This collaborative work came to my attention after watching a Tate Youtube video in which I purchased the book shortly after. John Burke captured the second Anglo-Afghan War from 1878-1880, he produced small albums and prints in which he sold to the general public. Norfolk says when a curator at National Media Museum “first showed me one of the Burke albums, I immediately saw a cycle of imperial history right there. Imperialism is what interests and enrages me more than anything else” (Norfolk, 2011) Norfolk continues to discuss in his book that Burke’s work would be the right ‘vehicle’ in which to return to Afghanistan (2010-11) and shadow his approach. Norfolk makes observations on Burke’s style and how well rounded photographer he is by capturing a range of subject’s portraits, landscapes and groups.
This well-rounded approach reminds me of a military photographer but as Burke’s photographs were for commercial use he was obviously fuelled by money and his ability to remain versatile meant he got paid. This body of work was not a not a strict re-photographic approach, Norfolk say’s “I wasn’t interested in replicating old cameras and lenses or finding precise fields of view. I was interested to see the kind of ground that Burke covered, how did he get to where he took his pictures”. (Norfolk, 2011)
There are an array of images that include portraits, groups and landscapes all depicting the behind the scenes rather than the action of war. There is a mesh of documenting the then and now from both photographers but with Norfolk’s you can visually separate the cities and the military cities from its defining infrastructure. I can also see a difference in political views from Burke to Norfolk, visually and also written in Norfolk’s captions. Visually Norfolk says his work uses a bluer palette and this is to reflect to his audience a melancholy, disappointment with the result of Afghanistan (Norfolk, 2011)
The group imagery seems casual but were constructed, I used this approach recently in my own work and found it an interesting alternative, and the models were all game to participate in this constructed group image from the generic norm. A few images were a re-photographic image as Norfolk says ‘I wanted to try and find myself in some of the places that Burke may have been more of a sort of romantic gesture of following in his footsteps rather then a scientific re optical process.” (Tate, 2011)
I enjoy this body of work how Norfolk was able to mix a sort of reappropriation and rephotography of Burke’s work in order to produce his own visual response whilst also reflecting his political stance. This concept is very different to my own work but I can still take on-board his approach to this work. I like the way Norfolk responds to the archive, he hasn’t just tried to replicate the shot, and he has considered all aspects as well as his own political stance.
True to himself Norfolk remains vigilant with the way he uses light and how this can portray an emotion and beauty. Norfolk says “By making the pictures very beautiful you’re almost tricked into coming inside the photographs space for a while, engaging with it and in conversation with the photograph.” (Tate, 2011) This has been an important factor to my work and remaining consistent with the light and not cutting corners to get the job done.
I must also mention the publication its self as it a beautiful book. It is a large A3 size with the look of an album decorated with Afghani art. Inside the images have been edited together using a range of styles, sizes such as pairings, ¾ bleeds. No captions are included on the actual images but instead are included at the back with a smaller thumbnail of the image. This I find interesting as it lets the viewer enjoy the book visually and can seek the caption later on, making the book more interactive. I like this idea this could work well with my own work, if captions are at the ‘back’ or not displayed with image this means I am not restricted with how much text I should use. This also gives the viewer an opportunity to explore the image through what I am presenting and their own representations.
References
Burke, J. and Norfolk, S. (2011). Burke + Norfolk. Stockport: Dewi Lewis, p.7.
Tate (2011). Burke + Norfolk: Photographs From The War In Afghanistan. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXrmBhpRG2U [Accessed 3 Feb. 2019].
Images can be found: http://www.simonnorfolk.com/burkenorfolk/
Critical Research Journal 