New publications by Intellect as part as the Critical Photography book series, edited by Alfredo Cramerotti
Fortunes of War: Photography in Alter Space
By Eric Lesdema Series edited by Alfredo Cramerotti
£49.00 | 120 pages | 7 Oct 2020
An extended edit of Eric Lesdema’s photographic series of the same name, with 83 colour photographs and essays from leading academics which analyse how his work provides an alternative approach to documentary photography. Twenty-first-century interpretations and applications of photography are questioned, as are warfare and its cultural framework.
An extended edit of Eric Lesdema’s photographic series of the same name, with 83 colour photographs and essays from leading academics which analyse how his work provides an alternative approach to documentary photography. Twenty-first-century interpretations and applications of photography are questioned, as are warfare and its cultural framework.
Eric Lesdema’s photographic series Fortunes of War was awarded the UN Nikon World Prize in 1997. Originally a series of fifteen images, this extended edit includes 83 colour photos, accompanied by a series of essays by leading academics in the field. The essays explore ideas raised by the prescient nature of the work, offering a highly original and engaging debate about its alternative approach to documentary photography, which views photography as an alternate space with the potential to project events rather than record them. In exploring an approach that cuts against the traditional concept central to documentary photography since its inception, the book thus raises important questions about twenty-first century interpretations and applications of photography and media. With thought-provoking research and a diverse array of essay contributions, Fortunes of War proposes new lines of interdisciplinary investigation, reflection and inquiry.
Photography as Critical Practice: Notes on Otherness
By David Bate Afterword by Liz Wells Series edited by Alfredo Cramerotti
£45.00 | 300 pages | 15 Dec 2020
A collection that combines visual works with critical essays around the theme of everyday life to explore the concept of otherness and highlight photography as a form of critical practice. Put together in this way, the book images and text work in dialogue with one another to construct a new perspective on questions of otherness and alterity.
The ‘other’ is a topic of great interest within and across contemporary photographic practice and theory, yet it remains neglected outside the now well-established field of postcolonial studies. This volume brings together photography and written essays that relate to aspects of otherness and visual work. Presented together, the images and critical writings work in concert to construct a new social perspective on questions of otherness and alterity and to highlight photography as a form of critical practice.
In a departure from existing conceptions of otherness in postcolonial discourse, Photography as Critical Practice places emphasis on the human condition not as a liberal concept, but as something formed and framed by a broader dimension of social, sexual and cultural otherness. In this way, the book provides a fascinating new vista on the otherness of photography.
Acts of Appearance – Photographic Exhibition launch and talk at MutalArt / APT HQ, London, UK
- Wednesday 26 April 2017, 6pm
Alfredo Cramerotti: Hyperimaging! European Centre for Photography Research, University of South Wales, Cardiff, UK
- Wednesday 26 April 2017, 2pm
Presentation of the “Hyperimage” body of research concept in relation to the concept of the forthcoming exhibition at the National Gallery of Kosovo, Prishtina, October 2017.
Image from expandedphoto.com
We refer to images, or the act of creating images, to act socially, politically and even privately. As a consequence of the digital age of photography, the way we are involved in image making is continuous: we can confer it a specific professional or artistic function, or embed it in they way we shape our existence.
When digital images are imposing themselves as a visual translation of the self, the understanding of photography is striving to go away from standard representational practices. Images compose a visual timeline, comparable to a textual linear narrative, where the grammar is made of our shopping lists, chats, social media’s comments or work emails.
Although these images are not coherent when considered together and are produced for different reasons, they become knowledge ‘chunks’ that visually translate different contexts into what we wish others to think of us. They can therefore be understood as a pictorial alphabet, where the possibilities of communicating are infinite and universal, freed from constraints related to textual translation. The result is a flow of visual forms and meanings that are interchangeable, independently from the situations in which they were generated and consumed.
The exhibition is conceived as a chapter from the larger Hyperimage research led by Alfredo Cramerotti, Curator of the 2017 Gjon Mili Biennial & Award. It draws on further research by Hannah Conroy and Valentina Bonizzi, Curatorial Consultants. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with an expanded critical text written by Alfredo Cramerotti, Hannah Conroy and Valentina Bonizzi.
