drift John Bernhard
For AngĂŠlique, Sabrina and Blake who kept me from drifting
drift Photography John Bernhard
Foreword Shannon Rasberry
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Introduction
I have always been fascinated with the human condition - its movement and change. This fascination made me long to express the intricate interplay of human moods. My photography fluctuates between dream and reality, between reflection and emotion - dualities expressed in the transformations all human beings undergo.
Drift sets the mood of the book, a steady continuous movement or development from one thing, one place toward another. In producing drift, I have attempted to present the book much like a film, engaging the reader in reflection, observation and understanding. The pictures are about creating narrative relations, they act as the starting point for a process of seeing. To see means to read and acknowledge that a picture is worth a thousand words. Alfred Stieglitz said that photography was a language and Walt Whitman wrote, “the words of my book nothing, the drift of it everything.” Drift is a visual journey, like a musical score, a personal diary, a compilation of images captured from the way I see the world around me. The careful process of editing and positioning each basic image produces multiple possibilities of interpretation. The readers’ eyes wander from one page to the next through a poetic visual narration from different subject matter and aesthetic sensibilities raising our awareness and curiosity. Images include cityscape, landscape, people, side-walk scenes, shadows and reflections. They show work, leisure, consumerism, solitude, alienation and redemption. Also, a series of people with cameras and various self-portraits elevate the voyeurism aspect of the moment. It forces us to reflect on how we, as people, exist and coexist within our world. As Konrad Lorenz put it, “Man’s race against himself is blinding people to all real values and robbing them of time for the genuinely human activity of reflection.”
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The sequencing of the photographs establishes the themes the book will explore. The organizing structure of the book has no real chapter, no didactic concept, thus allowing for a far wider range of expression. The reader is able to drift through the images without the imposition of strict categories. The photographs interlace in random connections in a never ending cycle of tangents and visual associations. This flow becomes complicated, even confusing, like a dream or a memory; bouncing back and forth, breaking down the logical progression of one idea to another, leaving a subject only to bring it back later on, thus reinforcing the correlation between the images. As a photographer, I create still images but I have recognized that my creative process is not complete with a single photograph. The book form allows me to give a deeper meaning and a distinctive shape to a body of work by controlling the space, order and flow of the images. I am interested in the connection and the dialog of the images. In today’s world, illustrated books have been superseded by modern means of diffusing images. With the prevalence of television and the internet in our society, the demand for pictures whose flow can satisfy the viewer’s mind has increased. But our unconscious familiarity with the incredible amount of images that bombard us everyday, makes us less responsive towards them. The impact of these images have numbed our sense of observation and fade after a short period of time. My ultimate goal with drift is to give a different twist to the way we look at photographs, and to have the reader return to them with a potentially new interpretation on each viewing. John Bernhard
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Foreword
drift v. To be carried along by currents of air or water. n. A gradual deviation from an original course, model, method, or intention.
I have “read” Drift three times. I have explored with patient analysis the visual narrative laid out before me like a winding river. I have submitted myself fully to the notion of floating on a current, free from the shackles of ordinary storytelling. Each time through provides stimulation, compelling ideas, and unique perceptions. Each time through is a journey whose successful completion requires of me an effort, a certain dedication to discovery and a newness of thinking. It is not an unpleasant journey, though it is a challenging one if an effort is made to understand the nature and quality of John Bernhard’s artistic expression. After three trips down that river, I could no more create a definitive map of its course than I could an accurate map of the world’s oceans without the understanding of longitude. The journey becomes more challenging when we consider that the very substance of the narrative is fluid. Although the departure of initial descent and the destination of pensive reflection may be temporally permanent, they are as open to reinterpretation as the images that come between them. Of course, these images come from Bernhard’s own immutable point of view - after all, it’s his eye that we see through when we look at each photograph. Indeed, there are occasions in the book when his presence, his point of view, is forced upon us via a reflection or shadow of him that appears in a photograph. The theme of reflection runs throughout the book, and underlies the simplicity of the notion that everything in the book is a reflection, both literally and metaphorically, and that we, the drifter, are being invited to fill out the narrative as we see fit by providing our own internal reflection.
