#redheaded peckerwood

[nixpix3]

Research Post #1

(Semester 1, part 1)

Christian Patterson is a photographer from New York City who is very well known for his narratively driven, simplistic, and visually layered imagery. He moved from a small town in Wisconsin to New York in 1998. Once in the big city he started casually exploring it with his camera. He started going to museums and looking at other photographers' works. Seeing all those amazing photos inspired him to improve his own work and he eventually became obsessed with photography, to the point that he started pinning pictures to the walls of his apartment. He ended up moving from New York to Memphis to work with William Eggleston.

When looking at his photography the images that stood out to me most were the ones with depictions of fire. With the imagery of the tree Patterson was able to make its base look practically non-existent using the brightness of the flames. His photos have a very chaotic energy and yet manages to still calm the mind, or at least mine.

[zapboompowcrash]

Christian Patterson

Redheaded Peckerwood by Christian Patterson was published in 2010 and is a careful reconstruction of a preexisting crime story illustrated through photography. The narrative tells of a killing spree enacted by 19-year-old Charles Starweather and 14-year-old Caril Ann Fugate across Nebraska to Douglas, Wyoming where they were captured. The book includes photos of locations, letters, drawings, maps, and other details that play into the story and are organized to allow the viewer to piece the evidence together. This detective-style formula also allows the reader to make discoveries about the case that weren’t noticed during its time. There are also photographs of landscapes and environments that are part of the teens’ route; each emanating an odd energy. Christian Patterson’s style of photography is layered and also functions as a documentary of the past. Not only does he include photographs of the environment but also objects and letters; remnants of the past that are captured in an attempt to preserve their memory. 

I was drawn to Redheaded Peckerwood because I appreciate mystery, vintage, deeper messages in images, and odd spaces with a certain aura. Upon first glance, I was mesmerized by the contents of the photos and the energy they held. There were midwestern landscapes pictured in the winter and during the heat, brightly colored posters, abandoned buildings, blood in the snow, isolated signage, etc. Then there would be materials photographed that must’ve had owners in the past such as beds, a sweater, bottlecaps, and cards. Aspect ratios of some photos would be larger than others as if adding emphasis to their importance—some in black-and-white and some in color. I also feel that the color grading is particularly significant; the brighter colors are reminiscent of the 70s and add an extra layer of uneasiness similar to false security. I feel that Patterson’s style of photography could influence me plenty in terms of framing and coloring. His ability to convey so much atmosphere within a photo is compelling, and I’d like to demonstrate this in the future with photography and illustration.

Sources:

Patterson, C. (n.d.). Christian Patterson. https://www.christianpatterson.com/redheaded-peckerwood-info/

Patterson, C., Sante, L., Patterson, C., & Patterson, C. (2011). Redheaded peckerwood. Mack. 

[darenvdoesphotograhpy]

Redheaded Peckerwood by Christian Patterson, MACK 2012

The photo book Redheaded Peckerwood is a book designed by Christian Patterson. Christian Patterson is an American Photographer who is known for both his Sound Affects and. Redheaded Peckerwood. He was also awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and Vevey International Photography Award. His book Redheaded Peckerwood is filled with photos documenting the tragic story of Charles Starkweather and 14 year old Caril Ann Fugate who murdered ten people. The photo is not completely direct in the story telling and leaves a lot to the viewer’s imagination. The book also includes many items which the reader could physically move and interact with, which ultimately engages the view into the story. This book was captivating to say the lease. The unbelievable amount of storytelling and buildup, honestly I was no longer just looking at photos, I was reading a story. I was absolutely investing into this book. The most fascinating point of this book was the indirectness and “open aired” storytelling, but still being all related to the story. I really wish to replicate this storytelling with such photographs. Something that is not direct, but engaging; Something unnerving, but intriguing. This book also does an amazing job when with text photographs, and typography. The images of private notes, receipts, and news articles adds so much to the story and leaves the view wanting more information. The Typography images is done in a way where it is not completely direct, but give just enough caption for the view to guess the rest. It is also very uncomfortable how fun and comedic the typography is and because of the story creates and adds to the atmosphere. Overall this book was really fascinating and amazing. Even with its tragic story it was really well captured.