For The Record: Fictional images on the frontline between photojournalism and contemporary art
by Ossian Ward
THE ART NEWSPAPER for FRIEZE ART FAIR
Thursday 13 October 2011
‘All That Fits’ exhibition – video introduction of Michael Takeo Magruder’s work
All That Fits: the Aesthetics of Journalism, curated by Alfredo Cramerotti and Simon Sheikh, includes the work ‘Insurance AES256 by Michael Takeo Magruder.
This is his video introduction to the work.
‘All That Fits’ exhibition – video introduction by Alfredo Cramerotti
All That Fits: the Aesthetics of Journalism is an exhibition curated by Alfredo Cramerotti and Simon Sheikh, exploring the complements and conflicts between art practice and journalism.
Exhibitions open at Derby QUAD from 28 May to 31 July 2011.
The new Photographer
From 19 to 21 June I have participated – in representation of QUAD Derby and Intellect Books Bristol, at the first UK National Photography Symposium in Manchester, organized by Redeye – The Photography Network, in collaboration with the University of Bolton and Arts Council England.
Paul Herrman, the Director of Redeye who brainchild the symposium, held an interesting session in relation to the figure of the ‘contemporary photographer’. First, he highlighted the big changes in relation to photography occurred in the last decade:
– camera ownership – digital imaging
– internet
– education
– photography in the art world
Along these changes, a transition happened also in terms of old photographer / new photographer:
The old practitioner: The new practitioner:
– primacy of technique – primacy of ideas
– specialization – complementary range of works
– selected audience/circles of admirers – international audience/virtual circles
Today’s ‘top photographers’ present therefore the following features:
1. Interest, knowledge and reading in relation of the photographic economy and the world at large: ‘if your picture are not good enough, you don’t read enough.’
2. Marketing, talking and writing
3. Development of ‘the voice’, that is, differentiate oneself (the famous line ‘I can/can’t see you in these pictures…’ often heard in portfolio reviews)
4. Building relationships in time with curators, buyers and other professionals
5. Work ethic and good business (with the right balance of copyright and free licence use)
6. Long terms commitment (minimum of five-six years of practice before ‘getting’ anywhere), and motivation: both clients and professionals need to know that a photographer is going to be there in ten years time
7. Craft and ideas – research opportunities and deliver results.
Furthermore, Herrman listed ’twenty things one can do to get closer to be a top photographer’ (besides talent and commitment, I guess):
1. Going to openings – where people want to hear your ideas
2. Going to festivals (only three or four in the UK, but many abroad)
3. Business link (GVA – Great Value Added is not the only criteria)
4. Gettting some trading (agencies, galleries, etc)
5. Social media (internet at large helps to know people)
6. Metadata, absolute crucial to caption and keyword the work
7. Project making: a strong enough project to get teeth onto, something that resonates with people
8. Partnerships/collectives such as getting together with a writer, or a musician, etc. to realize a project
9. Website/blog, using to get ideas out and update regularly
10. Slideshow; collaborating with someone else, like sound people and through a narrative structure, to create a slideshow and show in programmes and venues such as BBC Big Screens around the UK (desperate to get good content)
11. Preparing portfolio
12. Marketing material such cards, etc.
13. Writing, important aspect
14. Giving a talk; it helps to get your ideas together
15. Applying for a grant; criteria to assess proposal are published on the Arts Council website; core matter is the audience development and which bits of work will accomplish that. Writing a good grant application is part of the job as photographers
16. Print sales
17. Exhibiting wherever one can (not whenever, I’d say…); getting used to the idea of exhibit
18. Entry and checking competition
19. Email/newsletter every 6 months, to let the network know what one has been done, etc.
20. ‘You have to be burning and you have to have your shit together’
In photography, but possibly in all arts disciplines (and non-disciplines), if one has to say something, it’s got to be said in a manner that is a) accessible b) that matters and c) that adds something to what have been said before. Question, transform, exchange. To be interested in photography, one has to be interested in the world.
Curatorview [Alfredo Cramerotti] 
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