Soft Ground, 2007

The photographic works of Sarah Small and Elaine Stocki are treading on soft ground.

Unflinchingly personal and emotionally charged, their images counteract two different tendencies in today’s photographic art making, specifically emotional detachment and obvious digital manipulation. When considered in the context of other photographic art makers and current trends, the expressive of these two emerging artists appears remarkable – both conceptually and aesthetically – in its intimacy, tension, and authentically communicated emotion.

up close and personal in an increasingly distanced world

Many contemporary photographic artworks, even those depicting human subjects, convey a heightened sense of personal detachment. How can we account for the appeal of this way of seeing? These images may resonate with us because they are reminders of the similarly detailed yet arm’s-length views of the world we experience through our television and computer screens. Although a number of photographers, like August Sander and Bernd and Hilla Becher, were cultivating emotionally distanced, topographically-inclined imagery before our immersion in modern technology, the opportunities provided by contemporary digital software like Photoshop make it possible today to go one giant step further. Photographers can now take their photos with a camera and then alter and frame their images in-computer. Artists like Andreas Gursky and Jeff Wall, who create large and meticulous digital constructions, come to mind as examples of this new way of working. Although their photographs are awe-inspiring, the viewer may feel barred from having a more intimate personal response to them. Because photographers can enlarge, enhance, simplify, combine, or eliminate various elements in their images, any of them can choose, if they wish, to take this more calculated and analytical approach even further.

The works by the two artists in soft ground are striking because they appear to challenge this more detached and analytic aesthetic. Stocki and Small seem compelled to press themselves through the photographic window into the lives of others and into uncertain emotional territory, away from their own comfortable surroundings. As a result, their images shock us with their intimacy.

In Sarah Small’s photographs, there is little distance between the figures presented and the viewer/photographer. We are given full admittance into the lives of these people, and this closeness is all the more exhilarating because of the assumed honesty and authenticity – and the dynamism – of the depicted situations. Similarly, in Elaine Stocki’s photographs access is granted into seemingly private human encounters. However, with her images the majority of the figures are shown either quietly alone or massed in solidarity, inviting the viewer-as-voyeur into unsettling psychological spaces.

Because of the nature of the medium, in a sense every photograph unavoidably creates a feeling of detachment for the viewer. The camera will always be closer to the photographed situation than the viewer, allowing the viewer to see only a piece of the whole scene, one that is “once removed” through the mediation of the camera. He or she sees a particular view of the photograph’s reality. As Susan Sontag writes, photography encourages a special view of the world, one “…that nourishes aesthetic awareness and promotes emotional detachment”. (On Photography, 2001, p. 111)

On the other hand, we recognize that every photograph will inevitably have some evidence of emotion, even if that emotion is not the most defining characteristic of the work. The emotional impact of a photograph could be placed on a continuum, with emotional closeness at one end, and emotional detachment -tension between the detachment inherent in the photographic medium itself and a feeling of overwhelming emotional proximity to their subjects. created in part by the nature of the photographic medium - at the other. The works of Stocki and Small cluster themselves towards emotional closeness. These two artists benefit from a shared characteristic here: their works communicate a compelling

Unlike many contemporary photographers who aim for a more staged, cinematic-looking image, Small and Stocki express themselves ingenuously through their photographs. Their processes may involve some form of staging and/or manipulation of their subjects, but this fact does not affect our first impression of the work. We see candid, and even raw, human emotion. The humanity laid bare in this way seems to hark back to similar photographic intentions from the 1950s and 60s, where artists like Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus were revolutionary in taking a more open and documentary-like approach to photographing their human subjects. Because the images of Stocki and Small, like those of Winogrand and Arbus, appear to be less staged, there is an assumption of greater truthfulness, which in turn reinforces the appearance of emotional closeness in their work. The artists in soft ground apply this documentary photography appearance in order to create ambiguous worlds rather than to represent recognizable social setting.

inspired by the medium

The work of Elaine Stocki and Sarah Small enhances our awareness of photography in general by focusing our attention on one of its most significant features - its ability to stop time. The images appear to be especially photographic in their capacity for finding a decisive moment – and their insistence on finding it fully in-camera. In consequence, they welcome the limitations of the frame and skillfully edit their work to find ideal moments among many split-second exposures. The honest emotions communicated through their photographs arise, at least in part, from the way that Small and Stocki recognize this snap-shot-like sense of the photographic.

In the works of Small, in particular, we immediately notice the use of the decisive moment. On first viewing, we respond intensely to the dynamic body positions and human relationships that fill the frame. The snap shot feel is made more pronounced by allowing figures to escape the window, with flying hair and extended body parts. Small shares with photographers like Garry Winogrand a similar fascination with figures caught in dynamic situations, finding eccentric and surreal split-second moments. It appears that Winogrand encountered his scenes primarily by chance; Small, in contrast, has instigated certain aspects of the relationships in her images. Although Small’s interactions are partially staged, the emotions which are elicited in the final images – anxiety, curiosity, exhilaration – feel entirely authentic. Small’s playfully composed and colourful images communicate an extroverted and energized, yet somewhat uneasy, world.

Stocki’s imagery, on first glace, is also characterized by the decisive moment, yet it is a more introspective one. Like Diane Arbus, Stocki captures a steadier and more contemplative moment, forcing the viewer to analyze subtle physical gestures. Both artists also appear to place their figures in portrait-like stances. However, unlike Arbus, who typically framed her subjects in a direct, posed manner - producing the effect of social archetypes or icons - Stocki’s images are more closely related to snap shots, with body parts cropped and gestures framed in an informal way. In addition, Stocki’s figures are frequently placed off centre or are distorted by the lens to mask identity. Heightened by dark, ambiguous settings, the atmosphere conveyed expresses the reticent and tentative actions of her figures who ultimately become bodily expressions of emotion. In so doing, the artist is able to guide the viewer into seeing something quite different from a portrait.

vulnerability and the photographed figure

The figures portrayed in the work of Small and Stocki possess a common attribute — that of vulnerability. Some of their models are old, some are young, some are nude. Since both artists place their figures in undefined situations in order to call forth unpredictable emotions, our responses to these images may echo those of the first viewers of Diane Arbus’ or Sally Mann’s photographs: we feel empathy, or perhaps even indignation, on behalf of the seemingly vulnerable. Stocki’s figures appear to be placed in uncomfortable situations on purpose, while Small’s images, with their lack of context, make us wonder about the process that brought these people to the point of being photographed. In reality, both Small and Stocki work only with consenting individuals who have volunteered for these photographic ventures.

It has to be said though, in spite of their willingness, the volunteers – especially the young girls – may not have been totally aware of how they would look in the finished photographs. This issue increases our sense of unease on their behalf. For some viewers, this discomfort may override other responses. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the images created with these volunteer subjects communicate a powerful emotional closeness which enhances the tension in the pieces and contributes to the integrity of the photographs overall.

The images in this exhibition evoke an intriguing ambiguity for the viewer due to the emotional expression of the subjects, who are captured in the decisive moment without recognizable contexts. It allows the viewer to bring his or her own experience into the interpretation of the pieces, allowing for a construction of meaning in partnership with the artist. It is interesting that the images seem to represent, simultaneously, unique individuals and embodiments of universal humanity.

By studying the works of Elaine Stocki and Sarah Small, we are reminded of the power of images that are emotionally direct and free from obvious digital manipulation. In a world that often distances us from feelings of genuine emotion, these refreshingly expressive photographs compel us towards speculating on the human condition in all its variety, intimacy, and vulnerability.

Lisa Stinner
Curator, soft ground
Platform Gallery