[tonycamonte]

"i literally dont even care about charles starkweather he doesnt get to me at all." -- guy who loves badlands guy who loves nebraska bruce springsteen guy who wrote an essay about him guy who wrote a second essay about him in french guy who wrote a third essay about redheaded peckerwood guy who loves the sadist guy who loves natural born killers guy who has written poems guy who thinks normal thoughts always all the time

[michaelcosio]

Redheaded Peckerwood Installation Walk-through

Jun 2, 2014

Christian Patterson describes the installation of Redheaded Peckerwood at Transformer Station, the first comprehensive museum showing of his legendary book.

Directed and edited by Christian Patterson

from TransformerStation

[jaelynnphotography]

Artist Research #5

In this research post, I wanted to talk about and learn more on the photographer Christian Patterson. The reason for this being that he was also a photographer whose work I was introduced to in my photography class. And just this small introduction had me pretty intrigued in wanting to learn more about the kind of art work he produces. Christian Patterson was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and lives in New York, New York. A lot of the art that he has made had been described as novelistic and tells stories focused on archive, authorship, memory, place and time. But it was interesting to find out that photography is not the only form of art that Patterson partook in. He also did drawings, paintings, objects, video and sound. Patterson is also an author and has made three books which are Sound Affects (2008), Redheaded Peckerwood (2011, Recontres d’Arles Author Book Award) and Bottom of the Lake (2015,Shortlist, Aperture-Paris Photo Book of the Year).

The main piece I decided I wanted to focus on in this post though is the book he made titled Redheaded Peckerwood. Along the lines of another photographer, I wasn't very aware that pictures were used to tell stories. But in this case. Patterson was using his photographs to tell and portray a very real and almost sort of disturbing true story. In this series of pictures, Patterson tells the story of 19 year old Charles Starkweather and 14 year old Caril Ann Fugate who murdered ten people, including Fugate's family, during a three day killing spree across Nebraska to the point of their capture in Douglas, Wyoming. It's a whole different feeling when you're looking at pictures that tell a fictional story compared to when you are being shown pictures of something that actually happened. And with this story, after learning the history behind why Patterson took certain pictures, it definitely made the pictures as a whole more darker in their meaning.

With Patterson's work, I was very interested as well as fascinated. It seemed like such a good and interesting concept to go out and take pictures of certain small things that are all connected to an even bigger story. When I first looked at these pictures, I looked at them kind of quickly and without thought because I didn't have the context to go with them. I didn't know exactly why Patterson seemed to be taking pictures of just random objects. But once I learned about the story, it made me go back and look over the pictures again. And when doing this, all the pictures suddenly had a completely different feeling and impact on me.

[a-h-87769877]

Christian Patterson 

Redheaded Peckerwood 

http://www.christianpatterson.com/redheaded-peckerwood/#1

[zombilenium]

Christian Patterson, “Storm Cellar,” 2010

[francisgan]

An influential photobook of recent years. Luc Sante, in his essay, calls it “a kind of subjective documentary photography of the historical past,” which presents an interesting oxymoron. 2nd book of Christian Patterson and his greatest masterpiece yet.

[20140289]

Christian Patterson 

Redheaded Peckerwood

“Redheaded Peckerwood, which unerringly walks the fine line between fiction and nonfiction, is a disturbingly beautiful narrative about unfathomable violence and its place on the land” Luc Sante

[fiercerthanyou]

Christian Patterson, ‘Jackknife’,

From ‘Redheaded Peckerwood’ Series,

Archival inkjet print mounted to Dibond,

Image: 19.875 x 15.875 in (50.483 x 40.323 cm) Sheet: 20 x 16 in (50.8 x 40.64 cm) 

[photobookjunkies]

From our personal photobook collection: Redheaded Peckerwood by Christian Patterson (3rd edition MACK 2013)

