Johan Rank as a photographer. Scandinavian directing
A film director is a photographer 24 times a second. The line between professions is so thin that the combination of these two worlds becomes a true embodiment of art. Mention, at least, the cover story made by George Lantimos for Greek Vogue. Johan Rank, the speaker of our next master class on September 19, also was a cameraman for The Last Magazine and Vogue Italia - the results of his work are described in our article.
On the right side of the frame is the actress and director Mavenn, on the left - her screen incarnations at the construction made of of numerous TVs. The photo is perfectly divided in half and made in black and white. The whole composition expresses the tightness of the frame in all its manifestations. If you take a look at the photos taken by Johann Rank, you will feel a motive of discomfort at most of his works.
Johann Rank as a photographer is known to the general public much less than Johann Rank as a director. And this is understandable, because "Chernobyl" is right here, and "Vogue Italia" and actress Mavenn are somewhere far away in the world of gloss and European capitals. However, each photograph is a micro-imprint of a creative hand, in which all motives and techniques are concentrated.
Take at least the motive of discomfort. Excessive duplication of the image through television is as much an expression of the idea as the literal box in which Rank placed the artist Robyn. At the same time, he uses almost no requisites, continuing the tradition of minimalist photographers from Henri Cartier-Bresson to David Focos.
Looking at all photographic works by Johann Renko, you can see the pattern in the use of colors. The gamma is muted, there is a desire for simplification, for a black and white image. Even when there is brightness in the frame, it still seems quiet, not flashy. The New Faces series for Italian Vogue is also created with this specific use of colours. It is made as if the color correction contrast is twisted in the direction of the cold spectrum. To this adds a blue background, on which the yellow hair cools down a bit.
This can be explained as a characteristic feature of Scandinavian directing - the most famous modern Swedish film directors (Roy Anderson and Ruben Estlund) also tend to the cold in their films. Despite his long life in the United States, Johan Rank remains a Scandinavian in his works.
Renk's photo are also a continuous discussion about a theatricality and affectation of the created images.This is sometimes expressed explicitly, as in the Fares / Fares series for The Last Magazine, where the subject is a man in еру theatrical make-up. Sometimes – implicitly, through the suffocating presence of other reproducible images as in the above-mentioned photo story with actress Mavenn.
Johan Rank does not try to to window dress reality in his photographs. He actively demonstrates the affectation of what he puts in front of the camera lens. And judging by its cool colors, being the subject of photography is as uncomfortable as possible in a game photo shoot, and in real life.
Johan Rank will tell about his creative path, director's vision of the world and his own works in person at the first master class in Kyiv on September 19.
Tickets can be purchased here.
All photos used in the material are taken from the site http://www.johanrenck.com/ (section Photography).