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Heraclitus wrote, “We both step and do not step in the same rivers. We are and are not.” Such is the essence of Drift. Its aqueous narrative is structured in similar fashion to other methods of storytelling but deviates in one significant aspect. He avoids doing the work for us, avoids creating causal relationships that produce finite responses to the story. It is, in fact, his refusal to lead us down any path other than one of our own choosing which makes this a wonderfully introspective experience. Your reactions, inferences, and assumptions of the images - singly, collectively, and sequentially - are our own, and we enjoy a unique interaction with the book. There is a direction, a flow, a meaning to Drift, but the guidance with which other narrative methods deliver you downstream is purposefully absent. It is with this technique that John Bernhard’s vision is submitted to us for our consideration. It is this technique which leaves us, at the end of the journey, no matter how many times it’s taken, with one universal realization which is satisfyingly the opposite of what we expected: the book we hold in our hands is the boat, and it is we who are the river. Shannon Rasberry
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Since the beginning, since he could stand, man walks. To gather, to hunt, to flee, to check out what’s around the next bend. In small groups, tribes, hordes, the human species conquered the planet by walking. Wherever you are, wherever you look, one day people went there, carefree or dispairing, light-hear ted or trembling with fear. Or just minding their own business. Virgil Brill - Migrations 1998
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We s o m e t i m e s f r o m d r e a m s p i c k u p s o m e h i n t w o r t h i m p r o v i n g b y r e f l e c t i o n . Thomas Jefferson 298
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Index
13 Footloose #1, 1999, I often feel vertigo 14 Plate #31 Diptych series, New York 1999 New Mexico 2001 17 Self-portrait #1 19 Pigeon feet, drift series, California, 2004 20 Drift #1, Uruguay, 1997 22 Plate #30 Diptych series, Alabama 2000-Uruguay, 1997 24 Plate #16 Diptych series, Arizona1983-Texas 1994 26 Part of plate #1 from Diptych series, Alberta, Canada 1998 27 Untitled, 2005 28 Reflection #1 2004 29 Footloose #2, 2004, I often feel footloose 30 Untitled, Nudes Metamorphs series 1994 32 Plate #34 Diptych series, Buenos Aires 1997 London 1978 34 White Sox, New York 2005 37 Photographer #1, China 2004 38 Untitled, Victoria, Canada 2005 41 Argentina, 1997 42 Self-portrait shadow #1 triptych 44 Plate #11 Diptych series, Austin 1992-Houston 1986 46 Photographer #2 Swiss Alps 1992 - Photographer #3 Hong Kong 2005 47 Photographer #4 Caracas 2005 - Photographer #5 California 2004 300
48 50 51 52 54 56 57 58 59 60 62 64 66 69 70 72 74 77 78 80 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 96 97 98
