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MORE SURREAL 2023
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Surreal 2023 gallery
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More Surreal was an exhibition held in The Old Fire Station
Gallery, Henley-on-Thames in 2023.
The photographs for the exhibition ‘More Surreal’ were taken by
the photographer Dr Robert Organ mostly between 2020 and 2022. They are a continuation of the exhibition
‘Surreal’ originally held at the Torfaen Museum and Art Gallery (South Wales)
in 2020. The photographs are
consistent with the photographer’s long standing love of documentary
photography which has focussed on recording of people and human situations
and the environment in which they live in and shape. They feature elements of surprise, unexpected
juxtapositions, non-sequitur and humour.
They can be broadly classified into two groups:
Group 1: Photographs of
objects, animals or people which are deliberately contrived to be surreal in
nature, e.g. a surreal sculpture or someone dressed in a surreal costume.
Group 2: Photographs of
objects, animals or people where are not deliberately contrived to be surreal
in nature but become so because of their circumstance, e.g. their
arrangement, orientation, location or photographer’s composition and
perspective. The circumstance may be
created deliberately or randomly.
In addition to the main groupings, the photographs are collated into
sub-themes:
(i)
Photographs involving people.
(ii) Objects showing aspects of the
human figure.
(ii) Photographs of objects depicting
animals or real animals.
(iv) Surreal objects.
(v) Slogans.
Two important observations can be drawn from the series. Firstly, many of photographs are figurative
in one form or another; some incorporate man himself, others incorporate
models of man. This seems to
reinforce the concept that surrealist works derive from a philosophy which
rests within the mind of man and thus man must appear to act as a reference
point, champion or idol for these works.
Secondly, many of the photographs show objects that are reflections of
real-life experiences. A cognitive
process by the manufacturers is carried out to impart the surreal, dream-like
quality to their objects. A similar
cognitive process is required by the onlooker to ‘unravel’ such images which
again reinforces the cerebral nature of surrealist works.
In addition to the subject matter, the photographer always gives equal
importance to the aesthetic appeal of each photograph, particularly its
composition, colour, form and perspective.
All the photographs were printed digitally using pigment inks to
ensure image permanence.
Click here or on the “More Surreal 2023 gallery” on
the left hand side of the screen to see the photographs.
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