Danish photographer Trine Søndergaard (b. 1972) has published a new book entitled Stasis (Hatje Cantz) to coincide with exhibitions at the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem (November 1, 2013 – February 28, 2014) and the Fotogallery in Cardiff (November 9, 2013 – January 25, 2014).
The book shows abandoned interior scenes alongside portraits of women in traditional clothing. The 128 color, square-format photographs are taken from three series shot between 2007 and 2013, Interior, Strude and Guldnakke.
The Interiors are large, empty rooms shot using natural light coming through the windows, doors and skylights. There is neither furniture nor the slightest trace of human presence.
On the opposing page are portraits of women, girls and children. The subjects are often photographed from behind or at three-quarter angles, their faces hidden. Distinctive ornaments arouse the viewer’s curiosity.
In the series Guldnakke (“golden necks”), the subjects’ hair, pinned into buns, are adorned with golden headdresses, which were traditional pieces worn by women in rural 19th-century Denmark. Made with fine materials, they were conspicuous symbols of wealth.
The subjects in Søndergaard’s photographs also wear jewelry and other clothing, but these date from the 2000s: stretchy fabrics, synthetic lace, a t-shirt with an American flag. This creates a stark temporal contrast but not necessarily an aesthetic one.
The series Strude shows people dressed in scarves, masks, hoods, dresses and dark patterned shirts. The models’ eyes are often visible, but the viewer cannot meet their gaze, which escapes into the shadows. The clothing also seems historical, but is it worn the way tradition dictates (to protect their faces from the wind) of as it would be for a fashion shoot? A little of both, certainly.
Stasis is as magnificent as it is secretive. It’s like a painting. Some of the faces are reminiscent of Vermeer. It’s like the theatre, too, the empty rooms are sets that the characters will soon enter and bring to life. The world she creates is quiet, silent, restrained, introspective. We are neither in the past nor the present, neither documentary nor fiction.
Trine Søndergaard is based in Copenhagen. Her work has been exhibited worldwide and published by Steidl, Hatje Cantz and Hassla Books. She is represented by the Martin Asbæk Gallery in Copenhagen and the Bruce Silverstein Gallery in New York.
BOOK
Trine Søndergaard « Stasis »
Texts by Mieke Bal, graphic design by Rasmus Rasmus Koch Studio
Publisher: Hatje Cantz Verlag
English
2013. 156 pp., 94 ills., 1 foldout, 28.80 x 32.70 cm, hardcover
ISBN 978-3-7757-3780-7
EXHIBITION
From November 1st – February 28, 2014
Museum on the Seam
4 Chel Handasa St
Jerusalem
Israel
http://www.mots.org.il/Eng/Index.asp