Plate #5 Diptych series, Swiss Alps 1996 - Pasadena, Texas 2000 Smoke free, China 2004 Smoking Lounge (detail), Las Vegas Airport 2004 Smoking Lounge, Las Vegas Airport 2004 Salinas, California 2003 Fish & shells, China 2004 Hong Kong 2004 Caught fish, Canada 2005 Gone fishing, California 2003 Gone fishing, East Texas 1981 Self-portrait Triptych Drift #2, Colorado 1996 Drift #3, California 2004 Part of plate #6 from Diptych Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1984 Drift #4, Switzerland 2006 Drift #5, Switzerland 2005, portrait of my daughter Drift #6 White Sand, New Mexico, 2003, a warmer portrait of my daughter Self-portrait shadow #2, Venezuela 2005 Untitled, Houston 2005 Untitled, Washington DC 2004 Suburbia #1 2004 Self-portrait shadow #3 Self-portrait shadow #4 Drift #7 detail, 2004 Drift #8, 2004 Onlooker #1, Beverly Hills, California 2003 Onlooker #2, Geneva, Switzerland 2002 Onlooker #3, New York 2005 Onlooker #4, Paris, France 1990 Onlooker #5, New York 2005 Onlooker #6, Ground Zero New York 2005 Onlooker #7, New York 2005 The land of the free Untitled uniform #1 2005 Untitled uniform #2 2004 Untitled #8 Hong Kong 2004
99 Untitled #9 Miami Beach 2005 101 Geneva, Switzerland 1979 103 Onlooker #8, Houston, Texas 2004 104 Plate 18, from Diptych series, Switzerland 1981-USA 1985 107 Trail rider #2, Houston, Texas, 1984 108 Self-portrait #2 110 Untitled #11 111 Untitled #12 112 Plate 23, from Diptych series, Untitled 1983-Untitled 1984 114 Car lot, California, 2002 116 Porsche Ghetto, China 2004 119 Untitled tunnel, USA 2005 121 On the road, 1983 122 City reflection, 1981 123 Miami Beach, 2005 124 Gazed up, Houston 2005 125 I-10 Freeway, Houston 2005. The ultimate dream rush hour 127 Part of plate 13, from Diptych series, Houston Flood 1998 128 Untitled (detail) 1978 130 Untitled 1978 132 Untitled Miami Beach 2005 135 Untitled Miami 2005 136 Untitled, Houston 1982 137 Untitled, Las Vegas 2004 138 Made in America, Washington DC 2000 139 Against time, China 2004. An extremely moving image about China’s changing time, being in between two worlds. 140 Plate 9, from Diptych series 141 Plate 10, from Diptych series 142 Untitled #5 China series 2004 145 Untitled, London 1978 146 Untitled #6 China series 2004 148 Photographer #7 Geneva 2002 150 Las Vegas Strip 2004 152 Window #1 Miami 2003 153 Window #2 Miami 2003 154 Window #3 New York 2004 155 Window #4 New York 2004 156 Untitled #7, China 2004
158 Window #5, Miami 2003 159 Window #6, Miami 2003 160 USA Bodybuilding Champion ship #1, Beaumont 1986 161 USA Bodybuilding Champion ship #2, Beaumont 1986 162 Statue #1 163 Photographer #8 164 Photographer #9, London 1978. A very complex image with the duplicity of the homeless face with the one on the signage both referring to the text: Please God get me out of here. 166 Untitled #8, China 2004 167 Untitled #9, China 2004 168 Untitled #10, China 2004 170 Untitled direction, USA 2002 171 Part of plate #7 from Diptych series San Pedro, Brazil 1984 172 Drift #9, USA 2000 173 Hong Kong, China series 2004 174 Drift #10, Florida 2005 176 Drift #11, Washington 2002 179 Drift #12, (detail) 180 Drift #12 183 Untitled, Geneva 2004 184 Plate 32, from Diptych series, Pruned Tree 1995-Fountain Sculpture 1998 186 Praise 2005 187 Jesus 2005 188 Untitled Sky 2005 190 Untitled Sky 1982 191 Untitled Sky 2000 193 Jesus 2002 194 Window #7 Miami 2003 195 Statue, Las Vegas 2002 196 Untitled, New York 2005 & Photographer #10, Las Vegas 2002 197 Photographer #11, Miami Beach 2005 & Photographer #12, New York 2005 198 Untitled Sky 2004 200 Untitled, Geneva 2004 202 Fenced, Los Angeles 2003 204 Painted Palm 1983
