Sandy Skoglund

Decades before Photoshop was available, American artist Sandy Skoglund started creating surrealist images by building incredibly elaborate sets, a process which took months to complete. Her works are characterized by an overwhelming amount of one object and either bright, contrasting colours or a monochromatic colour scheme.

Sandy Skoglund, Fox Games, 1989

Sandy Skoglund, Revenge of the Goldfish, 1981

"I think I am most fond of the unseen part. I mean that the various cultural experiences that I go through, and the behavioral aspects of getting the work done, are just as important as the installation and the photograph. So, for me, the relationship between the two is more about hybridism and the search for an ideal form that I'm never going to arrive at. The installation and the photograph are mere approximations of this ideal." (Sandy Skoglund)

In these images there are number of performances involved: at least two and usually more. To create these images hand-crafting talents are required. Photographer wasn't just a photographer, she needed to create a scene. These images are scenes fro hyper-real everyday life. 

I like how these images attracts my attention. Photographer doesn't use many colours, usually it is just two, but there is so much going on in the image that I cannot stop looking at it. Each bit of the image is filled with narrative. These images close to reality, but at the same time very far away from it. 

Bibliography:

Köhler, M., Felix, Z. and Vowinckel, A. (1995) Constructed realities: The art of staged photography - Michael Kohler - hardcover. Edited by Michael A. Kohler. Zurich, Switzerland: Edition Stemmle,Switzerland.