septembar 2014.

Iskustvo prostora. Pejzaž u fotografijiExperience of Space. Landscape in Photography

Kustosi | CuratorsLjubica Milović MastilovićStiv Bison | Steve Bisson

Koordinatorka projekta | Project CoordinatorMilica Mastilović

Producent | ProducerJovan Jakšić

Tehnička podrška | Technical supportĐorđe Popić, Pajica Dejanović

Muzej savremene umetnosti Vojvodine | Museum of Contemporary Art VojvodinaSeptember 2, 2014 - September 26, 2014

Muzej savremene umetnosti Vojvodine | Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina

Urbanautica

David PolokDušan RajićDastin ŠamŽofri Matju

Žordi HizmanHuan Margoles

Mustafa AbdulazizPaolo Fusko

Rajan DebolskiSerđo Rolando

Kustosi:Stiv Bison

Ljubica Milović Mastilović

David PollockDusan RajicDustin ShumGeoffroy MathieuJordi HuismanJuan MargollesMustafah AbdulazizPaolo FuscoRyan DebolskiSergio Rolando

Curated by:Steve BissonLjubica Milovic Mastilovic

e s e j i

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Možda nije očigledno kako izložba fotografija predstavlja arhitektonsko istraživanje. Veza postaje jasnija kada se ukaže na to da je centralna tema koju ovde ispitujemo, pa samim tim i arhitekture kao profesije danas: šta je prostor u savremenom svetu?

Kako odrediti kulturni legitimitet i relevantnost arhitekture? Da li ih vezati za vizuelnu fizičku stvarnost građene sredine, za društvene (čak ekonomske) efekte akumulacije vrednosti ili za stvaranje „ubedljivih narativa“. Pitanje nije novo, radi se o univerzalnoj bezvremenoj dilemi u arhitekturi, kao što ističe Ole Bouman1.

Verujem da se shvatanje prostora većine naših savremenika poklapa sa slikama i doživljajima prostora kako je prikazan u psihogeografskim istraživanjima situacionista. Svet u kojem živimo u najvećoj mogućoj meri je „subjektizovan“: objektivna stvarnost je zapravo kaleidoskopski prikaz sastavljen od miliona, milijardi ličnih svetova, koji su predstavljeni slikama (pre nego pojmovima) i aplaudovani na servere; internet je, uz korišćenje optičkih medija, postao prostor za generisanje kolektivnog iskustva života – iskustva prostora. Svet nije ono što vidimo nego doživljaj viđenog uslovljen vaspitanjem, iskustvom, emocijom.

Šta je posao arhitekata u tom kontekstu tumačenja prostora? Kada se prevaziđe očigledna nužnost „izgradnje krova nad glavom“, ostaje zadatak stvaranja

dodatnog nematerijalnog sadržaja i vrednosti. Prostor nije jednoznačno određen. Optički prostor i virtuelne platforme su jednako relevantni kao fizičko okruženje. Arhitekte bi trebalo da istražuju sredstva i zakonitosti stvaranja u optičkom prostoru – kao u fizičkom. Prostor fotografije, prostor filma, pejzaži u game engineu legitimni su arhitektonski zadaci. Pronaći metode i načine da se rekreira autentično, životno iskustvo prostora u optičkim medijima je možda nova budućnost arhitekture kao struke.

Izložba Iskustvo prostora – PEJZAŽ zamišljena je kao jedna od mogućih prizmi za prikaz ličnog iskustva prostora, ličnog pejzaža, u fotografiji. Pažljiva selekcija fotografskih projekata (Stiv Bison), upotpunjena esejima Natalije Reznik i Gerija Grina trebalo bi da jasno istakne pluralnost shvatanja pejzaža i višeznačnost sredstava kojima se iskustva beleže i prenose; ciklusa u kojima se interpretacije viđenog nadovezuju i preklapaju sve dok nečiji stvarni prostor svakodnevice ne postane slika: akumulacija značenja koja predstavlja specifičan kulturni kapital.

Ljubica Milović Mastilović_ISKUSTVO PROSTORA: ŠTA JE PROSTOR DANAS?

1 Ole Bouman „What is Quality Today“ u „Europi-an Union Prize for Con-temporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2009“; Founda-tion Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, Barcelona, 2009

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Viđenje pejzaža kroz fotografiju. Zašto bi nam to bilo važno? Fotografija je više nego bilo koji drugi medij u istoriji pružila ljudima priliku da reprodukuju svoje viđenje sveta. Svaki slika je iskustvo koje svedoči o samoj osobi, i tome kako je ona pozicionirana u svetu, o izborima ili posebnostima na osnovu kojih funkcioniše u stvarnosti. Mogućnost skoro bezgraničnog reprodukovanja fotografija koji je omogućila informaciona revolucija, i zatim širenje upotrebe digitalnih medija, povećali su domet ovako transformisanih pogleda na svet. Velik deo onoga što obeležava individualno iskustvo i ono što je viđeno sve manje dolazi od neposrednog iskustva sa pejzažem, a sve više od pasivne recepcije slika koje su proizveli ili filtrirali drugi. Definicija pejzaža nije ostala imuna pred tehnološkim napretkom, i za njega Evropska konvencija kaže da je to „područje, kako ga ljudi vide“. Po toj definiciji, kao žrtva podrazumevane subjektivnosti, pejzaž se pretvara u hipertekst, kroz mnogostruke putanje čitanja koje su rezultat kolektivnih kognitivnih aktivnosti opisivanja, simulacije, identifikacije, intuicije, beleženja. To je vizija koja predstavlja humanistički koncept pejzaža, složeni sistem znakova koji su geografski u svojim „prostornim

pojavnostima“ i koji spremno prihvataju pamćenje i maštu, prošlost i budućnost, te, dakle, sve vremenske dimenzije.

Poteškoće s kojima se suočavamo pri pokušajima da objasnimo pejzaž podudaraju se sa njegovom bolno ubrzanim transformisanjem koje se, pak, u fotografiji manifestuje kao eksponencijalna proizvodnja slika koje se uglavnom povezuju sa terminom „pejzažna fotografija“, a u kojoj učestvuju stotine miliona ljudi na svetu svake sekunde. Da li možemo da budemo ravnodušni pred tim fenomenom? Godine 2009. odlučio sam da počnem da istražujem tu proizvodnju slika kako bih potkrepio tvrdnju da je fotografija filozofska praksa pronalaženja osećaja granice, tj. razjašnjenja jezika i, samim tim, reči putem kojih vizualizujemo svet. Godine 2010, kroz projekat Naturae, istakao sam da je sama definicija prirode izražena kroz nekoliko „stanja prirode“ koja odgovaraju različitim potrebama, a koje nije odredila teritorijalna već kulturološka specifičnost; usled fragmentarnog palimpsesta mogućnosti upravo to predstavlja pejzaž. Haotičan, poput zamršenog lavirinta, neuhvatljiv i ponekad neodrediv. U saradnji sa Ljubicom Milović iz Muzeja savremene umetnosti Vojvodine,

Stiv Bison_PRIRODA POSMATRANJA

Stiv Bison, italijansko-belgijski umetnički direktor i kustos, tokom poslednjih pet godina istraživao je bezgraničnu produkciju slika i njihov uticaj na percepciju pojedinca. Njegova teza je da fotografiju treba videti kao filozofsku praksu pronalaženja osećaja granice koji omogućava razjašnjenje jezika pomoću kojeg vizualizujemo svet. Kako njegovi projekti imaju velikog odjeka, sarađuje sa muzejima, galerijama, festivalima, izdavačima, umetnicima i fotografima širom sveta.

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2013. godine, prihvativši haos kao predmet izučavanja, istražili smo na koji način je moguća orijentacija u prostoru, iznad svega kulturološka orijentacija, putem posmatranja stanja prirode. Rezultat toga je renesansni i neoplatonski stav kao osnova za proučavanje prirode koji akcenat stavlja na sile koje su stvaraju kontekst; ne u nostalgičnom smislu, kao recidivi lokalizma, već sa željom da se otkriju novi načini iščitavanja iste vizure. To je početak putovanja koje je zasnovano na samim korenima misli o istraživanju, izlaganju i stvaranju.

Gledati nije isto što i videti, zato što oči interpretiraju a um stvara sinteznu sliku na osnovu kulturoloških elemenata u dijahronoj dimenziji. Svet, prema Vitgenštajnu, predstavlja ukupnost činjenica a ne stvari. Slika je stoga delimično predstavljanje vidljivog, i ciljem da posvedoči tome da li materijalna stvarnost uopšte postoji. Postavljam pitanje: Da li pejzaž ili njegova slika pokazuju viši stepen teritorijalne posebnosti ukoliko je posmatrač veštiji u reorganizovanju, u okviru konkretnih vizuelnih jedinica, istorijskih putanja koje su odredile njihov razvoj – na isti način na koji nas presek kroz planine podseća na geološke činjenice njihovog nastanka? Jedinstven odgovor verovatno ne postoji, i iz tog razloga korisno je istražiti, kako značenje pejzaža u istoriji umetnosti tako i obrazovne pristupe u školama. Te teme su obrađivali Natalija Reznik i Gari Grin u svojim esejima. Projekti u ovom katalogu i izložbi govore o nemogućnosti da se formira sveobuhvatna, konačna mapa u okviru globalne dezorijentacije hiperprostorom. Takođe nas upućuju na to da razmišljamo o kognitivnom preopterećenju na koje je kustos – ili bilo koja druga osoba koja posmatrajući stvarnost filtrira sadržaje kroz arhivu ili pamćenje – osuđen. Zbog toga smo odlučili da se pitanje

iskustva pejzaža ne tretira na osnovu izbora zasnovanog na različitim vidovima produkcije pejzaža (od dokumenta do imaginacije), s obzirom na to da bi takav pristup obnovio ogromno polje predstavljanja koga smo već svesni, i što bi, možda, dao novi dokaz o nomadskom egzistencijalizmu. Nasuprot tome, odlučili smo da kriterijum bude viđenje prirode kao principa za tumačenje očiglednog haosa.