Redheaded Peckerwood is a work with a tragic underlying narrative - the story of 19 year old Charles Starkweather and 14 year old Caril Ann Fugate who murdered ten people, including Fugate's family, during a three day killing spree across Nebraska to the point of their capture in Douglas, Wyoming. The images record places and things central to the story, depict ideas inspired by it, and capture other moments and discoveries along the way. From a technical perspective, the photographs incorporate and reference the techniques of photojournalism, forensic photography, image appropriation, reenactment and documentary landscape photography. On a conceptual level, they deal with a charged landscape and play with a photographic representation and truth as the work deconstructs a pre-existing narrative. Redheaded Peckerwood also utilizes and plays with a pre-existing archive of material, deliberately mixing fact and fiction, past and present, myth and reality as it presents, expands and re-presents the various facts and theories surrounding this story. While photographs are the heart of this work, they are the complemented and informed by documents and objects that belonged to the killers and their victims - including a map, poem, confession letter, stuffed animal, hood ornament and various other items, in several cases, these materials are discoveries first made by the artist and presented here for the first time. In book form, the work is presented as a sort of visual crime dossier, including pieces of paper which are inserted into the book. The many individual pieces included serve as cues and clues within the visual puzzle. In this way, there are connections that are left for the viewer to be made and mysteries that are left to be solved.

Check out our STORE

[strathshepard]

A spread from photographer Christian Patterson's book Redheaded Peckerwood, self-published in 2010.

Christian Patterson's Redheaded Peckerwood retraces the steps of 19 year old Charles Starkweather and 14 year old Caril Ann Fugate who murdered ten people, including Fugate's family, during a three day killing spree across the mid-West in 1958. The true crime story was the basis for Terrance Mallick's masterpiece "Badlands" which had a profound aesthetic influence on Patterson as he matured as a photographer.

[gracemulhollandstudio]

Harry Culy pt. 2

Redheaded Peckerwood -

walks the same line between fiction and non fiction

follows story of teenagers that murdered 10 people on killing spree

recordings places central to the story

photographs incorporate techniques of forensic photography, landscape

photographic representation and the truth

deconstructs a preexisting narrative

archival material

myth and reality, past and present

facts and theories surrounding story

photos alongside letters, objects, and items

clues as you go through the book, make connections yourself, solve mystery yourself

playfulness, beauty, contrasting with dark narrative

inspiration of layout and feel for Harry’s book

wide range of photographs, studio, evidence based, materiality etc.

the reenacted photos, go to particular sites and stage different types of photographs

imagine certain parts of the story, interesting way to work.

ethics? working with sensitive subject matters. consider the harm. depends on strategy you take, how recent it is. personal ethics, legality.

Defendants - Sam stephenson.

mental health, hospital recovering at parents house

watching daytime television

judge Judy

took a picture of the tv screen

archive that explores the pop culture phenom of judge Judy

degradation

media publication and actual photographs themselves, small project

comedy, sadness

interesting looking characters.

Evidence - Larry sultan and mike Mandell

found archival imagery book

images were found in archives of local business, corps, institutions 

talked their way into archives

removed context around photographs

dreamlike narrative placement

the context of a photograph is everything, removing it creates something new dreamlike science fiction dystopia

different, genius way to work with archives

humour and mystery

repurposing into art narrative 

mundane vs strange

Photobook

thinking about design, physical aspects that go with the archive,  contrasting subject matter with physical book, turning things onto its head, using novel format, how do these things change the meaning, thinking of these things, how you can put something together to relate things. you can erase the text and it can still be archival.

removing context changes the way you interact with the image, thinking about the image in such a different way, where they are displayed. website, blog, web based presentation, how this context can change everything. having fun. creating interesting narrative. small decisions can influence in a big way.

[grassroots-final-project]

           Alec Soth - “I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating”

“There is this experience with the camera I used in this project. You’re tucked under the dark cloth, you’re hidden, and you’re looking at this picture – albeit upside down – but you’re looking at the subjects and you use this little magnifying glass and can look right in to their eyes. It’s just such an incredible, sensual feeling; it’s such a delight. And the photograph is a representation of that strange intimacy-slash-distance.”

