Nigel Grimmer
I decided that in order to get the widest bredth of ideas and inspiration possible, I should move away from researching toy photography for a while and instead look at some satirical photography, to see how other photographers present their own ideas. One photographer who came to mind was Nigel Grimmer, and specifically his shoot titled 'Roadkill Family Album.' In this shoot, to which Grimmer adds one image every year, members of Grimmer's family are photographed lying down, apparently dead, wearing animal masks. This creates a strange and thought-provoking series of images; the human element draws into question, intentionally or otherwise, whether different lives should hold a different value; by replacing animals with humans, the images seem almost more emotionally resonating than those of actual roadkill. There is also a darkly humourous element to the images, which comes naturally with the absurdity of people wearing animal masks, but this only goes to make the overall image more unsettling; we as viewers feel obliged to think a certain way, and when we may chuckle at the humour inherent to the images we feel a sense of guilt for doing it.
Nigel Grimmer was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and studied Fine Art Sculpture at university, before moving into other media such as photography. Grimmer has taken 'roadkill' images in various countries across the world. 'Roadkill Family Album' is not by any means Grimmer's only work, and his other projects tend to be equally dark, on the whole. Looking at the above images, it seems that little if any editing has been done to them; the content of the image itself is enough to provoke a strong emotional response, demonstrating that this series of photographs is very successful in what it sets out to achieve. Grimmer states on his website that 'the piece takes the form of an alternative family album which highlights the constructed nature of the images. ' I personally think that this clearly constructed element makes the images all the more powerfil, as it demonstrates that the photographer has deliberately set out to make these images with a particular goal in mind.
In researching Grimmer, I actually discovered that he has worked quite heavily with toys in the past. One series of images that caught my eye was 'Be Careful of Things Left Behind. The images evoke strong emotion without having any clear meaning at all; Grimmer says that he created the images using random toys he accumulated on a trip to Japan, and that the shoot's title was the one sentence of English spoken to him that week; by an ATM machine. Each image has a short caption beneath it, presumably the voice of the character in the images, but they are all fairly abstract and seem to make little sense. Each helps the attached image evoke a certain emotion however, which is what I find interesting.
This image, for example, is quite emotive, despite Grimmer never stating whether it has a meaning. The pose of the toy in itself suggests deep anxiety, and the single, harsh light combined with a subtle vignette lends a feeling of isolation to the image. The caption makes little sense in terms of meaning, but at the same time carries a sense of desparation and loneliness to accompany the image above it. The two chairs elevate the girl far above the magazines on the floor, almost as if she fears them.To me, the image represents loneliness, anxiety and depression, but someone else may take it completely differently. The rule of thirds is not observed, which gives the image a jarring and unsettling composition, as well as emphasizing the empty space around the girl, furthering the feeling of isolation.
Another shoot that caught my eye was 'The Plastic Arts', a darkly comical satire of art itself created using models. I chuckled a little at the dry sarcasm in some of the captions used in these images, despite the overall narrative, of a struggling artist losing self confidence, being rather dark and depressing.
In this image from 'The Plastic Arts,' Grimmer seems to be echoing his own fears through his work; the images in the background of the images are all of Grimmer's own prior works. There is something darkly humourous about the simultaneously smiling and crying cartoon rabbit in the foreground of the image, which once again makes us feel a tad guilty when we look into the deeper message being addressed; that being an artist is inherently a risk. In terms of composition, the shallow depth-of-field is nice, as it makes the self-referential elements of the images slightly less on-the-nose for viewers. Instead, our eyes are drawn to the comically disturbing character in the foreground, which is the emotional centre of the image. The rule of thirds has been observed, which makes the composition nicer to look at overall. The image is bright and colourful, which creates a nice and unsettling juxtaposition between the aesthetic of the image and its content. Finally, the caption is short and blunt, the use of mild profanity making it more humourous and casual; again, this strikes a nice balance between dark and funny. We imagine the character in the image saying this aloud, and the innocent, cartoonish nature of this character once again creates a juxtaposition.
There is a very deliberate symmetry to this image, as it is a criticisim of how pretense can be the difference between success and failure. This point only becomes apparent, however, when reading the caption; 'objet trouve' is just 'found objects' in French. I find it interesting that without the caption, this image does not really seem to have a clear message, but the caption suddenly transforms it into a powerful and scathing criticism. I may experiment with using captions in my own work, as I like the way a few words accompanying an image can completely change its meaning.