This issue of Fw: was focussing on the way photographers present their story and how a presentation can affect this story. The design of this cover is an exercize in this matter.
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For the cover of this publication it was my intension to go 'one step too far'. Since this publication was dealing with the aspect of presentation, i tried to put the design up and front, not the stories of the photographers. The work of WassinkLundgren (which was featered in the publication) was perfect to work with, since they are always exploring the borders of presentation with their work. Their presentations are always choosen to create an effect that gives the depicted topic a slight twist. For the series 'Empty bottles' they were step by step layering their own story. The only thing i did with this cover was to put another layer. A layer that deforms the photography.
At the right of this text you can see the ways of layering done by WassinkLundgren themselves. First of all there is the original photo. [1] In this case it is a series of 24 people that do the same thing: picking up an empty bottle in Shanghai, China. These 24 photos were brought togheter in a book. This book has a blue left page and an image on every right page. Very staccato, very effective design by Kummer and Hermann. [2] For an exhibition in Foam in Amsterdam Wassinklundgren framed all the 32 spreads of this book. With a big white frame and glass, the image got another layer. [3] As a final layer they made an image of themselve in their exhibition. This is an act they do with all their exbibitions following the same routine; facing their work; their back against the camera/viewer. [4] In this image it is no longer about the images, they are even hard to recognize. There is a visual reference to the work in total, because of the bright blue pages, but is more about about the machinery around the work then about the actual work. I found is a very intriging exercise and therefor i decided to jump in and add another layer. I cut the image in half, mad one half red, the other half black, and overprinted this. The background becomes foreground and the room and perspective of that room are more present. The last reference to the work 'Empty Bottles' that was left in their own image -the colour bleu of the left pages- is distroyed. And the story is faded. [5]
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[1]
© WassinkLundgren, Empty Bottles, one photo out of a series of 24.
[2]
© WassinkLundgren, the book ' Empty Bottles'.
[3]
© WassinkLundgren, the framed books.
[4]
© WassinkLundgren, presentation at Foam, Amsterdam.
[5]
Cover of Fw6. Approved by WassinkLundgren.