Tate Modern: Cruel and Tender

Thanks to Laura Holder for linking to this site. She's also linked to a Martin Parr interview on the Tate's web site for last year's show "Cruel and Tender". Over a good five minutes, Parr talks about his choice of subject matter for the show ("the flotsam and jetsam of consumer society", how tired) but also the differences in presentation formats for books, video and gallery shows. At the end he talks about technical issues, which influence the casualness of the pictures as well as their flash-photo aethetic.

The curator commentary on Gursky completely demolishes any joy you can take in the cacophonous phantasmagoria that is Gursky's "99 cent". Take a listen and you'll see what I mean. Lots of hoo-hah about the "nadir of consumerist culture". Gack, it's like a broken record isn't it?

The interview with Rineke Dijkstra starts off as mostly a travelogue of how she came to take the two sets of pictures shown at the Tate, one of Portuguese bullfighters and the other of new mothers with their babies. About a minute in, she starts to explore the relationship between the subject and the camera and how she attempts to capture people when they are not completely in control.