Talking a few years ago about his now famous pictures of Glasgow, Raymond Depardon admitted that he felt like a "Martian", and that this distance and disorientation shaped the images that he took. In this illuminating Guardian article on Akihiko Okamura, Sean O'Hagan begins by mentioning the Strange And Familiar exhibition (which, incidentally, also featured Depardon's work) and argues that, while the Japanese photographer was somehow able to blend into the background in Troubles-torn Northern Ireland, his outsider's eye resulted in arguably the most striking and affecting images of the conflict.
O'Hagan zeroes in on precisely what makes Okamura's work stand out from the rest: "his rich colour palette ... that reanimated a turbulent time for so long portrayed solely in stark monochrome" (see for instance Chris Steele-Perkins); his preference for "quiet observation" over "frantic war reportage"; an eye for images that are simultaneously comic and poignant.
For O'Hagan, Okamura's pictures "brought back a sense of the peculiar texture of that time living in the north of Ireland: the almost surreal dislocation of the everyday that the early, unpredictable momentum of the Troubles brought in its wake. Suddenly and unsettlingly, normality was ruptured, the ordinary upended and the unspoken rules we lived by rendered redundant." That much is amply illustrated by the wonderful selection of images that punctuate O'Hagan's piece.
Given that Okamura's work made such an impression on him, it's obvious why O'Hagan would want to co-curate an exhibition (Akihiko Okamura: The Memories Of Others). I won't get to Dublin to see it in person, but the accompanying photobook is set to be an essential addition to the shelves.
No comments:
Post a Comment