Joan Fontcuberta
A verofiction is a fiction that hides its illusory condition and is received and regarded as actually real until it is unmasked.
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In the interview Spanish photographer Joan Fontcuberta reflects upon his diverse photographic practise and his constant playing on the idea of different spaces which photography inhabits. He claims that “Photography by itself doesn’t mean anything,” what makes a difference is managing its uses. He discusses the topics of reformulation of the concept of authorship, notion of the fake as a methodology of art and of political activism, parody and humour as long traditions of Mediterranean thought and a rejection of pleasure as a hegemonic current in contemporary art. He also speaks of his explorations of the relationship between nature photography and nature of photography, the Eden of Adam and Eve as the first botanical garden and the fact that today nature has become a cultural, ideological, economic and political construct. In the end he also touches on the phenomenon of the internet, ideas of post-truth and his concept of Homo photographicus.
- Keywords: contemporary photography, deception, fiction, humour and art, Joan Fontcuberta, post-truth and photography
Jasna Jernejšek (born 1982) holds a BA in Cultural Studies and an MA in Media and Communication Studies from the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. Since 2012 she is an editor of radio programme on contemporary visual arts Art-Area at Radio Student. She is a regular contributor to Fotografija magazine. Since 2013 she collaborates as project manager and curator with gallery Photon – Centre for Contemporary Photography and with festival Photonic Moments – Month of Photography. She lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Emina Djukić (1982) is a visual artist and pedagogue. She completed her master’s degree in photography at the VŠVU in Bratislava, and currently she is a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, photography department. From 2005 to 2010 she collaborated with the Medvode Youth Cultural Center, where she was also a program director for some time. For several years as a mentor she participated in the Celje Fokus summer workshop and was her artistic director in 2013. Since 2015 she has been a member of the editorial board of Fotografija magazine. She is researching the media of photography for a long time; Currently she is mainly concerned with the narrative possibilities of photography and its relation to the past.
Joan Fontcuberta (1955) is a Spanish artist, self-described as “a conceptual artist using photography.” Through his works he examines the truthfulness of photography and investigates photography’s authority and the human inclination to believe what we see. Contradiction, playfulness, conflict and the possible – all form the territory on which his works are situated. He is known for his projects such as Herbarium (1984), Fauna (1987), Sputnik (1997), Sirens (2000), Gastropoda (2013) and Trauma (2016). Fontcuberta sees himself as a self-educated photographer, inspired by the Dadaists and Situationists. He is also a teacher, editor, curator and writer.
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