JOEL PETER WITKIN

JOEL PETER WITKIN ( 1939)

“My work would have the impact of my unreality – my doubts. I wanted my photographs to be as powerful as the last thing a person sees or remembers before death.” – Joel-Peter Witkin

Joel-Peter Witkins undeniably powerful photography captures that of the human condition. Witkins photography finds beauty in an unlikly place, within the macabre and the grotesque. Witkin approaches this complex issue through people most often cast aside by society such as human spectacles including hermaphrodites, dwarfs, amputees, carcases, people with odd physical capabilities and fetishists. Witkins obsession with other people’s physicality confronts societies sense of normalcy and decency.

Also Witkins subject matters can be quite overwhelming, the exude a sense of control and power, which draws you in to the scenery as well as the initial focial point of each photograph. I find the techniques Witkin applies to his photographs fascinating – the way he subjects them to negative scratching, toning, bleaching, surface disressing, multiple negatives work together in creating challanging peices that evoke a sense of shock and intrigue for the viewer.

Dave Knipper on Joel Peter Witkin