Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting exhibition at the Photographers Gallery showcasing the four shortlisted finalists in this years Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. I always find this show slightly baffling as they seem to take quite a broad definition of photography. I should take it as artists who use photography in contemporary art rather than people who take photographs. Most baffling was Arthur Jafa who the commentary said was looking at how visual media could transmit “the equivalent power, beauty and alienation” embedded in black music. Not sure what that means and feel that music has developed over time where as this is trying to do the same in one moment. I found Bieke Depoorte’s Installation very moving. It documented a chance meeting with a man in Portland, Oregan, who gave her a suitcase of his belongings and disappeared. The installation was a video recording how she tried to find him and find out more about him with the content of the suitcase around the walls. Frida Orupado...

Interesting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of self-portraits by Cameroon born photographer Samuel Fosso. The first gallery showed his more recent work where he has taken 666 large format polaroid pictures of himself on an hourly basis. They did all look quite similar and it was a relief when one looked to one side. I’d have liked to see times on the pictures to think about whether he looked slightly different at different times of day. The second room was his earlier work from the 1970s when he has set up a studio aged 13. He dressed up and posed in the evenings to use up spare film. He looks at post-colonial African identity. There are some great 1970s trousers and I like the fact you can see the mechanics of the studio. Closes on 24 September 2017