Book Review : Leica S Magazine Issue #7
This is a quick commentary on the latest edition of the Leica S magazine. I dont own a Leica S series camera, but the lovely Leica people let you buy their magazine anyways (-: I subscribe to the Leica Fotografie International magazine though and thats a cracker. Only issue is the germans are not very enviro friendly - every edition comes vacuum wrapped in cling wrap, and sealed in a very thick cardboard post pack - yes it arrives in pristine condition, but how many hydrocarbons were emitted in the process?? I still buy it though ....
Anyways, on to the Leica S magazine. This edition I had to buy as it features entirely recent works by Bruce Gilden. A "polarising" figure manyy say, but his approach to photography and his output are truly amazing, if not a little front foot and provocative. But hey, the world needs it.
For those that follow Magnum of Instagram, they have been "Gilden bombing" their account the past two weeks and getting plenty of likes and comments - worth reading through the diverse opinions, grouped very easily in to "Fantastic" and "Exploitative".
The series is called "American Made" and I am glad I bought the magazine because at least you get some context from Bruce himself (in an interview with his wife) about where these ideas came from, the process that was used to meet and capture the frames, and why.
Gilden purposely hangs outs at American fairs, as he thinks the sort of people that generally go to these town events have "visually interesting" faces and compositions. Golden also always hangs out at the lower socio economic sides of town, preferring to capture prostitutes and drug addicts and the socially challenged. And of course being a Magnum recognised photographer, he always does it technically brilliantly, with amazing use of natural and fill light and in this series in particular, absolutely pin sharp frame filling portraits. (its a bit of an ad for the Leica S as they made him switch from his standard M240 to a S to give it a go ...)
This latest series covers people at fairs, people from "The Bottoms" ( a low socio-economic suburb of Columbus, Ohio), farm boys and girls, and amazingly food - well, its called that, but its self made studio style shots of the weird and wonderful pieces of food people were eaten at the fairs he visited.
The images are confronting. Not all but some are clearly of people struggling wth mental health issues, drug issues, or other types of pain. The eyes on every single shot are the immediate draw point, and then you scan around the filled frame looking at the other facial aspects, then finally a complete sense of the face - the person. I feel on the verge of voyeurism and exploitation when looking at the images, yet Gilden has clearly established a link with these people in order to capture them so close and so deliberately, so they know what the are doing.
Image © Bruce Gilden
The food series is also amazing. Golden simply used a white piece of paper out at the fairs he visited to backdrop the non descriptor food people were eating. A grotesque and intriguing series being the result, and cures any hunger pains the reader may have in an instance.
I like Gildens work generally and marvel at his front foot and in your face style to capture a frame. I believe him when he says he is capturing real people and their real projections. And i also believe his subjects are willing participants and hence dot quite buy in to the exploitation line of analysis.
The magazine price is well worth it for an entry ticket in to Gildens new colourful, frame filling view of American life.