Awarded
Erol Gemma
'In Medias Res' (diploma work)
Photography
Awarded
'In Medias Res' (diploma work)
Photography
Picture encyclopaedia
The classical encyclopaedia serves as a model for the work 'In Medias Res'. This thick book is a collection of pictures of another kind, following the sequence of colours from light to dark, starting with infrared and ending with ultraviolet, rather than an alphabetical or thematic order. Erol Gemma, the author of the book, looked on the internet for pictures that are out of copyright, and collected them together. The pictorial subject matter contains scientific illustrations as well as images relating to culture, art, society and history. The pictorial quality extends from professional photographs to snapshots taken with mobile phones. Erol Gemma cropped the images, worked on their colour and imposed the same horizontal format on all of them. The book is clearly structured, with four photographs per double page. No captions are supplied, the pictures convey all the information. It looks as though the photographer placed the images randomly, as there is no visible order. In reality, Erol Gemma composed each double page carefully, ensuring that no two pictures with the same subject matter are juxtaposed. Each double page tells its own story, and triggers associations created by these sets of four. Throughout the book he has tried to create dynamic tension; he picks themes up, combines them in constantly new ways and thus surprises his viewers. There is no way of telling what is coming on the next page. The picture encyclopaedia has 1008 pages and contains 4024 different pictures – no picture appears twice.
Ariana Pradal
Erol Gemma
Born in
1980
Education
Photographer