If there has been one main influence in my work and project it has been to be the work by Alex Soth and more specifically his latest body of work ‘I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating’  This exquisite and quiet collection of 35 images is Soth’s most intimate work to date. The use of white space and blank pages juxtapose the closeness and intimacy that is shared within the portraits, carefully narrated with the use of perfectly balanced interiors. “Early on I had this number – 35 – and that was my target number. I wanted there to be this openness and lightness that I was feeling, and to have plenty of space for the pictures, but also not a lot of pictures... I wanted air.” - Alec Soth 2019 (Interview with Another Magazine)

This openness and air to breathe within the work reflects how Soth was feeling at the time of creating these images. It is interesting how he introduces these feelings within his book and openly discusses them in the interview that features towards the end of the book. The way in which Soth’s new book has been constructed also juxtaposes the feedback that I have always received from my earlier book that I created Grassroots, and the feedback I have been given regarding my plans to create a new and more accessible magazine. MORE CONTENT!! That is what I have been told by many in group crits, by my lecturers and other peers outside of University. 

However, how important I ask myself is it to force feed my audience with the use of say a collection of 50, 60, 70 or even 80 images? Does it make sense to include such a large collection of images, does it make sense to the narrative, or will distract away from the themes of the work? 

If you take into consideration the research I have done from Christian Patterson’s Redheaded Peckerwood, which is very different to the work of Soth’s. Patterson’s book includes an array of images, archive material, pull outs and much more which is what is making me question the importance of content and how much I should include. This will and has made more sense the more I have examined the images and been working on the PDF layout. Each image has to add something to the story that is trying to be conveyed. Otherwise what is it’s purpose? 

[amypca]

PHOT301: Anything Goes Lecture.

Find a narrative - through Research, Creativity and Innovation.

Rinko Kawauchi, Illuminance (photobook), 2011 ^

Exploring the eclectic and multifaceted nature of contemporary photography both as an art practice and as a ‘social’ phenomenon–

moving from the personal to the social- via the conceptual. In a sense, the creative and critical methodologies that you develop around photography, are potentially part of a wider and ongoing research project, on the way our world is mediated and narrated through the visual.

We mean to unpack the taken for granted nature of ‘knowing’ through photography as much as develop confidence as artists, in playful yet considered engagement with some of the most compelling issues of our times.

Wolfgang Tillmans, 2003 ^

Shirana Shahbazi - ^

Good words, 2001, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig

Christian Patterson, “Redheaded Peckerwood”. Installation, 2012.

Vasantha Yogananthan

A Myth of Two Souls is inspired by the epic tale The Ramayana. Drawing inspiration from the imagery associated with this myth and its pervasiveness in everyday Indian life, Vasantha Yogananthan is retracing the legendary route from north to south India. First recorded by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki around 300 BC, The Ramayana has been continuously rewritten and reinterpreted, and continues to evolve today. Yogananthan’s series is informed by the notion of a journey in time and space and offers a modern retelling of the tale. 

My Thoughts -

I found this particular artist dwelling with artistic creating, his work almost always continues a narrative that contradicts on the very real fate through an informative visual, bringing everyday life in the Indian community around the world for all to see.

My Thoughts -

This series of work is enhanced through dramatic melancholy visual, the Black and White film used for this effect grants a look into what the photographer is feeling or perhaps the way he wants his target audience to feel when viewing his work - these are all very key things for me to take away and place into my own thoughts for my work. 

We consider photography as an ‘expanded’ media within contemporary arts –one which incorporates time-based, installation, sculpture and social practice.

Felicity Hammond

Recent RCA graduate

Wangechi Mutu

Some added research -

Wangechi Mutu observes: “Females carry the marks, language and nuances of their culture more than the male. Anything that is desired or despised is always placed on the female body.” Piecing together magazine imagery with painted surfaces and found materials, Mutu’s collages explore the split nature of cultural identity, referencing colonial history, fashion and contemporary African politics. In Adult Female Sexual Organs, Mutu uses a Victorian medical diagram as a base: an archetype of biased anthropology and sexual repression. The head is a caricatured mask – made of packing tape, its material makes reference to bandages, migration, and cheap ‘quick-fix’ solutions. Mutu portrays the inner and outer ideals of self with physical attributes clipped from lifestyle magazines: the woman’s face being a racial distortion, her mind occupied by a prototypical white model. Drawing from the aesthetics of traditional African crafts, Mutu engages in her own form of story telling; her works document the contemporary myth-making of endangered cultural heritage.

