Elger Esser
28 Nov 2009 - 11 Apr 2010
ELGER ESSER
Proper Time
28 November 2009 - 11 April 2010
Under the impact of the Impressionists at the close of the 19th century, a photographic movement called Pictorialism came in vogue. By means of technical manipulation, photographers sought to achieve a painterly impression in the photographic medium. They produced idyllic black-and-white landscape photographs with a soft focus, blurred outlines, and striking light reflections. Born in Stuttgart, the photographer Elger Esser works with this aesthetic approach while experimenting with new digital processing technology. He uses found photographs as a basis, such as hand-colored postcards dating from around 1900, enlarging and processing them as well as emphasizing his own choice of color tones. The resulting images resemble paintings of distant memories, imbued with the magic of a lost epoch. Esser's focus on seascapes and landscapes invites a confrontation with his great predecessors in painting such as Gustave Courbet and Camille Pissarro and photography of the great pioneers from the 19th century.
Proper Time
28 November 2009 - 11 April 2010
Under the impact of the Impressionists at the close of the 19th century, a photographic movement called Pictorialism came in vogue. By means of technical manipulation, photographers sought to achieve a painterly impression in the photographic medium. They produced idyllic black-and-white landscape photographs with a soft focus, blurred outlines, and striking light reflections. Born in Stuttgart, the photographer Elger Esser works with this aesthetic approach while experimenting with new digital processing technology. He uses found photographs as a basis, such as hand-colored postcards dating from around 1900, enlarging and processing them as well as emphasizing his own choice of color tones. The resulting images resemble paintings of distant memories, imbued with the magic of a lost epoch. Esser's focus on seascapes and landscapes invites a confrontation with his great predecessors in painting such as Gustave Courbet and Camille Pissarro and photography of the great pioneers from the 19th century.