In light of Cotterrell's Monsters of the Id I thought I'd continue down a similar genre.
Simon Norfolk is one of few photographers I admire despite his body of 'war photography'. In October 2010 he produced a series of photographs responding to the views of British photographer John Burke, who's photographs took a more commercial approach when documenting Afghanistan. John Burke was an Irish photographer who came over to Afghanistan in the hope of becoming the official photographer for the British army. Needless to say his request was refused and Burke began to fund his trip by selling his photographs, depicting the lives of English soldiers and the native inhabitants.
Simon Norfolk is one of few photographers I admire despite his body of 'war photography'. In October 2010 he produced a series of photographs responding to the views of British photographer John Burke, who's photographs took a more commercial approach when documenting Afghanistan. John Burke was an Irish photographer who came over to Afghanistan in the hope of becoming the official photographer for the British army. Needless to say his request was refused and Burke began to fund his trip by selling his photographs, depicting the lives of English soldiers and the native inhabitants.
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| John Burke, The Upper Bala Hissar from the Gate above the Residency, Kabul, 1879 |
Whilst Burke's photographs reflected his relationship with imperialism Norfolk sought to offer his view as a "romantic gesture" Burke and Norfolk (2011) to this tragedy of a war.
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| A home made of shipping containers, on the outskirts of Kabul, occupied by workers who cast blast-wall sections in concrete. The purpose of Norfolk's collaboration was to offer his view on the Anglo-Afghan war. His photographs invite the audience to bear witness and engage with Norfolk's work in the hope of understanding what he's attempting to convey. Norfolk's view on the war is made very clear in that he sees it as going "laughably, stupidly, misguidedly wrong as the previous ones". Burke and Norfolk (2011) He adopts Burke's approach however uses this in parallel to portray the implications of war and the brutality it has on the country. Norfolk initially goes over to Afghan as a journalist, depicting the lives of the inhabitants however he takes the more professional approach as he feels obliged. He believes that if your a journalist you should you represent yourself in the eyes of a viewer rather than a voyeur. What separates Norfolk from the rest of the pouring modern photojournalists is that he adopts a more slow and considered photographic technique, he uses this to articulate the anger in his politics concerning the war in which we as an audience respond kindly to. Bibliography
Burke + Norfolk: Photographs From The War In Afghan (2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXrmBhpRG2U
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