographic artists are just not that well known by regular people. Outside of other photographers, very few people of the general public can name, not only the photographers of many of the worlds famous images, but even any famous photographer at all. This is the case with most famous photographs. The disturbing yet moving photograph of the child's body washed ashore on the Turkish coastline shocked the world into action, and yet how many people know who the photographer was? Outside of the photographic community, I doubt anyone who is not into photography can name the photographer of that striking image. Last week, there was a very powerful image in the media, showing once again the importance of photography. Another way of looking at it is: "It's not about the photographer, it's about the image". You often hear photographers trot out the old trope of: "It's not about the camera, it's about the photographer", but in many ways that's not really the whole story either. This is not Garau’s first immaterial work as he recently displayed his sculpture, ‘Buddha in Contemplation’, in the Piazza della Scala in Milan.Īn accompanying Instagram post shows a seemingly vacant squared-off area of the piazza with scrolling text that reads, “You do not see it but it exists it is made of air and spirit… It is a work that asks you to activate the power of imagination.Something occurred to me recently while thinking about photography. The work comes with instructions that it be placed in a private house within a space free from any obstruction and at 150 by 150 centimeters in size. "When I decide to “exhibit” an immaterial sculpture in a given space, that space will concentrate a certain quantity and density of thoughts in a precise point, creating a sculpture that from my title alone will take the most varied forms,” he said, according to the site. ![]() ![]() This for a work that does not actually exist, at least in the material world. The Italian artist last month sold one of his works, an “immaterial sculpture” entitled ‘Io Sono’, for 15,000 euros (CAD$22,000), a price that was pushed up by a bidding war, according to news site. The good thing about buying a sculpture by Salvatore Garau is you don’t have to worry about accidentally knocking it over. ![]()
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