Bilo da je u pitanju funkcionalno igralište u novim stambenim blokovima u Berlinu, noćni štandovi sa cvećem u Rimu, viseće urbane utopije u Dubaiju, ranjivost vode u Fritaunu, divlje širenje Marseja duž obale, spektakularizacija doline reke Doro u Portugaliji, ponovno prisvajanje zemljišta u Holandiji, opštinske bašte u Viktoriji u Kanadi, improvizovana skloništa beskućnika u Subotici i Beogradu, ili sve veća gustina Hongkonga, priroda je i dalje ključni faktor u razumevanju urbanizacije, centralizacije, vertikalnog i dugog procesa koncentracije, koji je, paradoksalno, doveo do disperzije društva i njegovih potreba. Taj metod nam je pomogao da pređemo granicu osećaja estetskog prihvatanja, s ciljem da se pronađe sistem za tumačenje dezorijentacije. Uveren sam da fotografija služi više onima koji je prave nego onima koji je gledaju. Međutim, ako se zapitamo gde se nalazimo u odnosu na to šta vidimo – u tom slučaju fotografija govori o našoj prirodi.

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Gari Grin je dobio titulu mastera umetnosti na Fakultetu Milton Ejveri koledža Bard gde je držao nastavu fotografije od 1994. Nakon selidbe u Mejn 1998, predavao je na koledžima Bodojn i Bejts, a od 2007. kao vanredni profesor iz oblasti umetnosti radi na koledžu Kolbi.

U SAD, njegove fotografije su izlagane u okviru samostalnih i grupnih izložbi na Univerzitetu Nevade u Rinu, na Tehničkom univerzitetu Teksasa u Luboku, u Muzeju umetnosti Berkšir u Pitsfildu (Masačusets), u galeriji Paolo Baldaku u Njujorku, galeriji Kajafas u Bostonu, te u galeriji Sejf-Ti (Safe-T-Gallery) u Bruklinu, u umetničkoj oblasti Njujorka poznatoj pod akronimom DUMBO. Nedavno je izlagao fotografije iz trenutne serije radova Nejasni teren (Terrain Vague) u okviru

samostalne izložbe na Univerzitetu Sadrn Mejn, dok je izbor tih fotografija prikazan 2013. na Bijenalu Muzeja umetnosti u Portlandu. Radovi su mu, takođe, objavljeni u časopisu Blajnd Spot i na internet stranicama Urbanautica i Nju Lendskejp Fotografi (Nova fotografija pejzaža).

Grinove fotografije su, pored brojnih drugih javnih i privatnih kolekcija, deo kolekcije Muzeja umetnosti u Hjustonu (Teksas), Muzeja Ejmon Karter u Fort Vortu (Teksas), Muzeja Škole dizajna Rod Ajlend u Providensu (Rod Ajlend), Muzeja umetnosti Koledža Dejts u Luistonu (Mejn), Muzeja umetnosti u Portlandu (Mejn), Muzeja umetnosti Koledža Bodojn u Brunsviku (Mejn), te Muzeja umetnosti Kolbi u Votervilu (Mejn).

Gari Grin_LIČNI PEJZAŽ

Čak i kada je pejzaž u velikoj meri izobličen i kada je nad njim izvršeno nasilje, i dalje iz njegove dubine izbija život. Kada vidimo ogromno, nepregledno ili zastrašujuće mesto, drhtimo pred onim što osećamo jer nam ono što vidimo narušava osećaj celovitosti… U takvim trenucima naša osećanja posežu za razumevanjem. To je ono što nam fotografija pejzaža poklanja: mesto na kome srce pronalazi oslonac.

– Emet Govin1

1 “Even when the landscape is greatly disfigured or brutalized, it is always deeply animated from within. When one really sees an awesome, vast, and terrible place, we tremble at the feelings we expe-rience as our sense of wholeness is reorganized by what we see… At such a moment, our feelings reach for an understanding. This is the gift of a landscape photo-graph, that the heart finds a place to stand” (Emmet Gowin, Changing the Earth, by Jock Reynolds, 2002. Yale University Press: New Haven and London, str. 4).

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Završni projekat koji često zadajem svojim studentima na kursu fotografije jeste Lični pejzaž. Tema projekta je namerno široka da bi dozvolila različite interpretacije. Iako studenti često pristupe zadatku kroz istraživanje snova, portrete, autoportrete itd. (što je sve savršeno opravdano), mnogi se odluče da naprave fotografije pravog pejzaža, i ono što tom prilikom nauče je uvek značajno.

Dajem im predloge kako da pristupe pejzažu na individualno izražajni način. Kao podsticaj mogu da odu u šetnju ili da pročitaju pesmu o prirodi, ili da posete mesto čija je istorija u posebnoj vezi sa njihovim životom – kamp, deo grada, plažu itd. Mogu da fotografišu spoljašnjost prodavnica u centru grada, obalu reke, ili čak prazne prodavnice i otvoreno zemljište duž avenije Koledž. Suština je da im predlažem mesto na kojem mogu da počnu fotografisanje. Ponekad im pričam o fotografima kao što su Atget, Li Fridlander, Robert Adams i An-Mu Li i pokazujem im primere njihovih radova kako bih nagovestio da pejzaž može da uključuje samu prirodu, građevine, ličnu istoriju i metaforu.

Za mene je fotografisanje pejzaža uvek nešto lično. Fotografije pejzaža nam pružaju priliku da razumemo gde živimo i šta naši životi znače. Slike pejzaža mogu da dočaraju osećaj mesta. Mogu da preispituju društvena pitanja, da nagoveste ironiju, da dokumentuju trenutke u vremenu. Bez fotografije pejzaž bi bio gotovo nedostižan, neopisiv, pa čak i nerazumljiv. Prilikom fotografisanja moramo da definišemo pristup, predmet interesovanja, mesto sa jasnim granicama.

Pejzažna fotografija izražava naše vreme u ovom određenom trenutku u istoriji sveta. Zgrade, prazno

zemljište, gradske ulice i poljane zajedno predstavljaju označitelje onoga što jesmo i onoga što nam je važno. I što je najbitnije, kada fotograf formira određeni kadar, mora da odluči gde će da stane, odnosno, kao što Govin napominje, gde će smestiti svoje srce.

Studenti često pronađu svoje srce u tom zadatku tako što mnogo pažljivije posmatraju svet koji su mislili da poznaju. Nekada pogled na sumorni i oronuli pejzaž centralnog dela države Mejn, koji se bori sa ekonomskim problemima, može da otkrije mnogo više od onoga što je prvobitno viđeno. Možda počnu i da uviđaju istoriju regije, ljudskost iza pada i siromaštva koje je usledilo, kao i lepotu koja dolazi iz jasnog viđenja sveta koji ih okružuje. Otkrivajući ono što je lično i zaista lepo studenti počinju da vide znakove nade u mestima i predelima koja su nekad delovala pusto i sumorno.

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Jedan od pronalazača fotografije, Henri Foks Talbot, inspirisan italijanskim pejzažom i usled činjenice da nije bio preterano vešt u crtanju, iskoristio je cameru lucidu. Kako nije bio zadovoljan rezultatom, a u želji da „popravi“ pejzaž stvoren uz pomoć opreme, postavio je temelje za pojavu pejzažne fotografije. Njegova metafora o fotografiji kao „olovci prirode“ odnosi se prvenstveno na žanr pejzaža – kao da je sámo predstavljanje pejzaža bilo glavni razlog pronalaska fotografske tehnologije. Ne čudi što je nakon pronalaska fotografije pejzaž postao jedan od najpopularnijih žanrova – za razliku od čoveka, on se nije pomerao, što je omogućilo korišćenje duge ekspozicije u uslovima upotrebe fotografskog materijala slabe osetljivosti.

Žozef Nisefor Nijeps je 1826. napravio prvu fotografiju na kalajnoj ploči uz pomoć camere opscure. Ova fotografija još uvek postoji – i takođe je u pitanju pejzaž, pogled na grad. Ekspozicija pogleda s prozora trajala je osam časova po jarkom suncu.

Do kraja devetnaestog veka fotografija je prerasla u popularan način istraživanja stvarnosti – ljudi su sa

kamerama počeli da putuju po svetu i sve da fotografišu. Teško su putovali, noseći čitave vagone sa kamerama i staklenim pločama, ali sav taj dodatni napor nije mogao da se meri sa njihovom žeđi za znanjem i osvajanjem vidljivog sveta putem fotografije. Fotografi su putovali sa geološkim i geografskim ekspedicijama po Evropi, Rusiji i Americi (npr. Timoti O’Salivan je slikao američki Zapad tokom šezdesetih i sedamdesetih godina devetnaestog veka). Njihovo viđenje pejzaža, koje nas vodi od poznatih vizura znanog sveta do naizgled neizmernih teritorija koje se tek otkrivaju, koje dokumentuje daleke granice netaknutih, ogromnih prostranstava, predstavlja radoznao pogled izviđača i istraživača. Pejzaž u njihovim slikama, mada u velikoj meri predstavlja dokumentovanje teritorija u cilju informisanja, ujedno ima i emotivni prizvuk – ponos istraživača ili zadivljenost usled veličanstvenosti domovine. Tim fotografima rad na kompoziciji i svetlu nije bio stran; npr. O’Salivan, koji je ranije pomenut, često je provodio dugo vremena čekajući na najpovoljnije svetlo.

Krajem devetnaestog i početkom dvadesetog veka javlja se prvi pokret u fotografiji poznat pod imenom „pikturalizam“. Taj pokret u sebi spaja ideje i estetiku

Natalija Reznik je rođena u Rusiji 1981, a trenutno živi i radi u Nemačkoj. Natalija je fotograf i istoričar umetnosti. Studirala je dizajn na Državnom tehničkom univerzitetu u Permu i dobila zvanje doktora nauka iz oblasti filozofije kulture na Državnom univerzitetu u Sankt Peterburgu. Predavala je fotografiju na Državnom institutu za umetnost i kulturu u Permu. Radi na tezi iz istorije umetnosti na Univerzitetu Erlangen u Nirnbergu (Nemačka), bavi se izradom ličnih foto-projekata i predaje u Fondaciji FotoDepartman u Sankt Peterburgu.Natalija Reznik_PEJZAŽNA FOTOGRAFIJA

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engleskih predrafaelista, nemačkog jugendstila, francuskog art dekoa i impresionističkog slikarstva. Rezonanca između ciljeva fotografa pikturalista i ideala pokreta umetnosti i zanata očigledno postoji – živo je prisutna u njihovom zanimanju za tehničke elemente, u njihovom suprotstavljanju formalnosti i standardizaciji zahuktale industrijalizacije i njihovim idejama bliskosti sa prirodom.

