The programme also introduced the story of his work, studying art in Paris, a period of fashion and abstract photography, then street photography and films. As a result, I was able to concentrate on the photographs at the exhibition and did not need to pay so much attention to the panels and descriptions.
Despite the heightened sense of interest after watching the TV programme, I was still impressed by the exhibition. I paid less attention to the film showings, although I was interested to discover Klein's relationship with Chris Marker, film maker and photographer whose photos I had read about in a photo magazine.
Partly, it was the size of the reproduction of the photos that was impressive: the panels must have been 3 metres high and 6 metres across, some with single images, others in a four by three array of prints.
Scanning the individual images, there were scenes with a sense of the ridiculous, scenes that were intriguing, scenes of grief and emotion. The viewpoints were invariably close up, mostly wide angle, sharp front to back.
Points of interest that I picked up about his street photography:-
- For many of his photographs, the subjects were fully "aware" that they were being photographed. In his well known photo "Minigang, Amsterdam Avenue, New York", he had encouraged the boys to play-act with their guns. This contrasts totally with the street photography of Harry Callan for example, who took candid photographs of passers-by without their knowledge. Kleins's photos have far more visual interest and engagement.
- Almost all seemed to be taken in natural light. I saw no indication that he was using flash. It looks as if he was sometimes shooting from waist level, not using the viewfinder.
- The presentation is high contrast. A blurred shape in the foreground often frames an interesting face in the background.
- Close up photography of individuals in crowds seems to be a particularly speciality. In one of the sequences in the film he explains how he waited for the various individuals at a Rolling Stones rock concert to position themselves appropriately in the frame.
The exhibition also displayed some photographs from his fashion/abstract series. These were very effective when presented at large size. One stretched from ground level to eye level, which made it feel as if there was a three dimensional space that you could almost walk into.
On a historical note, I was reading the essay by Ben Gidley and Mick Gidley in the book that accompanies the "Another London" exhibition. One of the points they highlighted was the impact on photographers of how photographic commissions changed over the 20th Century. In the first half of the century, the picture papers were a major force sending photographers to London. As a result, most photographic commissions related to the pictorial events e.g. coronations, major festivals etc. In the second half of the century, photo agencies like Magnum grew up, which allowed photographers greater freedom (and greater control) to work on a variety of subjects. This struck a chord with the background to Klein's first major photobook "Life is good and good for you in New York". This project was originally a commission for "Life", the US magazine. However, the magazine decided not to publish the photos as they thought the funky/grungy look made New York "look like a slum". Subsequently, Chris Marker worked with Klein to publish the book in 1956 in Paris.
I was interested to see the photography of Daido Moryama, having visited the Shinjuku district of Tokyo earlier this year. However, I did not feel that there was much in Moryama's photography that I wanted to use at present. Reflecting on my indifference to this photography, I think that an important factor is that he seems seems indifferent to the people and the place, there is a coldness and objectivity. This hard and uncompromising view is surely derived from the character of the photographer rather than the character of the place. The snapshot style and presentation was not compensated by other redeeming qualities for me.
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