“I am tired of photography.”

– Asger Carlsen

"Hester"

 

 

     I found Asger Carlsen on ASX as I was browsing though their photo manipulation archives.  This article doesn't provide as much background on him as I would like, so I googled him an found an interview with him through Vice.  Carlsen is Danish, and worked as a photographer since he was 16.  His first real job as a photographer was working as a crime photographer, then later on moved to commercial photography.  Finally he found his niche in photography by experimenting with photo manipulation.
     His work, "Hester" (shown above) is a combination of sculpture and photography.  Carlsen claims that his skill in photography doesn't really play any part in his work anymore.  He prefers the manipulation/sculpting part, so that is that main focus of his art.   
     I chose this series of photographs because of his quote, "I am tired of photography."  After I read this, I immediately decided to write about it, to sort of work through my own similar feelings.  I began to feel drawn toward photography as an 8th grader, unfortunately for the wrong reasons (myspace default picz), but nevertheless, I ended up continuing this path, and eventually became interested in fine art photography as I moved into the college level courses.  However, as I took my foundations courses, I've started to appreciate the intimacy of art done with your hands.  That's what drew me to Carlsen's work.  He combines the intimacy of painting or drawing, with the aesthetic of a photograph, and I hope to use this in my future work.
     As for interpretation, Carlsen himself said that there's not much behind his photographs.  They're just visual.  In my opinion, that's not how photography should be, but I really respect his manipulation skills, so I still enjoy it.  The interviewer from Vice mentioned that the style these are photographed in is very similar to a photograph of an actual sculpture or piece of art, and I definitely noticed when I first saw the series.  Overall, absolutely a series that gets me thinking about my own art, and for that, I'm thankful.