Pikturalisti nastoje da stvore idealan pejzaž primenom različitih štamparskih tehnika, objektivima blagog fokusa i monoklima, čime se smanjuje kontrast na slici i omogućava predstavljanje morske daljine i vazdušne perspektive, pa čak i ručnog dovršavanja fotografije docrtavanjem. Njihova deskriptivna sredstva podsećaju na pejzaže Nikolasa Pusena, Kloda Lorena i Đorđonea – posebno usled korišćenja tamnih „zavesa“ u prednjem planu radi stvaranja tonske perspektive i zbog stabilnosti kompozicije, usled korišćenja „spektakularnih“ svetlosnih uslova (kao što je, na primer, zalazak sunca), koherencije svih predstavljenih elemenata, usled odsustva svega što je nepotrebno i trivijalno. Sama atmosfera tih pejzaža upućuje na Zlatno doba čovečanstva – na period harmonije između čoveka i prirode.

Na primer, američki fotograf-pikturalista En Brigman u svojim kompozicijama uspela je da pokaže potpuno jedinstvo čoveka i prirode (Ulica borova, 1911. [The Pine Street], Srce oluje, 1902. [Heart of the Storm]). Ona je prva u istoriji pejzaža predstavila ženski akt u neukroćenoj prirodi. Od originalnih negativa napravila je duple pozitive, a zatim ih ponovo ručno obradila putem različitih posebnih tehnika (uključujući graviranje), da bi na kraju ponovo napravila negative i konačno ih izradila.

Omiljeni motivi pikturalista – među njima se nalaze romantične ruševine drevnih hramova, pejzaži krajolika Arkadije, šumski proplanci obasjani zracima sunca na kojima mirno pasu životinje (npr. radovi članova „Povezanog prstena“, fotografskog društva koje je 1892. osnovano u Engleskoj) – takođe su preuzeti iz klasičnog slikarstva.

Čuven po kombinovanim foto-slikama, fotograf Henri Pič Robinson prvi je upotrebio reč „pikturalizam“ u knjizi Pikturalni efekti u fotografiji (1869), pri čemu je primetio da fotograf u svom radu mora da poštuje ista pravila kao i umetnik. Smatrao je da su glavne odlike fotografije ravnoteža i jedinstvo. „Linije i svetlo, i senke, trebalo bi postaviti tako da se oko uvodi u sliku, i da mu se dopušta da u njoj pronađe oslonac; to nešto bi trebalo da bude tema na osnovu koje je slika izgrađena.“

U svojoj knjizi Robinson povlači niz paralela između naslikanog i fotografisanog pejzaža; razmatra metode u slikanju koje je moguće upotrebiti pri izradi fotografija, a takođe istražuje i zašto neke metode ne mogu biti uspešno prenesene u kontekst fotografije (razlog za to uglavnom leži u tehničkoj ograničenosti). „Fotograf nema mogućnost da stvara efekte tako što će se udaljiti od prirodnih činjenica, kao što je odavno slučaj među slikarima; ipak, on može da koristi sva legitimna sredstva kako bi predstavio priču koju želi da ispriča na najbolji način, i stoga ciljano izbegava ono što je loše, nisko i ružno; i teži da uzdigne svoj subjekat, da izbegne nezgrapne oblike i da popravi ono što nije slikovito“, napisao je.

Ipak, Robinsona – kao i druge pikturaliste – kritikuju u velikoj meri zbog pristupa koje usvaja, te se dvadesetih godina dvadesetog veka javlja novi jezik fotografije.

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Fotografija odustaje od pokušaja da „pozajmljuje“ od slikarstva i počinje da traga za sopstvenim vizuelnim sredstvima koja proizilaze iz specifičnosti samog medija. Čak i autori poput Edvarda Stajhena i Alfreda Stiglica, koji su isprva bili pikturalisti za vreme pokreta „Foto-secesije“ (koji je osnovan 1902. u SAD), do 1910. već napuštaju principe imitiranja slikarstva. Flatiron (1904) predstavlja Stajhenov najpoznatiji pejzaž koji je nastao u pikturalnom maniru.

Uprkos tome, Stajhen se ne ugleda na klasično evropsko slikarstvo; njegova kompozicija se približava grafici (kompoziciona struktura slike upućuje na japanske drvene gravure, npr. na Hokusaijeve pejzaže), koja je u tom periodu doživela uspon. Članovi pokreta „Foto-secesije“ bili su poznati po tome što su se okretali običnim, svakodnevnim pričama – npr. gradskim pejzažima (Stiglicova Železnička stanica, Njujork, 1893, ili njegova Ulica, 1903). Njihove fotografije, u svoj svojoj pikturalnosti, ne izgledaju kao generalizovani, gotovo izmišljeni „idealni“ pejzaži – to su meke, poetske slike koje ipak ne gube vezu sa stvarnošću savremenog grada.

Posledice druge industrijske revolucije uticale su i na sámo ljudsko viđenje prirode. U svom delu Pitanja povodom tehnologije Martin Hajdeger razmišlja o tome kako tehnološki napredak u prirodi vidi „izazove“. Tok Rajne instrumentalizovan je tako što je na nju postavljena hidroelektrana. Svet prirode gubi misterioznost i poetsku žicu time što biva pretvoren u „izvor energije“. Fotografski, postpikturalni pejzaži menjaju se u prizore savladane, ukroćene prirode koja je „izvučena iz svoje tajanstvenosti“ (kako bi to Martin Hajdeger rekao). Iz pejzaža nestaje impresionistička živopisna nota, a

s njom odlazi i meki fokus i klasična kompozicija; na njihovo mesto dolazi formalnost, geometrija, ugao kamere, oštrina i krutost predstavljanja. Velika pažnja se posvećuje detaljima spoljašnjeg sveta, potrazi za određenom lepotom i specifičnom harmonijom u njima, ali ne i generalizacijama i simbolima.

Pored Stiglica i Stajhena, u pejzažnu fotografiju uključeni su i Pol Strand, Edvard Veston, Gertrud Kezebir, Alvin Koburn. Od 1910, u časopisu Kamera verk (Alfred Stiglic je uređivao časopis čija je funkcija bila da zastupa pikturalizam) većina članaka je bila o modernoj umetnosti. Izdanje časopisa iz avgusta 1912. je bilo u potpunosti posvećeno slikama i skulpturama Anrija Matisa i Pabla Pikasa. Fotografi, koji su inspiraciju našli u modernoj umetnosti – kubizmu, futurizmu, apstrakciji – okreću se radu na formi. Epoha fotografskog modernizma počinje. Zahtevi za novim pristupom takođe stižu od izmenjenih vizuelnih oblika modernog sveta – umesto divljeg krajolika i pastoralnih predela javlja se industrijski svet elektrana, železnica, nebodera, automobila, vozova i aviona. U samoj suštini novog sveta nalazi se potreba za traganjem za novim oblicima predstavljanja.

Važno je konstatovati i da je pejzaž modernističke fotografije izgubio celovitost zbog svog usmerenja na detalje i fragmente, koji su se često određivali u smislu apstrakcije. Autori su prestali da stvaraju dela u kojima je „jedinstvo“ (nakon Robinsona) glavna odlika. Naprotiv, modernisti svesno usvajaju pristup prema kome ističu prirodu fragmenata i objektivizuju ih. Pejzaž Bela ograda Pola Stranda (1916), Ambar u okrugu Baks Čarlsa Šilera (1916), Kuća i lišće grožđa Alfreda Stiglica (1934), kao i njegova Živica i trava

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(1933) i Ekvivalenti (1929), predstavljeni su u suštini kao studije mrtve prirode sa predmetima koji su gotovo izdvojeni iz svog okruženja, uz izuzetnu pažnju koja je poklonjena teksturi, strukturi, obliku i telesnosti.

Edvard Veston, izvanredni fotograf iz tog perioda, usmerio se ne samo na mrtvu prirodu (zbog koje je stekao slavu), već i na pejzaž. Kao priznati vođa pokreta „Grupa 64“ primenio je principe grupe na pejzaž – fotografisao je kamerama velikog formata, štampao fotografije preslikavanjem na sjajnom papiru, poklanjao pažnju detaljima. Na primer, njegova dela Erodiran kamen, Pojnt Lobos (1930), Polje paradajza (1937), Okeanske dine (1936) značajni su zbog duboke tonske gradacije, upečatljivosti i precizne reprodukcije različitih tekstura. Veston je primetio da se pod pejzažem podrazumevaju sve fizičke odlike određene oblasti – voda, tlo, divlje cveće, vrhovi planina, a s njima i njihov uticaj, kao jedinstva, na ljude. Veston je, stoga, bio prvi fotograf koji je razmatrao društvenu ulogu pejzaža time što je fotografisao američki Zapad.

Međutim, Veston je bio duboko uronjen u estetiku, te je najviše pažnje pridavao vizuelnoj harmoniji i istraživanju metafizike pejzaža.

Zamoreni „tiranijom“ pejzaža Vestona i Ansela Adamsa, koji su strastveno slikali oblik i svetlost u pejzažima, fotografi druge polovine dvadesetog veka neočekivano se okreću dokumentovanju svakodnevnog. Zanimanje za gradski život javlja se usled urbanog širenja i rasta predgrađa.

Izložba Nova topografija: fotografija pejzaža koje je čovek izmenio (1975, Istmanhaus u Njujorku) objavila je novi

pristup predstavljanju prirode – nastupajuću novu estetiku pejzaža koje je čovek izmenio. Taj novi metod, na koji je izvesno uticala konceptualna umetnost šezdesetih godina, učvrstio je paradigmu pejzaža u savremenoj fotografiji.

Mlade fotografe koje je izabrao kustos Vilijam Dženkins ujedinila je težnja da se odvoje od tradicija estetike. Teme i predmeti prikazani na njihovim fotografijama – moteli pokraj puteva, benzinske pumpe, prikolice, telefonske govornice, vodotornjevi – odupiru se poetizaciji. Prvi konceptualni stil postao je veoma važan u budućoj istoriji fotografije.

Tako je mladi par iz Nemačke, Bernt i Hila Beher, koji su učestvovali na izložbi zajedno sa američkim fotografima, postali osnivači svetski poznate Diseldorfske škole (u kojoj su se školovale zvezde savremene fotografije poput Andreasa Gurskog, Kandide Hefer, Tomasa Štruta i mnogih drugih). Ravnodušan, udaljen pristup škole „Beher“ i njenih tipoloških metoda i škole „Američke topografije“ obrazovali su dominantnu paradigmu u savremenom pejzažu i dobili veliki broj naslednika. Čini se da su emotivnost, individualno gledište i romantizam zauvek napustili pejzaž. Nekadašnja obrada pejzaža kao prirodnog fenomena nemoguća je. Umesto potrage za harmonijom između čoveka i prirode kroz pejzaž, postavljaju se pitanja društvene nejednakosti, ekologije, odlaganja otpada, korišćenja prirodnih resursa (kao u delima Edvarda Burtinskog).