My Thoughts - 

After looking a little more in depth of Mutus work, Iv found that her work represents the powerful message of female identity and cultural background. Her work acts in itself as a form of expression to Mutus own identity and brakes down the misunderstanding of the female anatomy. I decided her concept was at a depth of remarkable intelligence on this subject and completely captivated me into further exploration on the subject matter. 

Lucas Blalock: Imperfect Grace

….Consider, in this context, Lucas Blalock’s use of Photoshop. He’s horrible at it. Or so he’d have you believe: you can follow all his technical steps; they are ham-fisted.

But these bald-faced moves stand in direct contradiction to the standard, seamless operations of digital legerdemain that are designed to fade into the background of the collective dream worlds fashioned for us by advertising executives and other promoters of the spurious and the seductive.

Photography’s Fluidity - MCA Seminar Mohini Chandra

“We’re in the century of the migrant.. However, not all migrants are alike in their movement. For some, movement offers opportunity, recreation, and profit with only a temporary expulsion. For others, movement is dangerous and constrained, and their social expulsions are much more severe and permanent. ”

Luke Willis Thompson – Autoportrait, Whitechapel Gallery 2018

Turner prize nominee

Added Research -

In November 2016, with the assistance of Chisenhale Gallery, Thompson established a conversation with Reynolds, and her lawyer, and invited Reynolds to work with him on the production of an artwork. Thompson proposed to make an aesthetic response that could act as a ‘sister-image’ to Reynolds’ video broadcast. Thompson and Reynolds agreed to produce a film together, to be presented in London, and which would break with the well-known image of Reynolds, caught in a moment of violence and distributed within a constant flow of news.

My Thoughts on Thompsons work -

I was first drawn to Lukes work through his love or 35mm film, it honestly speaks volumes in his photography to show you exactly how you would see it if were at that very gallery, it allows for an immersive experience into the language of film adaptation and creates a knowledgeable atmosphere. As he works alongside the create movement it works as a collective with other artists and brings a full circle to the arts industry helping one another which I admire.

“ Create exists to explore the ways artists can contribute to the lives of people in cities. As an organisation Create helps artists to connect more closely with communities through an ambitious programme of projects and their work is primarily focused on East London. www.createlondon.org “

Photography can be challenging in its intent whilst relying on an economy of galleries, art fairs, auctions and publications for its survival.

We disentangle the strands of photography in ‘the now’ and consider historical precedents behind key concepts, as we consider innovative and challenging practices.

Questioning of photography as document/truth Rise of ‘constructed’ practices. Return of Documentary as a ‘conceptual’ practice.

As you develop your own photographic practice at postgraduate level,

we consider those artists who question and re-frame photography’s ongoing relationship to the social, cultural, economic and political world, using methods which interrogate ‘form’ as much as ‘content’.

In this sense, we see the contemporary photograph as simultaneously, subject and object but also sometimes as ‘unfixed’ in meaning.

How is this ‘untethering’ interesting for us?

RESOURCES

Introduction, Why Art Photography, Lucy Soutter Routledge, 2018 edition. On the Classroom

What next for photography in the age of Instagram? Sean O’Hagan, The Guardian, 14/10/18

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/14/future-photography-in-the-age-of-instagram-essay-sean-o-hagan

In a sense, the creative and critical methodologies that you develop around photography, are potentially part of a wider and ongoing research project, on the way our world is mediated and narrated through the visual.

In our discussions, we mean to unpack the taken for granted nature of ‘knowing’ through photography as much as develop confidence as artists, in playful yet considered engagement with some of the most compelling issues of our times.

LINKS -

https://chisenhale.org.uk/exhibition/luke-willis-thompson/

https://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/wangechi_mutu.htm

https://www.a-myth-of-two-souls.com/about/