Clare Strand’s work has probably permeated my photography throughout the semester. I looked at her work early on but didn’t find any kind of resonance. However, she is one of those artists I keep coming back to. I looked at her stuff again just recently and this time something made sense about it all. Like the second time you read a book, you pick up on things that weren’t so apparent the first time.
Sometimes I feel like there are two types of photographers.. those who deliberately make images that comment on photography itself, and those who do not. Clare Strand seems to me to be one of those photographers who wants to take photographs to investigate photography. I like to look at these kinds of images but I don’t know if it really interests me to make images like this. Although ant photograph is arguably a comment in photography, to make a series of it all seems very 90’s to me.
While looking over all over her work I found an interesting review by David Campnay. I thought this was interesting:
‘“Research” has become a chronically earnest concept in contemporary art. So often the artist is supposed to “conduct” it in lieu of making things up, in order to be able to account for what he or she is doing. Artists who conduct research seem like safe bets: funding bodies like them. Curators, publishers, biennials and buyers like them.’
I think the image with the scissors is superb. Probably because I like these so much:
John Stezaker ‘Love XI’, 2006
Un Chien Andalou, 1929
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