Takav pejzaž je izgrađen, normalizovan, veoma racionalan (kao što je slučaj i sa savremenim zapadnim mentalitetom), i pre je predstavljen kao trodimenzionalni model ili kao arhitektonski nacrt, a ne kao pravi

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pejzaž/silueta grada. Pejzaž ponovo, kao u holandskim slikama iz sedamnaestog veka (Kenet Klark), postaje oblik umetnosti buržoazije, usled čega dopušta potrošnju ‘civilizovane’ površine zemlje, iz koje se izuzima sve što je ‘haotično’, ‘primarno’, ‘divlje’ – sve što plaši i istovremeno privlači savremenog čoveka.

Savremeni „postbeherski“ pejzaž odlikuje „preciznost“ umesto umetnikovog „mišljenja“. Može se uporediti sa pejzažem u slikama posle otkrića središnje perspektive Albertija i Bruneleskija iz petnaestog veka koja je zauvek normalizovala pejzaž. Jasno je da su usled otkrića i širenja digitalne fotografije odlike takvog pejzaža – odnosno jednostavnost, oštrina, uglađenost, „nestvarnost“ – više puta uvećane, čime je predstavljena stvarnost postala „idealna“. Vazdušne i tonske perspektive gotovo da nestaju iz žanra pejzaža; čovek, ukoliko je prisutan, igra ulogu rekvizita, a sama slika se okreće ka pregršti znakova (dakle, tragova koje je čovek ostavio) koje posmatrač treba da dešifruje.

Stil pejzaža koje je čovek izmenio, a koji je nastao u drugoj polovini dvadesetog veka, prošao je kroz izvesne promene (koje su uglavnom vezane za razvoj digitalne epohe), i do današnjeg dana ostao najrašireniji među stilovima. Pogled na pejzaž sa visoke perspektive (kao da je u pitanju božji pogled), oštrina i „proglas“, nemogućnost romantizovanja, hladno sagledavanje prirode kroz oči istraživača ili naučnika, a ne kroz oči ushićenog umetnika, udaljenost i spoljašnja obrada prirode – sve su to značajne karakteristike.

Zanimljiva posledica je ta što se čini da posmatrač gubi mogućnost da uživa u pejzažu kao što je to bio slučaj čak i tokom srednjeg veka, kada je pejzaž kao žanr izopšten kao glasnik zabranjenih zemaljskih uživanja. Da li je to zabrana hedonizma koju nameće savremena društvena situacija „izmenjenog pejzaža“ koji nikada čoveku neće predstavljati izvor harmonije? Da li je pejzaž kao žanr mrtav i zar se nije pretvorio u oruđe za fotografsko istraživanje predela? Možda ćemo ponovo moći da uvidimo lepotu iskonskog pejzaža tek kada budemo otputovali na neku drugu planetu, na kojoj priroda još uvek nije pretvorena u čovekovu „radionicu“ i nije „izvučena iz svoje tajanstvenosti“? Na ta pitanja odgovore samo za sebe daju savremeni fotografi. Oni skeptično i sa kritikom posmatraju svet oko sebe i nezavisno definišu ono što bi se danas moglo nazvati pejzažem.

f o t o g r a f i / p h o t o g r a p h e r s

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DEJVID POLOK

Dejvid Polok je fotograf i grafičar koji živi u Viktoriji u Kanadi. Radi kamerama velikog formata i fotografiše proizvedena prirodna okruženja (“ozelenjene površine”) na kojima je moguće videti čovekov trag. Izlagao je u SAD i u Italiji, gde je nedavno objavljena njegova monografija Plodna geometrija. Pored toga, sarađuje sa Stivom Bisonom u onlajn časopisu Urbanautica.

_Ograda, Viktorija (Kanada), 2011–2012.

“Tokom 2011. i 2012. fotografisao sam opštinsku baštu koja se sastoji od oko 140 parcela u Viktoriji u Kanadi. Svaka parcela otkriva intimnu i osobenu interakciju između čoveka i sveta prirode.

Te parcele zajedno čine veću baštu, predstavljaju raj, ograđen i izdvojen iz divljine. Hortus conclusus, što bukvalno znači ograđena bašta, tema je koja se često ponavlja u umetnosti srednjeg veka i renesanse, predstavljajući izraz težnje za skloništem unutar obrađene prirode i zaštitom od ciklusa rođenja i smrti.

U ovim fotografijama su prizori netaknute prirode zamenjeni prirodom koja u sebi sadrži čovekovu aktivnost u procesu rasta i opadanja.”

DAVID POLLOCK

David Pollock is a photographer and printmaker living in Victoria, B.C., Canada. He works with a large format camera and photographs fabricated natural environments where the human footprint can be seen. He has exhibited his work in North America and Italy, where his monograph Fertile Geometry was recently published. He also works with Steve Bisson on the webzine Urbanautica.

_Enclosure, 2011-2012, Victoria, Canada

“During 2011 and 2012, I made photographs in a community garden which consists of about 140 plots in Victoria, Canada. Each plot reveals an intimate and idiosyncratic interaction between a human and the natural world.

These plots together form a larger garden, a representation of paradise, enclosed and separated from the wilderness. Hortus conclusus, literally meaning enclosed garden, was a recurrent theme in Medieval and Renaissance art and is an expression of our desire for shelter within cultivated nature and protection from the cycles of birth and death.

The photographs replace a scenic description of nature with one that incorporates human activity in the process of growth and decay.”

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DUŠAN RAJIĆ

Dušan Rajić je rođen 1983. u Beogradu, u Jugoslaviji. Školovao se kao arhitekta, sa primarnim usmerenjem na istraživanje i rad na društvenim strukturama urbanog života i okruženja kroz fotografiju, instalacije i javne intervencije. Učestvovao u brojnim radionicama i izložbama. Trenutno student doktorskih studija u Beogradu, u Srbiji.

_Estetika izgnanstva, Subotica i Beograd (Srbija), 2011-2012.

“Serija fotografija beleži ljude bez pravog doma, njihov način života i njihova privremena mesta stanovanja. Nomadi dvadeset prvog veka, isterani iz svojih kuća ili u potrazi za nečim boljim, primorani su da sebi sagrade privremena skloništa. Bilo da su u pitanju ilegalni azilanti sa Istoka koji beže ka bogatom Zapadu, ili Romi sa Kosova i iz južne Srbije, koji preživljavaju u gradu, njihovi životi veoma su slični. Prisiljeni su na ostvarivanje kontakta sa svojom okolinom iz proste potrebe da prežive, dok istovremeno moraju da paze na zakone, policiju i rasističko nasilje.”

DUSAN RAJIC

Dusan Rajic was born in 1983, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Trained as an architect. Today, his primary focus is on research and work on the social structures of urban life and environment through photography, installations and public interventions. Participated in numerous workshops and exhibitions. Currently a PhD student in Belgrade, Serbia.

_Exile esthetics, 2011-2012, Subotica and Belgrade, Serbia

“A series of photographs documents people without a real home, their way of life, and their settlements. Nomads of the 21st century, driven from their homes or looking for a better one, are forced to make temporary shelters. Whether they are illegal asylum seekers from the East wanting to flee to the rich West or Roma from Kosovo and southern Serbia, surviving in the city, their way of life is amazingly similar. Forced to make contact with their surroundings for mere survival, at the same time they must stay alert to the law, the police and to racist violence.”

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DASTIN ŠAM

Dastin Šam je dokumentarni fotograf koji radi u Hongkongu. Učestvovao je na brojnim lokalnim i međunarodnim grupnim izložbama, među kojima i na Međunarodnom festivalu fotografije u Pingjau (2008. i 2011), izložbi Fotografija danas: Kina, Japan, Koreja (2009, u organizaciji SFMoMA), festivalu Savinjano SI Fest (2010) i Festivalu umetničkog filma u Asolu u Italiji (2011) itd. Njegovi radovi su deo kolekcija Muzeja moderne umetnosti u San Francisku, Muzeja nasleđa u Hongkongu i privatnih kolekcija.

_Blokovi, Hongkong, 2007-2014.

“Blokovi predstavljaju dokumentarnu seriju o socijalnim stanovima u Hongkongu. Boje na spoljašnjosti tih zgrada, koje podsećaju na neku predškolsku ustanovu, ne uspevaju da sakriju stvarnost u kojoj stanari u socijalnim stanovima žive: niski prihodi, nezaposlenost, invaliditet, problemi u porodici, novi imigranti, društvo sa sve starijim stanovništvom itd. Izgled unutrašnjosti u potpunoj je suprotnosti s tim. Kroz „portrete“ renoviranih starih zgrada, prodavnica i restorana zatvorenih usled enormno visokih cena zakupnina koje diktira „Link REIT“ (investicioni trust za nekretnine) prikazana je nadrealna, ali i sumorna atmosfera građevina koje gotovo polovina stanovnika Hongkonga naziva „domom“.”

DUSTIN SHUM

Dustin Shum is a Hong Kong based documentary photographer. He participated in many local and international joint exhibitions, including the Pingyao International Photography Festival (2008 & 2011), Photography Now: China, Japan, Korea (2009, organized by SFMoMA), Savignano SI Fest (2010) and Asolo Art Film Festival (2011) in Italy, etc. His works are collected by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and private collectors.

_Blocks, 2007-2014, Hong Kong

“Blocks is a documentary series about Hong Kong’s public housing estates. The kindergarten-styled color palette of this housing fails to hide the realities public housing tenants are living in: low income, unemployment, disability, family problems, new immigrants, a society of an aging population, etc. Their appearance and what is inside makes for a glaring contrast. These “portraits” of face-lifted old buildings, shops and restaurants shut due to sky-high rent of Link REIT (a real estate investment trust), present the surreal as well as gloomy atmosphere of these estates which nearly half of the Hong Kong population regarded as “home.” “

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ŽOFRI MATJU

Živi i radi u Marseju. Rođen 1972, diplomirao na Nacionalnoj fotografskoj školi u Arlu. U fotografskom radu se bavi superponiranjem ruralnog pejzaža pejzažu metropole, naročito u oblasti Sredozemlja. Objavio je Okretanje od mora (Dos à la mer; Filigranes, 2009), a nedavno i Geum.Urbanum (Filigranes, 2013), u kojem predlaže refleksiju o vezi između urbanog i prirode u Marseju, Tangeru i Edinburgu.

