SAIC Camera Arts 2012: Day 8

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Day 8 - Part 2 - Antwerp Foto Museum

We're at our first destination on a busy day in Antwerp, the FoMu, otherwise known as the Foto Museum Provicie Antwerpen...you can see why FoMu works so much better. On exhibit is a large showing of German photographer Peter Lindbergh's work. You're probably familiar with some of his work if you've been into fashion anytime during about the last thirty years. He's shot images of many supermodels to include Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, and Milla Jovovich.

Much of the work in the exhibit is pseudo-cinematic in its content and composition. Some of Lindbergh's contact sheets are on display in cases in the center of the galleries and comparisons can be drawn from the rolls of film he shot to the final images presented on the wall. For instance, there's several contact sheets of at least 16 images on each of Kate Moss that were edited down to a single image. This gives you a glimpse, however slight, into Lindbergh's working process and what he's looking for when he chooses a final image.

Also available for perusal are several galleries full of exhibition items that detail the rich history of photography. Included in these are several cases with cameras that showcase the technological advances in equipment since the invention of the art form in the 1800s. Photographs and contacts sheets from a large variety of names associated with photography over the ages are littered throughout the museum. I myself could have spent the day (and night) at the museum and had to be dragged kicking and screaming from the galleries...not really, but how's that for an image? Speaking of images, here are some of the previously promised pictures from this part of the Antwerp excursion.

FoMu entrance with Lindbergh banner

Stairs direct to exhibitions...kinda like the L

Foam Magazine spread

Lindbergh bleached & backlit C Prints on exhibit

More Lindbergh prints with reflection

Lindbergh proof sheet for Milla Jovovich shoot

Lindbergh print with exhibit reflection

Awesome old school large format cameras at FoMu

If anyone can't think of what to get

me for my birthday this year...just saying...

Looks like my bookcase at home...lots of goodies!

Fisheyes are tasty!

Day 8 - Antwerp, Belgium for the day

We're five days deep this morning and off to Antwerp we go. It's early...very, very early. The first thing we discover might be the greatest--at the risk of sounding overly American--Starbucks Coffee at the Antwerp train station. Although the coffee here in Belgium is very good, you just can't get it in any quantity that you can carry around...until you get to Antwerp at least. Anyway, the architecture in the train station is amazing, just look below. The city itself is quite wonderful and the early morning light makes it seem a bit surreal as we strolled down the cobblestone streets towards our first destination...which doesn't open for another hour, so on to Plan B, the Foto Museum of Antwerp. Check the next post for details on the museum and some imagery related to it.