"Liquid Intelligence" & "Frames of Reference" - Lauren

Jeff Wall’s essays, “Photography and Liquid Intelligence” and “Frames of Reference”, were starkly different from any of the other essays we’ve read thus far by artists or photographers. Previously, photographers have written about the debates of their respective time circulating photography and/or art. Jeff Wall, on the other hand, does something quite intriguing. He discusses his own views of his own line of work and that of the world of art and photography. I found it interesting to read about what a professional likes and dislikes about the understandings and presentations of photography.

In “Photography and Liquid Intelligence”, Wall writes in a very poetic style. Putting photography in the frame of reference of “liquid” and “dry” is incredibly unique. He then points out the progression of photography to a continually dry process, where the water aspect (i.e. the development process of film) is evermore forgotten as “electronic and digital information systems” become more prevalent. Not only is this a fantastic was to represent the direction in which photography (and film/cinema, etc.) is moving, but Wall also goes on to say that, to him, “this is neither good nor bad necessarily, but if this happens there will be a new displacement of water in photography” (110). Fantastic!

In “Frames of Reference”, on the other hand, what I found particularly interesting was Wall’s discussion of multimedia and the presentation of photographs. Wall effectively devalues the collage in the sense of artistic worth, but at the same time questions whether or not there are any rules or guidelines to define photography in the art world. He then says, “Even while I loved photography, I often didn’t love looking at photographs, particularly when they were hung on walls” (176). Not only do I find it rather bizarre to think that an artist doesn’t like to look at his own creations, but Wall also speaks of this love-hate relationship in the past tense, as though he no longer has anything to do with photography. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to look at photography or even claims to dislike the concept of photography itself. Wall seems to be torn, then, between photography as a pastime and photography as an art form – in what way is photography to be appreciated?