_Marsej, divlji grad, Marsej (Francuska), 2007-2011.

“Za ovaj grad važi mišljenje da predstavlja svet za sebe, što u izvesnom smislu nas ljude smešta „izvan“ sveta. Pretpostavljamo da u razvoju čoveka postoji urbana faza, da je stanovnik grada otet iz prirodnog stanja – i da je konačno slobodan. To se dovodi u vezu sa opšteprihvaćenim stavom da u gradu čovek nije jedno s prirodom.” (Baptist Lanaspez)

GEOFFROY MATHIEU

Lives and works in Marseille. Born in 1972, grad-uate of the National Photographic School of Arles. His works deal with observations of rural land-scape opposite to the landscape of metropolis, in particular, in the Mediterranean. He published Turning One’s Back to the Sea (Dos à la mer) Ed.Filigranes, 2009 and recently GeumUrbanum, Ed.Filigranes, 2013 which offers a reflection on the relationship between the urban and nature in Marseille, Tangier and Edinburgh.

_Marseille, wild city, 2007-2011, Marseille, France

“The city is thought to be a world in itself, some-thing which, in a sense, places us humans “out-side” the world. We assume that there is an urban stage in human development, that the city dweller is a human being torn from the natural condition – and free at long last. That ties in with the common sentiment that, in the city, one is not in nature.”

(Baptiste Lanaspeze, Marseille, ville sauvage, es-sai d’écologie urbaine. Editions Actes Sud, 2012.)

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JORDI HUISMAN

Jordi Huisman je fotograf iz Holandije koji po pozivu sarađuje sa urednicima i komercijalnim klijentima. Osim toga, bavi se izradom dokumentarnih serija o ljudima i načinom na koji oni oblikuju svoje okruženje i utiču na njega.

_Blizu, ali ne zaista, Almer (Holandija), 2012.

“Almere Port predstavlja najnoviji deo Almera, grada koji se u Holandiji najbrže razvija. Dokumentarni projekat koji je u toku prikazuje razvoj tog dela grada počev od 2008. ispitujući načina na koji ljudi koriste nova, nedovršena, stambena područja.”

_Obrisi, Flevoland (Holandija), 2011.

“Tokom pedesetih i šezdesetih godina dvadesetog veka zemljište današnje provincije Flevoland uvećano je pregrađivanjem jezera Ejselmer. Napravljeni polder okružuje veliki nasip koji se nalazi pet metara ispod nivoa mora. Nasip formira izdignut obris koji štiti zemlju od poplava.

Serija prikazuje provinciju Flevoland i njene obrise. Prikazuje se kako su život, infrastruktura i priroda ostvareni nakon što je taj deo nekadašnjeg jezera Zojder isušen i stvoreno novo zemljište.”

JORDI HUISMAN

Jordi Huisman is a photographer from the Netherlands working for editorial and commercial clients. In addition to that, he makes documentary series about how people shape and influence their surroundings.

_Close, but not really, April 2012, Almere, Netherlands

“Almere Poort is the newest part of the fastest growing city in the Netherlands - Almere. This ongoing documentary shows the development of the area since early 2008. It is an investigation on how people use new residential areas while they are not completed yet.”

_Outline, September 2011, Flevoland, Netherlands

“In the 1950s and 60s, an area that is now known as the province of Flevoland was reclaimed from the IJsselmeer. A large dyke surrounds this polder, which lies five meters below water level. The dyke forms an elevated outline, protecting the land from flooding.

This series portrays Flevoland and its essential outline. It shows how life, infrastructure and nature had been implemented after this part of the former Zuiderzee was reclaimed and land was created.”

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HUAN MARGOLES

Rođen u Mar del Plata, Argentina, 1975. godine. Živi i radi u Veneciji i Berlinu. Učestvovao je na Međunarodnom festivalu umetnosti INCUBARTE 2012, na Međunarodnom festivalu fotografije SCAN 2012 i na Festivalu Descubrimientos PHOTOESPAÑA 2012. Dobio je stipendiju „Generación” 2011. i nagradu Nacionalnog omladinskog bijenala Republike Argentine za svoje projekte. Margoles je nominovan za učešće u portfelju Foto-muzeja Plat(t)form 13 u Vinterturu i dobitnik je Evropske nagrade za umetnost Suveren 2011. Izlagao je u muzejima i galerijama Argentine, Španije, Turske, Italije i Engleske.

_Naseliti Fedoru, Berlin (Nemačka), 2011.

“Samo čovek naseljava. Prostor naseljavaju osobe koje svesno ili nesvesno ostavljaju tragove života koji ih predstavljaju i na osnovu kojih se međusobno razlikuju. Ti otisci nam, takođe, omogućavaju da se prepoznamo unutar našeg okruženja.

Naseliti Fedoru obrađuje taj koncept i analizira stambene prostore i mesta za razonodu koja su projektovana isključivo vodeći se principom funkcionalnosti i u kojima dokazi stvarnosti preispituju društvenu funkciju grada u individualnom i kolektivnom razvoju građana.”

JUAN MARGOLLES

Juan Margolles was born in 1975, Mar del Plata, Argentina. Lives and works in Valencia and Berlin. He has participated in the International Art Festival INCUBARTE 2012, International Photography Festival SCAN 2012 and Descubrimientos PHOTOESPAÑA 2012 Festival. His photographic projects have been awarded with the grant “Generación” 2011 and the National Youth Art Biennial Rep. Argentina. Margolles has been nominated to Plat(t)form 13-Winterthur Fotomuseum and selected for the Sovereign European Art Prize 2011. His work has been exhibited throughout museums and galleries in Argentina, Spain, Turkey, Italy and England.

_inhabit Fedora, 2011, Berlin

“Only man inhabits. A space is inhabited by individuals who, consciously or unconsciously, leave marks of life that represent and distinguish them. These footprints also enable us to recognize ourselves within our surroundings.

inhabit Fedora reflects on this concept and analyzes residential and recreational spaces which have been designed exclusively according to the principle of functionality and where evidence of reality questions the social function of the city in the individual and collective development of the citizens.”

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MUSTAFA ABDULAZIZ

Mustafa Abdulaziz (rođen 1986. u Njujorku) je američki dokumentarni fotograf koji živi u Berlinu. Radio je kao fotograf sa prioritetnim ugovorom za Vol strit džernal. Među klijente ubraja magazine i časopise Roling Stoun Italija, Njujork tajms, Mond, Monokl, NPR, Fajnenšl tajms, Intelidžent lajf, Autsajd magazin i Špigel.

Arhiva za Vodu predstavljena je u Nemačkoj u Ostkrojcu i u SAD u studiju Redaks Pikčers.

_Voda, Fritaun (Sijera Leone), 2012.

“Voda predstavlja fotografsku tipologiju prirodnih resursa u krizi. Podeljen u tematska poglavlja, ovaj projekat obrađuje našu vezu sa vodom, kako je koristimo i zloupotrebljavamo, da bismo lakše pronašli svoje mesto među velikim izazovima današnjice. Projekat koji je i dalje u toku istražuje probleme s vodom u trideset dve zemlje, uz finansijsku pomoć Pulicerovog centra za izveštaje o krizama i komisija iz Ujedinjenih nacija i VoterEjda. Završna zbirka fotografija, odabrana među foto-esejima o svakom od problema sa vodom, biće izložena u okviru putujuće izložbe 2018. kako bi se skrenula pažnja na vodu kao globalnu temu koja sve povezuje.”

MUSTAFAH ABDULAZIZ

Mustafah Abdulaziz (b. 1986, New York City) is an American documentary photographer living in Berlin, Germany. He worked as the first contract photographer for The Wall Street Journal. His clients include Rolling Stone Italia, The New York Times, Le Monde, Monocle, NPR, Financial Times, Intelligent Life, Outside Magazine and Der Spiegel. The archive for Water is represented by Ostkreuz in Germany and Redux Pictures in the U.S. The prints from Water are represented by MILK Gallery in New York City.

_Water, November - December 2012, Freetown, Sierra Leone

“Water is photographic typology of a natural resource in crisis. Structured into chapters, this project reflects on our relationship with water, how we use and misuse it, to ultimately understand our place within one of the greatest challenges of our time. It is an on-going project, spanning water issues from 32 countries, created with grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and commissions from the United Nations and WaterAid. The final collection of images, selected from photo essays on each water issue, will then be displayed in a touring exhibition in 2018 in order to educate and bring awareness to water as a critically global and interconnected topic.”

Deca u osnovnoj školi Sveto Trojstvo u istočnom Fritaunu pos-matraju obrazovni snimak o koleri, koji je napravila Mobilna kinematografska jedinica Crvenog krsta Sijera Leonea, a koji je prikazivan širom zemlje nakon prestanka epidemije. Grupe najvećeg rizika od infekcije kolere, koja se prenosi putem vode i hrane, uključuju decu, žene i devojke, s obzirom na to da su oni u domaćinstvima uglavnom zaduženi za donošenje vode.

(7. decembar 2012)

Children in the Holy Trinity Primary School in east Freetown watch a cholera educational video from the Sierra Leone Red Cross Mobile Cinema Unit, which has toured the country in the aftermath of this year’s cholera outbreak. Children, wom-en and young girls are at the most risk for cholera, which is transmitted through water and food because they are typically responsible for collecting water for their families.

(December 7, 2012)

Glavna deponija u središtu Fritauna, na kojoj su se smeće i feka-lije nagomilali i stvorili pećine. Iako se epidemija kolere počela povlačiti krajem godine, ostaje opasnost da će izbiti nova. Sušti-na problema leži u činjenici da infrastruktura ne može da izađe na kraj sa velikom gradskom populacijom. Sve dok nova vla-da ne počne ozbiljno da se bavi problemima vode i odnošenja smeća najsiromašniji sloj najsiromašnijih u svetu biće podložan takvim bolestima devetnaestog veka kao što je kolera.

(6. decembar 2012)

The main dumpsite in the center of Freetown where garbage and human waste has accumulated into massive caverns. While the cholera outbreak has receded by the end of the year, the danger of another one remains. The core of the problem lies in an infrastructure unable to cope with a large urban pop-ulation. Until the issues of water and sanitation are seriously addressed by the new government, the poorest of the world’s poor will remain vulnerable to nineteenth-century diseases like cholera.

(December 6, 2012)

A public latrine in the Grey Bush slum of Freetown where cholera struck. Open defecation is common while public bathrooms are generally in poor order and are costly to use. To use a toilet costs around 500 Leones, or $0.11 cents, which is striking, when according to statistics from the World Bank the majority of the 6 million people of Sierra Leone live on less than $1.25 a day.

