Long time since I’ve been to the Barbican. Had quite forgotten what a dramatic place it is.
Went to see ‘Everything was moving – photography from the 60s and 70s’. Fine work illuminating two decades. Well, some fine work, for it proved that photographers cannot be consistently good all the time. Some critical editing would have improved the impact without diluting the message. The upper levels work much better than the lower.
Photo: Barbican, London, October 2012
I went to that show today following your mention of it here. Totally agree with your evaluation; some of the work was so impressive I was really moved by its intensity, other items you felt could easily have been left out. Tighter editing, fewer pictures, and it would have been no less powerful.
I was particularly impressed by David Goldblatt. Although I’ve seen some of his work before I had no idea of its full scope. And seeing Eggleston dye-transfer prints ‘in the flesh’ is worth the entrance fee alone.
I was also reminded that I had first seen nearly all of these photographers in the pages of Creative Camera. The current generation really lacks such a discerning conduit.
Yes, I’m afraid it was a great missed opportunity, but still some terriffic stuff. I recall that we had a David Goldblatt show at the CD – exceptional work. And yes, CC is sorely missed, even Ag (RIP?) didn’t quite fill the gap.
Have also seen the Klein/Moriyama show at Tate Modern – no objectivity here, a fantastic stream of consciousness that has to be viwed alsmost as film. See it if you can.