Exercise 2.3

Read ‘Bill Brandt’s Art of the Document’ by David Campany. Write a short summary in your learning log. How did B&W become such a respected and trusted medium in documentary? (Open College of the Arts, 2014:32).

 This article illustrates how on image can play different roles at different times especially when presented in different ways, or as Company calls it “mobile images” (Company, 2006: p51). It also gives an insight into the career of Bill Brandt.

The image that the article discusses is shown above “Parlour maid and under-parlour maid Ready to Serve Dinner”. It first appeared in Brandt’s first book “The English At Home” (1936) a pictorial survey across the social classes. The book presents images from across a social divide through pairings of images, though it is not an in your face revolutionary document as the previous work I discussed “Survival Programmes: In Britain’s Inner Cities”, Brandt clearly presented these disparities in one book for a viewer to see if they wished to see. Company calls this “poetic realism” pictorial artfulness that tried to assume social authority. However, in this one image in particular you can see the tension between classes contained in one photo. Company says that The English at Home was a picture of the English that they struggle to recognise themselves (Company, 2006:54).

In 1938 Brandt published in Verve photo- essay styled as “day in the life of” though this image was not included essay style, possibly as he thought the image too powerful; these images work together but not on their own. After the 1940s Brandt moved away from the photo-essay either to singular images or those juxtaposed to add strength to his meaning. This image was reprinted in “Shadow of Light” (1966) and placed opposite an image of a Kensington drawing room, emulating the juxtaposed images in his 1936 book.

I was interested to read that Brandt changed to a more surrealistic approach to the photographic document as he was not convinced that a photograph could give straightforward social description and was wary of its use for social reform. Surrealists approached documentary in a more ambiguous way leaving more room for viewers to make their own responses. Company explains how Brandt is sometimes viewed as a historical and sometimes a contemporary artist, sometimes a documentary photographer and sometimes and artist though he would call him documentary artist.

I’m not sure how this article relates to the back and white document, though it does mention that black and white defines the details in a photograph. Also, perhaps to say that there is no such thing metaphorically as a black and white image and that as Brandt always worked in black and white. It has however reopened my eyes to Brandt’s work and reminded me of the fluidity of images over time.

MY LEARNING

• Remember the ability of a photograph to be presented for different purposes
• Research Brandt further
• Research Surrealist photographers further

References:

Bill Brandt | Parlour maid and Under-Parlour maid Ready to Serve Dinner | The Met (2020) At: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/265464 (Accessed 14/05/2020).

Company, D. (2006) The career of a photographer, the career of a photographer: Bill Brandt’s art of the document

Open College of the Arts (2014) Photography 2: Documentary-Fact and Fiction (Course Manual). Barnsley: Open College of the Arts.

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