The Western Area where Freetown is located accounted for 50 percent of all the cases in the outbreak. These slum settlements, strung out along the city’s bay, share a number of characteristics: extreme poverty, overcrowding, and unemployment. Homes are typically constructed of corrugated metal, possessing open dirt floors and makeshift roofs. Sources for water in the slums are consistently insufficient for the population.

(November 30, 2012)

Javni toalet u sirotinjskoj četvrti Grej Buš u Fritaunu gde je izbila kolera. Pražnjenje creva na otvorenom učestalo je, s obzirom na to da su javni toaleti uglavnom u dosta lošem stanju i skupo je održavati ih. Korišćenje toaleta košta oko 500 leona, ili 11 amer-ičkih centi, što je frapantan podatak, s obzirom na to da, prema statistici Svetske banke, najveći broj među šest miliona stanovni-ka države preživljava sa manje od 1,25 dolara dnevno.

U zapadnom delu, u kome se nalazi Fritaun, bilo je 50 procenata svih zaraženih prilikom epidemije. Sirotinjske četvrti koje se protežu duž gradskog zaliva imaju nekoliko zajedničkih obeležja: ekstremno siromaštvo, prenaseljenost i nezaposlenost. Kuće se uglavnom prave od valovitog metala, sa nabijenim podom od zemlje i improvizovanim krovovima. Izvori vode u sirotinjskim četvrtima uopšte ne zadovoljavaju potrebe stanovništva.

(30. noviembar 2012)

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PAOLO FUSKO

Paolo Fusko je fotograf koji živi i radi u Rimu, i koji se u radu uglavnom usredsređuje na arhitekturu i urbani pejzaž, ali često i na društvene probleme. Član je društva Shoot4Change, a objavljivao je fotografije u časopisima La Republika, Vitnes džernal, Living Rum, NG Italija i dr. Nagrađivan je na državnim i međunarodnim takmičenjima i izlagao je, između ostalog, i u Muzeju MAXXI u Rimu i centru Samerset haus u Londonu.

_Fiori 24 časa, Rim (Italija), 2013.

“Teško da možete naći da nešto u Rimu radi 24 časa: pokoji bar, nekoliko prodavnica, benzinske pumpe na samousluživanje i mnoštvo štandova sa cvećem. Nalaze se svuda u gradu i uvek rade. Nikada nisu zatvoreni i ostaju tako 365 dana (i noći) u godini.

Njihovo prisustvo me je oduvek fasciniralo – podsećaju me na čuvare u tihoj rimskoj noći, na male svetionike u kojima stanuju poluuspavani radnici imigranti.

Okružuje ih veo misterije, ali je verovatno u pitanju samo model poslovanja koji koristi potrebu radnika imigranata da negde provedu noć.”

PAOLO FUSCO

Paolo Fusco is a photographer based in Rome, whose work mainly focuses on architecture and urban landscape, but often looks at social issues. He is a member of the Shoot4Change community, and his photos have been published on LaRepubblica, WitnessJournal, LivingRoome, NG Italia and elsewhere. His works have received prizes and commendations at national and international competitions and have been exhibited in venues such as the MAXXI Museum in Rome and the Somerset House in London.

_Fiori 24h, 2013, Rome, Italy

“Hardly anything is open 24h in Rome: a few bars, a few stores, self service gas stations and flower kiosks, a lot of flower kiosks. You can find them everywhere in the city and they never close. They never close, and they stay open 365 days (and nights) a year.

Their presence has always fascinated me; they seem like sentinels in the quiet Roman night, small lighthouses populated by half-asleep immigrant workers.

A hint of mystery surrounds them, but it’s probably just a business model which takes advantage of the immigrant workers’ need to have a place to spend the night.”

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RAJAN DEBOLSKI

Rajan Debolski (rođen 1982) je američki umetnik iz Detroita. Zvanje bačelora iz lingvistike dobio je na Mičigen univerzitetu 2005, a zvanje mastera 2014. na Akademiji umetnosti u Kranbruku. Pomoćni je urednik časopisa Stand, koji objavljuje radove savremenih fotografa.

_Nedovršeni grad, Dubai (Ujedinjeni arapski emirati), 2011.

“Usled nedavnog ekonomskog kraha u Dubaiju grad je ostao da stoji nedovršen u pustinji. Razvoj se u mnogim oblastima usporio ili sasvim stao, čekajući sredstva neophodna za završetak projekata. Zgrade u centru grada stoje prazne. Izgrađene stambene četvrti bez stanovnika podsećaju na grad duhova. Udaljenija područja, već obuhvaćena master-planom, izgledaju kao fatamorgane. Raširena stagnacija u sukobu sa očekivanjima prošlosti i ostvarenjima budućnosti. Ova fotografska serija dokumentuje period tranzicije u gradu bez granica.”

RYAN DEBOLSKI

Ryan Debolski (b.1982) is an American artist from Detroit. He received a BA in linguistics from the University of Michigan in 2005, and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2014. He is also the assistant editor for Stand, which is a photographic journal that showcases the work of contemporary photographers.

_Unfinished City, 2011, Dubai

“The recent economic collapse in Dubai left an unfinished city stuck in the desert. Development in many areas slowed down considerably or even stopped completely, awaiting the funds necessary to complete projects. Buildings remained empty without any occupants in the city core. Prebuilt neighborhoods devoid of residents resembled ghost towns. Outlying areas already master planned appeared like mirages in the distance. The surrounding stagnation clashed with the expectations of the past and the realizations of the future. This photographic series documents this transitional period in a city without boundaries.”

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SERŽO ROLANDO

Seržo Rolando je rođen 1978. Živi u Portu u Portugaliji, gde radi kao fotograf i predaje na Višoj školi muzike i izvođačkih umetnosti ESMAE. Ima zvanje mastera iz dokumentarne fotografije i kinematografije. Redovno izlaže i ima velik broj objavljenih radova.

_Višestruki pejzaž, Tabuaso, Valdigem, Regua i Kambres (Portugal), 2013.

“Pejzaž doline Dora smatra se jedinstvenim, spektakularnim i uzvišenim. Dolina je proglašena svetskom baštinom.

Korišćenje ovog pejzaža predstavlja neprekidnu i nezasitu želju. Sveprisutnost slika predela naglašava iluzije osvajanja i pripadanja, prikazuje kako slika mesta može biti osvajačka i stalna.

Na ovim fotografijama se vidi dvojnost u interpretaciji figuralnosti pejzaža Dora od strane lokalnog stanovništva. Slike prikazuju stvarnost bez kritičkog odnosa, što istovremeno naglašava iscrpno iskustvo reprodukovanja i stalnu komercijalizaciju područja.”

SERGIO ROLANDO

Sergio Rolando, 1978. Sergio lives in Porto, Portugal, where he works as a photographer and is a teacher at ESMAE. He holds a Master Degree in Documentary Photography and Cinema. He exhibits on a regular basis and has a great deal of published work.

_Manifold Landscape, 2013, Douro Valley, Portugal

“The Douro Valley landscape is quite consensual. It is said to be unique, spectacular and sublime. It is considered a World Heritage Site.

Its consumption is a continuous and insatiable desire. The omnipresence of its own image accents the illusion of conquering and belonging, showing how invasive and permanent the image of a place can be.

We propose a two-fold portrayal of the figurative interpretation of Douro by the locals. Images that portray a reality removed from reflection, which both enhance its exhaustive experience and the permanent commercialization of the region.”

60e s s a y s

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It is possible that the way in which an exhibition of photographs represents architectural research is not obvious. The link becomes clearer once it is indicated that the central issue that is being investigated here, and consequently the central issue of architecture as a profession today, is the following: what is space in the modern world?

How can the cultural legitimacy and relevance of architecture be determined? Should it be tied to the visual, physical reality of the built environment, to the social (and even economic) effects of the accumulation of values, or to the creation of “persuasive narratives”? As Ole Bouman1 pointed out, the question is not a new one; it is a universal, timeless dilemma in architecture.

I believe that the comprehension of space for most of our contemporaries coincides with the images and the experiences of space as it is represented in psycho-geographic investigations of the situationists. The world we live in is “subjectivized” to the highest degree: the objective reality is, in fact, a kaleidoscopic representation consisting of millions, billions of personal worlds, which are represented in images (rather than concepts) and uploaded to servers; the Internet has, with the use of optic media, become a space for generating the collective experience of life – the experience of space. The world is not what we see, but the experience of the seen conditioned by our upbringing, our experience, and our emotions.

What is the job of an architect in this context of the interpretation of space? Once we surpass the obvious necessity of “putting a roof over one’s head”, what remains is the job of creating additional non-material content and value. Space is not determined unambiguously. Optic space and virtual platforms are as relevant as the physical environment is. Architects should explore the means and the rules of creation within optic space, as they do with physical space. The space of a photograph, the space of a film, landscapes in game engines are all legitimate architectural assignments. Finding methods and ways of recreating an authentic, life-like experience of space within the optic media is, perhaps, the new future of architecture as a profession.

The exhibition “Experience of space – LANDSCAPE” is conceived as one of the possible prisms for the representation of the personal experience of space, the personal landscape in photography. A careful selection of photographic projects (Steve Bisson), completed by the essays of Natalia Reznik and Garry Green, should clearly highlight the plurality of perceiving a landscape and the multiple understanding of means through which experiences are documented and transferred; the cycle in which the interpretations of what is seen follow each other and overlap, until a person’s actual everyday world becomes an image: the accumulation of meanings which represents a specific cultural capital.

Ljubica Milović Mastilović_EXPERIENCE OF SPACE: WHAT IS SPACE TODAY?

1 Ole Bou-man „What is Quality Today“ in „Europian Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2009“; Foun-dation Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, Barcelona, 2009

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The perception of landscape through photography. Why do we care? Photography, more than any other medium in history, has handed to the growing masses of people the opportunity to reproduce the look that they pose on space. Each look is an experience that speaks of an individual, and how he/she is positioned in the world, of the choices or distinctions that he/she operates with in reality. The high reproducibility of the photograph, made possible by the information revolution, and the consequent spread of digital media, has amplified the scope of this transformation of the look. Much of what marks individual experience, and the perceived, passes less and less from the direct experience of landscape and increasingly from passive reception of images produced or filtered by others. The definition of landscape has not been immune to this technical progress, as presented in the European Convention - “an area, as perceived by people.” A definition, victim of its subjectivity, as the landscape can result in a hypertext, a multiplicity of reading paths as a result of plural cognitive activities of

description, simulation, identification, intuition, recording. A vision that reflects a humanist concept of landscape, a complex system of signs that is geographic in its ‘spatial extensions’ that embrace the memory and imagination, the past and the future, and therefore, all time.

