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STRANGE PATHS

#print #travel #black and white #Leica M6

» The photographs of Voranc Vogel speak above all about ourselves, as a document of time, and each time they take us on a path of renewed research.
A large part of his oeuvre is occupied by black and white photography from many trips, where he moves away from reportage photography and sails into a more documentary approach. Through an in-depth study of photographic compositions, he developed an exceptional sensitivity for the medium, which unfolds before us the original author's poetics, which he devotes himself to slowly, thoughtfully, and in doing so expresses his characteristic tone. The corner  photographs open up a view of the street, which is often distinctly witty and ironic and can be read without subtitles.
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STRANPOTI ANCHOR

BETWEEN URBAN VIEWS AND QUIET LANDSCAPES OF VORANCA VOGLA

Urban landscapes of Russia. The muffled noise of New York. The vast landscapes of Peru. The romantic nostalgia of Paris. A large part of Voranc Vogel's photography is occupied by black and white photos from many trips. His technically and compositionally perfect photos, created beyond everyday photojournalism, show fleeting impressions of everyday life, city skylines, lonely witnesses of time. Voranc Vogel is a photographer who plays with composition and breaks its rules, he is intuitive and direct and at the same time respectful of the depicted.

In his photos, we can see traces of reportage and documentary photography of the past century. In many details, he relies on the photographers of the Magnum agency and photographers of open roads, vast landscapes and large cities of the 1950s and 1960s. Through an in-depth study of photographic stories and compositions, he developed an exceptional sensitivity for the medium, which unfolds before us the original author's poetics. Vogel is a photographer of urban landscapes. Street photographer. Lives of random individuals. In his travel photography, he moves away from reportage photography and sails into a more documentary approach, which he devotes himself to slowly, thoughtfully, and in doing so expresses his characteristic tone.

 

He prefers to approach urban stories with a certain amount of humor. His photographs open up a view of the street that is often distinctly witty and ironic, which Vogel also achieves with the choice of framing, dramatic contrasts and imaginative perspectives. Cityscapes and those more remote landscapes suggest a different, perhaps even romantic sensibility and sophisticated sense of space. They hide a feeling of nostalgia and loneliness. Although it sometimes seems to us that Vogel follows the current and instinctive, with a broader insight into his twenty years of work, it is possible to feel research, consideration and intuition in him.

 

He is not only a traveler of the world, but he is extremely perceptive of the environment and the people who surround him. He approaches scenes with empathy.

Behind the photographs, we feel the presence of the photographer and the silent dialogue he establishes with those depicted in the photographs. A photographer who focuses on people and lines in the momentary solitude characteristic of many arts.

In his photos, we can see traces of reportage and documentary photography of the past century. In many details, he relies on the photographers of the Magnum agency and photographers of open roads, vast landscapes and large cities of the 1950s and 1960s. Through an in-depth study of photographic stories and compositions, he developed an exceptional sensitivity for the medium, which unfolds before us the original author's poetics. Vogel is a photographer of urban landscapes. Street photographer. Lives of random individuals.

 

In his travel photography, he moves away from reportage photography and sails into a more documentary approach, which he devotes himself to slowly, thoughtfully, and in doing so expresses his characteristic tone. He prefers to approach urban stories with a certain amount of humor. His photographs open up a view of the street that is often distinctly witty and ironic, which Vogel also achieves with the choice of framing, dramatic contrasts and imaginative perspectives. Cityscapes and those more remote landscapes suggest a different, perhaps even romantic sensibility and sophisticated sense of space. They hide a feeling of nostalgia and loneliness. Although it sometimes seems to us that Vogel follows the current and instinctive, with a broader insight into his twenty years of work, it is possible to feel research, consideration and intuition in him.

 

He is not only a traveler of the world, but he is extremely perceptive of the environment and the people who surround him. He approaches scenes with empathy. Behind the photographs, we feel the presence of the photographer and the silent dialogue he establishes with those depicted in the photographs. A photographer who focuses on people and lines in the momentary solitude characteristic of many arts.

Voranc Vogel's photographs are not only interesting because of their genre, humor and depictions, but also because of their extraordinary compositional appeal and choice for black and white technique. Vogel has a flair for playing with perspective. Especially in his street photos, he repeatedly breaks the rules of composition, creates new perspectives and challenges and entertains the viewer. With diagonals and lines, which are interrupted by the deliberate placement of individuals in the photo, as well as random elements in the photos, he creates a very special rhythm and directs our gaze. On the other hand, those more classic and harmonious photographs await us, which open vast landscapes before us.

 

On them, our gaze calms down, captures the aesthetics of the depicted and surrenders to it.  His images speak in black and white technique. He does not decide on it because it would be easier to control, but he approaches it with reflection. With gray tones, he emphasizes the content elements of the photo and its emotional side. During the years of his creation, the photographer's view was more and more inclined towards the black and white technique, which adds a timeless dimension to the photograph and builds its message.

By deciding on the framing, composition and selection of the depicted Voranc Vogel presents us with photographs that are the expression of a great esthete and humanist. They carry the photographer's interpretation of the world. Opting for vast landscapes, unnamed individuals and often overlooked details speaks of a photographer pursuing life. A life that returns to itself through contradictions and ironies, moments of tenderness, loneliness and laughter. Individuals who enter his photographs are given a soul, but a moment later they disappear again into namelessness. Outlines of history, cityscapes and landscapes, in which they are embedded as an inherent part of the depicted. His photos can thus be read without subtitles, because they speak above all about ourselves, as a document of time, and each time they lead us on a path of renewed research.

 

Curator Nika Perna for the Rebalans exhibition (2017)

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