Graphic Journey Blog

Behind closed doors

This is the work of Canadian born photographer and video artist Fred Muram.

One Day I Will Learn How to Fix Things

He lives in Seattle and has a bunch of dedicated friends who help find locations, props and people to inhabit his very personal vision of the world. Fred finds beauty in the mundane and ordinary. His work has wit and a bizarre narratives that sets the mind racing. Here are two images from his series ‘Kissing The Ceiling’ ...

And these two from Fred's 'Rug series'...

Wonderful examples of his eccentric take on the everyday...

Ordinary interiors with extraordinary things going on.  They have a quiet intensity about them and they do make me smile. Fred also has a nice blog here.  He is currently in Wyoming, at an artist residency. They have given him a large studio with nothing in it except a single bed, two tables and two chairs. He says, 'It is a bit daunting because it's like staring at a blank canvas without any paint. I have been planning to roll a 300 lbs. tractor tire down a hill, but whiteout conditions and cold weather have put those plans on hold for a couple days.' Well, with our current weather Fred couldn't even do it in London.

Deep Focus

This Bill Brandt RDI…

 

1904-1983. He is one on my all time favourite photographers and a rare Royal Designer for Industry photographer. I think this is because he had the eye of a graphic designer, without actually being one. His epic works, The English at Home 1936 and Britain by Night 1938 were benchmarks in documentary reportage. But for me  his nudes of the 40s, 50s and 60s are a demonstration his ability to find a new perspective on this classic subject… 

East sussex coast 1958

London 1953

Baie des Anges, France 1958

East Sussex Coast 1959

He’s use of extreme wide-angle lenses and high contrast black and white makes for a dynamic graphic presentation…   

Campden Hill, london 1949

This ‘deep focus’ style was pioneered in the cinema of the late 1930s… 

 

the above is a still from the 1939 Russian film The Great Citizen directed by Freidrich Ermler which clearly had and influence on the young Orson Wells who, along with the great cinema photographer Gregg Toland, experiment with extreme wide angel photography to great dramatic effect in Wells’s 1941 film Citizen Kane...

 Undoubtedly the presentation of CitizenKane affected many photographers, whether consciously or unconsciously. And this photographic influence continued in many black and white films well into the 70s. Here are some examples…  

Ivan the Terrible 1944 directed by Sergei Esenstein

Onibaba 1964 directed by Kaneto Shindo

Repulsion 1965 directed by Roman Polanski

Seconds 1966 directed by John Frankenhimer

 Alice in Wonderland 1966 directed by  Jonathan Miller.

Delius: A Song of Summer 1968 directed by Ken Russell.

The Last Picture Show 1971 (above) and Paper Moon (below) 1973...

both directed by Peter Bodanovich. All of these are examples of just how rewarding  black and white films can be as a visual spectacle, and how reciprocal the relationship has been with stills photography. And I can assure you that all of the films featured above are a must if you are vaguely interested in the art form. To see more of  Brandt's work, up close and personal, you can't do better than visit the V&A  Prints and Drawing Room where you can sit in a beautiful warm space,  are kitted out with some very smart white gloves and an attentive librarian will bring you original prints of Brandt's work to peruse for as long as you want. It's wonderful and completely free.