My exploration of the photographic medium derives
from a desire to confront the documentary tradition
of photography, by creating work that merges the
realistic with the abstract. By continuously and
intentionally questioning my own artistic allegiance,
as well as that of the photographic genre, I seek
to create a more expansive visual vocabulary that
emphasizes the energy within the chosen object or
site.
In MOVEMENT, I strive to give visible shape to the
relationship between my own concrete physical
movement in the production phase and the
established environment or familiar sites chosen as
content. By using the camera as a tool to convey
this feeling of flux, I wish to generate engaging
interpretations of iconic structures and landscape
sceneries. Fragmented, draped and distorted
the images invite the onlooker to come closer
and to discover details that do not readily reveal
themselves from a distance.
At first glance, these multi-point visual puzzles
appear out of focus or shaken, but in fact they consist
of many different and very sharp photographs of the
same motif. They are carefully combined through
multiple exposures, resulting in a dynamic illusion
of being on-the-go. My fascination with multiple
exposures began in the 1980’s. In my work with
analogue photography, multiple exposures would
occur accidentally from time to time. Quite often,
I found the visual results of these accidents to be
both aesthetically fascinating and enigmatic. It is
this fascination that continues to inform my work in
MOVEMENT.
Whether the central motif is a windswept tree, an
undisturbed landscape, or a scene from urban life,
all of the places I have photographed have been
chosen because they have inspired me through
both their visual qualities and unique atmospheres.
My hope is that this inspiration translates in the
finished images and sparks the imagination of
the onlooker, resulting in the creation of personal
narratives based on the individual experience of
the works.
Jacob Gils
Copenhagen 2017