|
Miroslav Tichy: International Centre for Photography: January 28 - May 09
Tichy would probably look quite out of place wandering around the ICP. An outsider to not only the art world but in his own small town in Czechoslovakia. He was discovered almost accidentally only four years ago and propelled into the spotlight by his clandestine photography of voyeurism. Every aspect of this photographer is non conformist in nature. His dishevelled appearance, his home made cameras and projectors made from old lenses, bottle caps, wires and sticky tape and his controversial subject matter; voyeuristic snap shots of young women unaware of being captured by this strange man dressed in rags.
The images Tichy produces can be described as the product of obsession. Compulsively stalking and photographing women, sometimes taking as many as one hundred photographs per day, the photographer focuses on chests, legs, bottoms and faces. The exhibition is made up of a selection of these images which allow the viewers to glimpse into the world of this very eccentric man.
The question that haunts Tichy's photographs is whether his obvious obsession with the female form in all its voyeurism is actually excusable had it not be for his newfound fame? If it were another man caught photographing adolescent girls sunbathing in Central Park what would the outcome?
There is no doubt that the images Tichy has produced over the last 40 years are beautiful and considering the basic primitive machines used to create them one must appreciate the photographers skills as a technician and in his understanding of the process involved. The out of focus images of women sunbathing and creased photos of ladies feet, create a sense of hazy eroticism through the flawed blurriness of the forms captured within the frame. They are tactile in nature, stained and damaged, their imperfections become an important part of the beauty of the photographs, just as the women captured within the frame.
|
