Poignant Pics no. 37 - On Mark Walton's "Bleed For Me"
Welcome to no. 37 in our series Poignant Pics where our editor, Diana Nicholette Jeon, writes about Mark Walton’s image, “Bleed For Me.”
Hooked on a Feeling…
“Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.”
– Don McCullin
Except for photographing something so iconic that it's nearly impossible to say anything new in doing so, this image by Mark Walton displays everything they teach you not to do in Photo 101. It's "a slightly out of focus" blurry; it's highly grainy; the subject is cut off the edge. There are lines that, at first glance, are not clear whether they are in the picture or created by the film. The image is so ambiguous that it's impossible to look and just know what the artist meant.
That's exactly what I like about it. It's messy. So much so that it has to be intentional. Looking again, it's an image about emotion. That whole genre not only calls out my name, but also comes looking for me, wrestles me to the ground, and makes me look. It's what I want from photography: emotional impact. What did you expect from someone whose favorite musicians are Jackson Browne and Adam Duritz?
Mark said,
"Art is not ALL about technique or process or history... it's about emotion. Sometimes it's about ripping open your heart and bleeding.
"Bleed for me" is part of my exploration of our collective responsibility to recognize and acknowledge the misogyny and privilege each of us carries with us, and through this to begin to take the steps necessary for change."
I know that an emotional image is not everyone's goal nor interest. I admire the artistry of a perfectly toned and intensely sharply-focused Zone System landscape. I may think it is stunning. I'm not picking on technical landscapes here, that is merely an example of what I mean when stating that I frequently feel “lack” when looking at certain types of images. That lack is the emotion of the image-maker. Every area of photography has its share of perfect images that are emotionless–the complete antithesis of, say, Nick Ut’s "Napalm Girl," which is pure emotion inside the documentation.
Arnold Newman said, "A lot of photographers think that if they buy a better camera, they'll be able to take better photographs. A better camera won't do a thing for you if you don't have anything in your head or in your heart." Remember that "messiness" seeming intentional I mentioned earlier? Mark created this image by scanning the backside of BW Fuji instant film (shot on a Polaroid), which is made of paper and usually tossed out. The qualities that this process both imposed AND degraded do help to point to the image's intent, in my opinion.
I hope this image made you feel. And maybe think, too. Bravo Mark! It's an image both beautiful and curious.
Artist Bio
Photographer Mark Walton is the editor of foto:RE|VIEW magazine, and founder of the foto:RE collective. He was a director and curator of FLASH: CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY HERE, an award-winning festival of photography held in Waterloo Region 2015-2017. He is the curator of The Stanley Rosenthall Collection of photography and the author of COMPLICITY, an autobiographical photographic exploration of the life of a reluctant colonialist. He has also written for foto:RE|VIEW and PhotoED Magazine. His latest project, The COVERT Collective, is a gathering of curators from across the Canada showcasing the work of fine artists of many disciplines.
See more of Mark’s photography work here: https://www.instagram.com/mwaltonphoto/.
Author Bio
Diana Nicholette Jeon is an award-winning artist based in Honolulu, HI, who works primarily with lens-based media. Her work has been seen both internationally and nationally in solo and group exhibitions. Jeon holds an MFA from UMBC.