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| Photo: Rineke Dijkstra |
The portraits at Rineke Dijkstra's Retrospective at SFMOMA are impressive not only for their size, but for the magnitude of depth and emotion she brings to her portraiture- they're plenty stoic alright, but seething with tension and mystery nonetheless! It's not uncommon for people to exclaim that a certain portrait really succeeds in capturing its subject, somehow revealing the person's true nature or inner workings. Dijkstra's portraiture however, seems to staunchly proclaim that her subject's emotions, feelings and personal attributes are forever hidden behind a bevy of looks, postures and presentations. They may not exactly be all that secure or confident of themselves, but they'll be damned if they're gonna give it up for you...
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| Photo: Rineke Dijkstra |
The most memorable photo I took home with me that night however was the one below from the concurrently running Photography in Mexico exhibit. Well less than half the size of any of RD's photos, and minus any of her sensual color palette- Elsa Medina managed to render harsh reality into one iconic, cinematic tribute that made for one beautifully potent package.
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| Photo: Elsa Medina |
2 comments:
Stan, it's interesting to read your interpretation of Dijkstra's portraits. I find them cold and emotionless, especially when compared with the earlier photographs in the Mexico exhibit. The mystery and humanity in the work of photographers like Manuel Álvarez Bravo is what keeps me up at night thinking about photographs that I might someday be able to make...
I hear that, but I also like what Dijkstra brings to the table. I don't know if it's a cultural thing, or the the way she works, or... but it is definitely a bit more removed, a bit more reserved- nonetheless, there's a vulnerability evident in her portraits that works itself out in different ways. The subjects may be struggling with themselves, or the whole process, or what- but they don't seem totally devoid and vacant like those of the "deadpan" genre. Course, it's all how ya look at it, aint it?
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