The photo, almost documentary, almost staged, by Jeff Wall

‘Jeff Wall: time Stands Still’ es la First individual of his work in Portugal, and also one of the most complete in Europe. It includes a total of 63 photos (a very notable figure, given its special formal characteristics), which cover a wide temporary record, from 1980 to 2023. I want to make a special mention to the excellent assembly, nothing simple given the singular, splendid – and difficult – architectural space of the museum, and that has been done in close collaboration between the artist himself and his commissioner Sergio mah, Deputy Director of this institution.

Undoubtedly it is one of the most prestigious and recognized figures of contemporary photography, and, in all likelihood, the most prominent member of the so -called Vancouver school, which also has other important names such as Rodney Graham o ken lum. Surely its main sign of creative identity in which it is a pioneer are a series of large -scale photographs, mounted in backlit light boxes, meticulous and carefully staged.

It is also characteristic of their work the interaction personnel that show between photo, painting, cinema and conceptual art. In fact, the scenes it represents remind us of the film frames and equally the history paintings. In their compositions, various influences can be detected, from artists such as Velázquez, Delacroix, Manet O Hockeyi, to filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard and Michelangelo Antonioni.

Immerse the formats

The great formats, sometimes greater than two meters wide, seem to invite the viewer to immerse themselves to become part of the work. The usual vibrant colors used – although you can also see black and white pieces – a very studied lighting and very personal frames and calculated serve to enhance the –Suvuedas– realistic aspects of each image. On the other hand, the contest of the light boxes obviously highlights its light qualities, providing recognizable very lively visual experiences and with an obvious theatrical aroma.

In his works, the Canadian photographer poses seemingly everyday situations, even sometimes banal, but, however, hide hidden layers of meaning, in which art, literature or philosophy play a subtle but fundamental role, and that makes them scenes that can also be qualified as extraordinary. It offers us urban environments, domestic interiors, typical situations of contemporary societies: loneliness, alienation, poverty, violence and ostracism, Among other niceties, and a series of complicit gestures and winks that reveal complex and certainly ambiguous emotional, psychological or social states.

The creative process is equally very personal. All their images are carefully staged, and usually use actors, decorated, users, assistants, almost as if it were the filming of a film, a modus operandi that also brings you to other photographers such as the American Gregory Crewdson.

However, we often have the feeling that it can also be more ‘real’ snapshots, which refers us to his style, that the photographer himself describes as “near documentary” (almost documentary). The execution time is also flexible and sometimes extensive, being able to last days or even weeks, and the shots are fragmented to finally assemble in a final edition using digital procedures. Therefore, together with that value, we could well See your work as a personal combination between document and staging.

All these characteristics and particularities can be observed in this excellent sample. His own title refers to the ambiguity of that space possessed by a temporality in suspension, frozen moments between the past and the future, in the form of photograms of a narrative that demands from the viewer a sustained and attentive contemplation to elaborate its interpretation and even its own conclusion.

Although in this sample do not find some of their most iconic photos, I think of ‘Mimic’, ‘A Sudden Gust of Wind’, or ‘Dead Troops Talk’, among others, this does not detract from the great quality – and quantity of the exposed works that reaffirm the certainty of finding us before a creator who has managed to place the photograph, beyond its legitimate value as a document, within the territory of the concept of conceptual art, inspiring photographers, artists and theoretics Some totally representative images of the complexities and paradoxes of our suffering contemporaneity.