Statement, May 2009

The photograph’s characteristic look and context are important tools for the participant in the work of mapping a photograph. My work is very much about this and the specificity of photography as medium, its uncertainty as a representational device and its status within the visual field, especially in relation to commercial photography, art and media.

I work in series that are connected to a specific thematic concept. I am interested in the encounter between the object that I am documenting and the fiction that it will come to represent. I have a fascination in the feeling of reality generated by a photograph, not as an evidence of truth but as a representation of subjectivity and its relation to society. My images are generally precise and sharp, and the intention is not only to push the realistic and illusory nature of photography, but also to achieve a sense of “democratic picture-area” so that no point or object in the picture stand out more important than the others.

I often approach the motifs by three classical picture types, the landscape, the portrait and the still life. With this I help the images to be categorized and seen as “easy” decoded basics, but with a seriousness and concept to be found for the attracted. I believe it is important to look not only at a single art piece of mine, but also to find the line going thru the different works in order to understand the essence of my point of view.

For more information please contact:
johan@johanwahlgren.se