Premio Combat Prize

“Since the Photograph is pure contingency and can be nothing else (it is always something that is represented) – Contrary to the text which, by the sudden action of a single word, can shift a sentence from description to reflection – it immediately yields up those “details” which constitute the very raw material of ethnological knowledge.”
Ever since its beginnings photography claimed to tell the truth or better to tell us the viewer something about the depicted subject. Barthes suggests that by analyzing details of a picture and by paying attention to how somebody is dressed or the haircut he has, we can build a pretty clear understanding of the world that it represents. Photography as indexing and ethnological tool supplying access to what Barthes calls infra-knowledge.
On the other hand; always according to Barthes “since every photograph is contingent (and thereby outside of meaning), Photography cannot signify (aim at a generality) except by assuming a mask. The self and the representation of self in public spaces is one of the most controversial topics in sociology and photography. How does technology and especially digital media affect our relationship with space and the self?
23_05_2007, my ongoing photographic research work, takes its cue from the words of Roland Barthes’s “Camera Lucida”. What can we learn in means of self-representation, and can the “self” actually be fully represented, from anonymous faces and gestures in the crowd? Can we extract an essence from the representation of a human face depicted on any photographic media?
What is the interaction or rather the interference of the photographer with his or her subject? Is the photographer acknowledged and therefore adding a further layer to an ever-changing equation? Having shot the whole project with a concealed camera or as Wordsworth would put it; “he dons his coat of darkness”, and always on the move in between a buzzing multiplicity, the resulting photographs give us a close look at the “face”. Given this unawareness of being portrayed, can we assume that we see a true representation of our inner self in a public space? Undoubtedly my relationship with public spaces and the inhabiting crowd has changed during the shooting process. My awareness and proximity to the others gave me a clear perception of myself as part of a public space.
Michael Frank is a commercial photographer with over 20 years of studio and location experience. After many years of freelance corporate, advertising and portrait work with national and international clients, as well as owner of a rental studio, Michael felt the need to implement and expand his photographic and personal horizons. He moved to London and subsequently took a number of short courses on photography, art and architecture at Central St. Martins under Diego Ferrari. This led to further academic study.
In 2009 Michael started the MA course “Photography & Urban Cultures” at Goldsmiths University of London under the supervision of Paul Halliday and Caroline Knowles. As part of his successful dissertation and final visual project he started the project named 23_05_2007
Michael recently set up an online-based photography gallery named “Gasket” (http://gasket-gallery.com). Gasket is about photography that asks questions and tells stories. It’s about photography that is critical. Gasket hosted its first exhibition “Adrift” in fall 2012 in London and is currently contracting with a gallery to host the show in Vienna.