Monday a.m. Artist Post 3/30

Swiss-born artist, Beat Streuli, was born in 1957 and is currently basing his work out of Düsseldorf. Represented in several galleries world wide, Streuli’s photo and video work has helped him establish a name for himself in the world of American Photography. In an article written by Vincent Katz with heavy thoughts and ideas from Lewis Mumford, Katz describes Streuli as a photographer who has been said to “capture people wandering aimlessly or pressing ahead, all seemingly oblivious to the disaster that surrounds them. Of course as individuals they are not at all oblivious.”
One of Streuli’s notable collections is his series was one completed in New York City in 2001 and 2002. This collection, like the others, exhibits a variety of cultural background and the photographs track each subject’s movement in the particular time Streuli is shooting. This New York City collection has been explained as one that has the capability of “taking in the diversity of life’s moments” (Katz). Streuli pays a good amount of attention of what is going on inside the frame and does feel voyeuristic in his photographing process. Much of the attention Streuli puts on his images is in the foreground and the background is merely a background with very little importance; but yes, it is considered.
Characteristics of Streuli’s style consist of a few simple but solid thoughts. Streuli engages in empathetic response and because his use of the telephoto lens is somewhat voyeuristic, he finds great compositions in photographing people passing by when he is able to distance himself from the subject. He captures his subject in their natural environments and highlights the subject’s graceful normality as opposed to their failures to maintain composure; if that is the case. Because of all of these factors, Streuli’s work has been characterized as Renaissance’esq when depicting movement and doing so with classical compositions. Katz spoke later on in the article about how Streuli’s images “inhabit the moment in which awareness and absorption are seamlessly blended.” I feel that this statement applies very much to what I am trying to achieve in my work that is taken from specific moments that occur during my performances. I intend for all of those specific moments to blend together even though there is a different action occurring in each frame.
Compared as a predecessor to American photographer Robert Frank, followers
of the "epoch cool" that began in the 50’s and continued on into the 60’s, have found that Beat Streuli came after that epoch. “That demeanor determined that people can arrive in pictures as individuals, with social specificity that can be appreciated, but with no reducible message” (Katz). While Robert Frank was known for photographing the nation in the 50’s and 60’s with heavy post-war influence, he also portrayed the outsider’s view of American Society. Streuli’s large format installations have very much of the same effect however span across the world and not solely just the United States.

Beat Streuli's Website
Vincent Katz Article