The difficulty in explaining landscape coincides with a suffering run-up of its evolution, which, through photography, finds expression in the exponential production of images that is generally traced to the term ‘landscape photography’ and which involves, every second, hundreds of millions of people in the world. Can we be indifferent to this phenomenon? Since 2009 I have chosen to investigate this production to get to support the proposition of photography as a philosophical practice of finding a sense of limit, i.e. a clarification of language, and therefore, of the words through which we visualize the world. In 2010, with the project Naturae, I pointed out that the very definition of nature is expressed in several ‘states of nature’ which correspond to different needs largely determined by cultural specificity rather than a

Steve Bisson, an Italo-Belgian art director and curator, has investigated, over the last 5 years, the boundless production of images and its impact on the perception of individuals. His thesis supports the proposition of photography as a philosophical practice of finding a sense of limit for the clarification of language through which the world is visualized. His projects have a resonance that has led him to collaborate with museums, galleries, festivals, publishers, artists and photographer around the world.Steve Bisson_THE NATURE OF LOOKING

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territorial one, and due to the fragmentary palimpsest of possibilities that is the landscape; chaotic, deeply labyrinthine, elusive and sometimes, indeterminate. In 2013 - in collaboration with Ljubica Milović of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina - starting right from the acceptance of chaos as an object of investigation, we have studied how an orientation in space, above all, the cultural one, is possible through the observation of the states of nature. This results in a Renaissance and Neo-Platonic attitude of investigation of nature to highlight the forces that animate the context, not in a nostalgic logic, as survivors of localism, but with the willingness to discover new ways of reading the same perception. This is the beginning of a journey that sticks to the roots of a way of thinking about research, exposure and its fruition.

Watching is not seeing, because the eyes interpret, and the mind makes a synthesis on the basis of cultural elements, in a diachronic dimension. The world is the totality of facts, not of things according to Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1921). The look is therefore a partial staging of the visible and can testify whether or not the material reality exists. I pose a question: Does the landscape or its image manifest more territoriality as the observer is more skilled in rearranging in a visual unit the historical trajectories that have framed its deployment, in the same way that a cross-section of the mountain reminds us of its evolution? Probably there is no single answer, and for this reason it is useful to investigate both the meanings of landscape in art history, and educational approaches in schools. On these topics Natalya Reznik and Gary Green have informed us in their writings. The projects presented in this catalog, and exhibition, speak of the inability to

draw a comprehensive map in the global disorientation of hyperspace. They also lead us to reflect on the cognitive overload to which the curator, or any individual who, in perceiving reality, filters its content by archive or memory, is destined for. For this reason it was decided to treat the issue of the perception of landscape not by a selection based on the different modes of production of the landscape (from narrative to invention), as this would restore the vast array of representations of which we are already aware of and, perhaps, bring further evidence of a nomadic existentialism. Instead, we have adopted nature as a principle of reading in the apparent chaos.

Whether it is the functional recreational space for new housing settlements in Berlin, the night floral kiosks in Rome, the urban utopias suspended in Dubai, the vulnerability of water in Sierra Leone, the wild coastal growth of Marseille, the spectacularization of Portugal’s Douro Valley, the Dutch artificial land reclamation, the community gardens of Victoria in Canada, the squatting of exiles in Subotica, or the increasing density of Hong Kong, nature remains a key to understanding urbanization, centralization, the vertical and a long process of concentration that, paradoxically, lead to the dispersion of society and its needs. This method has helped us push perception over the sense of aesthetic acceptance, with the goal to encode disorientation. I am convinced that photography serves more those who make it than those who watch it. Yet, if we ask ourselves where we are compared to what we see, then it speaks of our own nature.

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Gary Green received his Master of Fine Arts degree at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College and has been teaching photography since 1994. He moved to Maine in 1998, and has taught at Bowdoin College, Bates College and, since 2007, at Colby College, where he is currently an Associate Professor of Art.

Nationally, his photographs have been featured in solo and group exhibitions at the University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada; Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas; Berkshire Art Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Paolo Baldacci Gallery in New York City; Gallery Kayafas in Boston; and the Safe-T-Gallery in Brooklyn, in New York’s DUMBO arts district. Most recently, photographs from his current series of works, Terrain Vague, were exhibited in a one-person show at the University of Southern Maine, and a selection was featured at the 2013 Portland Museum of Art Biennial. His work has also been published in Blind Spot and online, on websites Urbanautica and New Landscape Photography.

Green’s photographs are held in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas; Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas; Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, Rhode Island; Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, Maine; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine; and the Colby Art Museum, Waterville, Maine, among other institutional and private collections.Gary Green_THE PERSONAL LANDSCAPE

Even when the landscape is greatly disfigured or brutalized, it is always deeply animated from within. When one really sees an awesome, vast, and terrible place, we tremble at the feelings we experience as our sense of wholeness is reorganized by what we see… At such a moment, our feelings reach for an understanding. This is the gift of a landscape photograph, that the heart finds a place to stand.

—Emmet Gowin

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The final project I often assign to my beginning photography students is titled the “The Personal Landscape.” The subject is purposely open-ended and given to interpretation. While students often approach the assignment through an exploration of dreams, extended portraits, self-portraits, etc. (all perfectly valid terrain), there are many who decide to photograph an actual landscape for their project, and what they learn is significant.

I make suggestions to them about ways to approach the landscape in a personally expressive way. They may use a series of walks or a nature poem as a prompt, or perhaps visit a place that has a history particular to their lives - a camp, a neighborhood, a beach, etc. They can photograph our downtown storefronts, the edges of the river, or even empty stores and open land along College Avenue. The idea behind this is simply to give them a place to go to begin photographing. I may talk about and show examples of work by photographers as diverse as Atget, Lee Friedlander, Robert Adams, and An-My Lê to suggest the point that the landscape can include nature itself, the built environment, personal history, and metaphor.

Photographing the landscape for me is always personal. Making photographs of the landscape gives us a way to understand where we live and what our lives mean. Landscape pictures can describe a sense of place. They can discuss social concerns, suggest irony, and even moments in time. Without the photograph, the landscape seems almost unattainable, indescribable, and even impossible to comprehend. Making the photograph we have to define an approach, an area of interest, a place with discrete boundaries.

Landscape photography expresses our time at this point in the history of the world. The buildings, the vacant land, the urban streets, and rural meadows are signifiers of who we are and what we value. And most importantly, for the photographer framing a particular view, he must decide where to stand or, as Gowin suggests, where he has chosen to place his heart.

My students often find their own hearts in this assignment by looking much closer at a world they only thought they knew. The sometimes bleak and rundown sights in the economically struggling Central Maine landscape may later reveal much more than they first saw. They may begin to see the history of the region, the humanity behind the decline and subsequent poverty, as well the beauty in clearly seeing the world surrounding them. In finding what is personal and indeed beautiful, they can begin to see signs of hope in places and spaces that once seemed barren and bleak.

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One of the inventors of photography, Henry Fox Talbot, having been inspired by Italian landscapes and being not too fortunate as a draughtsman, used the Camera Lucida. But he was not satisfied with the result, and his desire to “fix” the landscape created with the help of this equipment became the reason for the appearance of landscape photography. His metaphor of photography itself as the “pencil of nature” refers in particular to the landscape genre - as if the very representation of landscape was the main aim of the invention of photographic technology. No wonder that after its invention the landscape had become one of the most popular genres - unlike man, it did not move, and so allowed the use of long exposures in conditions of low-sensitive photographic materials.

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce had made the first photography on a pewter plate in 1826, with the help of Camera Obscura. It has survived to the present day, and it is also a landscape - a city view. The exposure of the window view had lasted for eight hours in bright sunlight.

At the end of 19th century, photography had become a popular means of exploration of reality - people with cameras had begun to travel around the world and photograph everything. They were to carry entire wagons with cameras and glass plates, but this extensive effort was negligible comparing to their draught to knowledge and acquisition of the perceptible world through photography. Photographers accompanied geological and geographical expeditions in Europe, Russia and America (e.g. Timothy O’Sullivan, taking photos of the American West in the 1860-1870s). Their view of the landscape which takes us from the familiar known world to the immensity of unexplored lands, documenting faraway borders of a native, vast territory, is an inquiring, memorizing view of the pioneer and researcher. Landscapes in their pictures, though being in a large extent a documentation of territories in an informative role, have often had an emotional overtone, as well - the pride of the pioneer or amazement in beholding the grandeur of a homeland. These photographers were not unfamiliar with working on composition and light; for example,

Natalya Reznik was born in Russia in 1981, and currently lives and works in Germany. Natalya is a photographer and art historian. She studied design at Perm State Technical University and earned her PhD in philosophy of culture at the Saint-Petersburg State University. She was a teacher of photography at Perm State Institute of Arts and Culture in Russia. Presently, Reznik is writing her thesis in Art History at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany), making personal photo projects and teaching at the Fotodepartament Foundation (Saint-Petersburg, Russia).Natalya Reznik_THE LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

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O’Sullivan, mentioned above, was used to spending a great deal of time waiting for the most beneficial light.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of 20th century, the first movement in photography, named “Pictorialism,” had appeared. It joined together ideas and aesthetics of English Pre-Raphaelites, German Jugendstil, French Art Déco and impressionist painting. The vibrancy between aims of pictorialist photographers and ideals of Arts and Crafts Movement obviously existed – it is vivid in their interest in handicraft, their opposition towards formality and standardization of the springing-up machine world and in their ideas of being close to nature.

Pictorialists tried to create an ideal landscape by using different printing technologies, soft-focus lenses and monocles which reduced contrast of the image and allowed the capture of sea distance and aerial perspective, and even the manual finish of the photographic image with drawing. Their descriptive means resemble landscape paintings of Nikolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain or even Giorgione - for instance, the use of dark “curtains” in the foreground in order to create tonal perspective and compositional stability, the choice of “spectacular” light conditions (e.g. sunset), coherence of all image elements, absence of everything which is unnecessary and trivial. The very mood of these landscapes refers to the Golden Age of humankind - the time of complete harmony between man and nature.

For example, the American photographer - pictorialist Anne Brigman had succeeded in showing in her compositions a complete confluence of man and nature (The Pine Sprite, 1911, Heart of the Storm, 1902). She was the first in the

history of landscape to turn to depicting nude feminine models in wild nature. From original negatives, the photographer made double-positives, then reprocessed them manually with different special operations (including engraving), made negatives again and printed them.