205 Window #8, France 2000 207 Window #9, France 2000 208 Church, France 2000 209 Ferry to Victoria, Canada 2005 210 Suburbia #2 USA 2004 212 Untitled, Lake Geneva 2004 213 Part of plate 38 from Diptych series, Hope, Texas 1983 214 Hope sky, Texas 2000 215 Part of plate 38 from Diptych series, Hope, Louisiana 2000 216 Self-portrait shadow #5 2000 219 Plate 35, from Diptych series, Barbara 1998-Big Bend 2001 220 Untitled Sky 2000 222 Window #10 (detail) 225 Window #10, Geneva 1977 226 Jason 2005, the son of my best friend 227 IPod, Geneva 2005 228 Drift #13 (detail) Washington 229 Drift #13 Washington DC 2003, Who is watching me? - post 9-11. 231 FBI, Washington DC 2003 232 Drift #14, Las Vegas 2002 234 Untitled, Geneva 2004 235 NO, California 2004 236 Self-portrait shadow #6 1999 237 Untitled, Houston 1989 238 Untitled, Houston 2000 239 Untitled, Miami 1999 240 Untitled Beach scene 2005 241 Window #11, Geneva 2005 242 Frank & Blondi - Window #11 (detail) 243 Pierrot & Lea - Pierre & Gilles, this picture was never published in America but made it in major magazine in Europe. 244 Photographer #13, New York 2002 245 Drift #14, China 2004 246 Triptych #3 249 Drift #15, China 2004 250 Photographer #14 Triptych, New York 2002 252 Photographer #13, China 2004
254 Untitled Sky 1982 255 Untitled 1980 256 Self-portrait shadow #7 Houston 2004 257 Self-portrait #6, Geneva 2004 258 Inside looking out, Caracas 2005 259 Inside looking out, Caracas 2005 260 Untitled Statue 2003 261 Statue with shadows 2003 262 Zebra Tree, Geneva 2004 264 Book of knowledge 1, the past, known written words. you may not understand. 265 Book of knowledge 2, the future, unknown, about to be written, easier to understand. 266 Self-portrait shadow #8 Houston 2004 267 Construction site, Las Vegas 2002 268 Window 12, Las Vegas 2002 269 Construction site, China 2004 270 Working site, China 2004 271 Working site, China 2004 272 Made in China 2004 274 Untitled, New York 2004 275 Shopping #1, China 2004 276 Working site, China 2004 276 Shopping #2, China 2004 278 Untitled ghost, China 2004 280 Untitled Tree, 2003 281 Drift #16, China 2004 282 Drift #17, trees cutting in front of my neighbor’s new studio 284 Drift #18, 2001, in contrast to the man, the flying bird gives the sensation of freedom. 286 Drift #19, Las Vegas 2002 289 Drift #20, (detail) Mexico City 2000 291 Drift #20, Mexico City 2000 292 Drift #21, China 2004 295 Mail Break, Houston 1983 297 Field Break, Alabama 2001 299 Washington Statue, 2002 301
Credits
I would like to thank those whose advice, critiques and encouragements made me stay the course: Juerg and Rachel Bono, Bertrand Clerc, Jo Harper, Norbert Khalifa, Anne Tucker, Alan Rapp, Michael Llewellyn, Natalie Guerin, Mary-Lou Cotte, Bob and Nora Querin, Holly Evans, Shannon Rasberry, Behnaz and Marc Robert and my wife Lisa. First edition published by Elite Editions 217 Knox Street Houston, Texas 77007 Phone 713-869-2345 www.elite-editions.com Copyright © 2006 Elite Editions. All right reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means, in any media, electronic or mechanical, including motion picture film, video, photocopy, recording, or any other information storage retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from Elite Editions. Graphic design by John Bernhard Introduction © 2006 John Bernhard. All rights reserved. Foreword © 2006 Shannon Rasberry. All rights reserved. Migration © 2006 Virgil Brill. All rights reserved. First edition, 2006 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bernhard, John, 19571. Photography, 2. Art Printed in China ISBN 0-9749022-1-7
Houston • Geneva 288