The favorite motifs of pictorialist photographers - romantic ruins of ancient temples, Arcadian landscapes of the countryside, forest meadows overflowing with beams of sunshine and animals grazing peacefully (e.g. works of members of “The Linked Ring” photographic society founded in England in 1892) - also derive from classical painting.

Famous through his combined photo-pictures, photographer Henry Peach Robinson first used the word “pictorialism” in his book Pictorial Effect in Photography (1869), noticing that the photographer in his work must obey the same rules as the artist does. He considered balance and unity to be the main qualities of landscape. “Lines, and light, and shade, should be so arranged that the eye is led into the picture, and allowed something to rest upon; that something should be the theme on which the picture is built.”

In his book, Robinson draws a number of parallels between painted and photographic landscapes; he considers how methods of the former could be used in creation of the latter, and also explores why some methods cannot be transposed from painting to photography (mainly due to technical constraints). “It is not open to the photographer to produce his effects by departing from the facts of nature, as has been the practice with the painter for ages; but he may use all legitimate means of presenting the

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story he has to tell in the most agreeable manner, and it is his imperative duty to avoid the mean, the base, and the ugly; and to aim to elevate his subject, to avoid awkward forms, and to correct the unpicturesque,” he writes.

Nevertheless, Robinson, as other pictorialists, had been criticized extensively for his approach and, in the 1920s, a new photographic language appeared. Photography gives up “borrowing” from painting and searches for its own visual ways which proceed from the very specificity of the medium. Even such authors as Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz, who began as pictorialists in the “Photo-Secession” movement (founded in 1902 in USA), by 1910 turn away from the principles of imitation of painting. The Flatiron (1904) is perhaps the most known Steichen’s landscape which was still made in a pictorialist manner.

Nonetheless, here the photographer does not borrow from the classical European painting; his composition shifts closer towards engraving (the compositional construction of the picture refers to Japanese wood engravings, e.g. Hokusai’s landscapes), which, at that moment, had gained in popularity. Agents of the “Photo-Secession” movement were generally notable for turning to rather ordinary realistic stories - e.g. city landscapes (Stieglitz Terminal Station, New York, 1893 or his The Street, 1903). Their photographs, in all their picturesqueness, do not look as generalized, almost invented “ideal” landscapes; these are soft poetic images, without the loss of connection with the reality of the contemporary city.

The consequences of the Second Industrial Revolution have influenced the human perception of nature. In his work The Question Concerning Technology Martin

Heidegger meditates on how technical progress perceives nature as “challenging”. The flow of the Rhein is instrumentalizated by planting a hydroelectric power station on it. The world of nature loses its mystery and poetical vibe turning into a mere “energy deliverer.” Photographical, post-pictorialist landscape changes into sights of conquered, domesticated, “taken out from clandestine” nature (as Martin Heidegger would say). A soft impressionistic picturesque manner leaves the landscape, so does soft focus and classical composition; they give place to formal ways, to geometry, to the camera angle, sharpness and stiffness of representation. Much attention is paid to the details of the outside world, to the quest of a certain beauty and a specific harmony within them, but not to generalization and symbols.

Along with Stieglitz and Steichen - Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Gertrude Käsebier, and Alvin Coburn were also involved in landscape photography. Since 1910, in Camera Work magazine (editor Alfred Stieglitz; the magazine was as a voice of Pictorialism) most of the articles were about modernist art. Thus, the 1912 August issue was dedicated in full to paintings and sculptures by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Photographers, inspired by modern art - Cubism, Futurism, Abstractionism - were moving on to work with form. The epoch of Photographic Modernism had begun. A new approach was also brought on by the modified visual forms of the modern world - instead of savage scenery and pastoral countryside landscapes, an industrial world of electrical power stations, railways, skyscrapers, automobiles, trains and airplanes had appeared. The very essence of the new world was the necessity of searching for new forms of representation.

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It is notable that the landscape in modernist photography had lost a particular wholeness in splitting into details and fragments which were often determined in the sense of abstractness. Authors have stopped creating works where “unity” (after Robinson) was the main quality. Quite the opposite, highlighting of nature fragments and their objectification had become a conscious approach of the modernists. Landscapes White Fence (1916) by Paul Strand, Bucks County Barn (1916) by Charles Sheeler, House and Grape Leaves (1934) by Alfred Stieglitz, his Hedge and Grasses (1933) and Equivalents (1929), were presented, in essence, as still life studies of objects almost isolated from the surroundings, and created with acute attention to texture, pattern, form and corporeality.

An outstanding photographer of the time was Edward Weston, who had concentrated not only on still life (for which he had become well-known), but on landscapes, as well. Being a recognized leader of the “Group 64” movement, he also applied principles of this group to the landscape - photographing with a large-format camera, contact printing on glazed paper, paying special attention to details. For example, his Eroded Rock, Point Lobos (1930), Tomato Field (1937), and Oceano Dunes (1936) are notable for the deep working out of tonal gradation, impressionability and precise reproduction of different textures. Weston noted that, by landscape, he refers to all physical aspects of a certain region - water, soil, wild flowers, mountain peaks and, with this, their influence as a whole on people. Thus, Weston was one of the first photographers to speak about the social role of landscape, making landscapes of the American West.

However Weston was very deeply involved in aesthetics, and paid particular attention to visual harmony and exploration of landscape metaphysics.

Tired of the “tyranny” of Weston’s and Ansel Adams’s landscapes, who were passionately photographing form and light in landscape, photographers in the second half of the 20th century, unexpectedly, turned to documental recording of the everyday world. Interest in city life emerged due to the urban sprawl and growth of the city suburbs.

Exhibition New Topographics: A Photograph of a Man-Altered Landscape (1975, Eastmanhouse, NY) had declared a new approach to the representation of nature - an advent of the new aesthetics of landscape changed by man. This new method, which was obviously influenced by conceptual art of the 1960s, has solidified the change of the landscape paradigm in contemporary photography.

The young photographers who were chosen by curator William Jenkins were united in striving to disengage from any aesthetic traditions. The very themes and objects of their photography – roadside motels, service stations, trailers, phone boxes, water stations - resisted any poetization. This first conceptual style turned out to be very important for the future of photography.

Thus, a young couple from Germany, Berndt and Hilla Becher, who took part in this exhibition along with young American photographers, became the founders of the world-known Dusseldorf school (the graduates of which are such stars of contemporary photography as Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Thomas Struth and others). The detached, distant, unemotional approach of the

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“Becher” school, with its typological method, and the school of “American topography” have formed a sort of dominating paradigm in contemporary landscape having produced a large number of successors. It seems that emotionality, individual insight and romanticism have left landscape forever. The former treatment of landscape as natural phenomena is impossible. Instead of a search for harmony of man and nature through the landscape, the questions of social inequality, of ecology, of waste conservation, of natural resources exploitation (as is in the works of Edward Burtynsky) are brought to the fore.

This landscape is constructed, normalized, it is extremely rational (as contemporary Western mentality is) and clean, as a 3D model, or as an architectural drawing, rather than a real landscape/cityscape. The landscape, as in the times of the Dutch paintings of the 17th century (Kenneth Clark) becomes a bourgeois form of art and so allows a consummation of a “civilized” surface of land, from which all that is “chaotic,” “primary,” “wild” is cleared out - all that frightens and simultaneously attracts the contemporary man.

The contemporary “post-Becher” landscape is “precision” instead of an artist’s “opinion.” It can be compared with landscape in painting after Alberti-Brunelleschi’s invention of central perspective in the 15th century, which had normalized the landscape forever. It is obvious that with the appearance and expansion of digital photography the qualities of such a landscape – planeness, sharpness, smoothness, “unrealness” — were enhanced many times, rendering reality to the “ideal.” Aerial and tonal perspective almost abandon the landscape genre; man, if he is present, fulfills most commonly a staffage function and

the image itself turns to a compendium of signs (traces left by a man) which are to be decoded by the spectator.

The style of a man-altered landscape which was invented in the second half of the 20th century has passed through certain changes (connected chiefly with the advent of the digital epoch) and, nowadays, remains the most widespread one. A view of the landscape from a high perspective (as if from God’s point of view), sharpness and “statement,” the impossibility of romanticization, a cold gaze on nature, as an investigator and a scientist, not as an enraptured artist, being distant and taking on a landscape as if “ab extra” - these are its important characteristics.

An interesting phenomenon is that the spectator seems to lose the opportunity to enjoy the landscape, as was the case in medieval times, when the landscape, as a genre, was expelled as the voice of forbidden earthly delights. Is this a prohibition of hedonism dictated by a contemporary social situation of a “changed landscape” which will never be the primary source of harmony for man? Is landscape as a genre dead, and has it not turned into a tool for photographic research of territory? Maybe we will be able to see the beauty of a primeval landscape again only when we fly away to another planet, where nature has not yet been changed into a human “workshop” and is not “taken out from clandestine”? These questions will be answered by each contemporary photographer to himself, only. He or she skeptically and critically probes the world around and independently defines what can, nowadays, be called a landscape.

Izdavač | Published byMuzej savremene umetnosti Vojvodine

| Museum of Contemporary Art VojvodinaDunavska 37, 21000 Novi Sad

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Urednica | EditorLjubica Milović Mastilović

Tekst | TextLjubica Milović MastilovićStiv Bison | Steve Bisson

Geri Grin | Gary GreenNatalija Reznik | Natalya Reznik

Prevod | TranslationJagoda Topalov

Lektura | ProofreadingPredrag RajićMilana Vujkov

Fotografije | PhotographsDejvid Polok | David Pollock

Dušan RajićDastin Šam | Dustin Shum

Geoffroy Matieu | Zofri MatjuJordi Huisman

Huan Margoles | Juan MargollesMustafa Abdulaziz | Mustafah Abdulaziz

Paolo Fusko | Paolo FuscoRajan Debolski | Ryan DebolskiSerdjo Rolando | Sergio Rolando

Dizajn | DesignMirjana Dušić-Lazić

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ISKUSTVO prostora : pejzaž u fotografiji = Experience of space : landscape in photography : Muzej savremene umetnostiVojvodine, Novi Sad, 2 - 26. septembar 2014. / [tekstLjubica Milović Mastilović ... [et al.] ; prevod JagodaTopalov]. - Novi Sad : Muzej savremene umetnosti Vojvodine,2014 (Beograd : Službeni glasnik). - [72] str. : ilustr. ;17 cm

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