Ralph Gibson, Untitled, from the series Nudes, 2018 © Ralph Gibson

Text: Simran Tuteja

There is a certain sensuality to the photographs featured in Ralph Gibson’s Secret of Light that make them so enticing to their audience. The photographs displayed in this exhibition date back to the 1960s, when a number of political and social upheavals that would unfold a decade later were gaining traction. It was also when the art of photography took over America.. The Secret of Light exhibition, curated by Sabine Schnakenberg, consists of photographs taken over decades. They have been up at the Deichtorhallen Hamburg in Germany since the 21st of April. The exhibit, scheduled to close on the 30th of August, features more than 300 works and will travel to Kunstfoyer of Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung in Munich.

Ralph Gibson, Untitled, 2004, from the series Infantana, 1961-2005 © Ralph Gibson

Gibson focuses on the aesthetic reality of photography, as opposed to photography as a medium through which to record reality. In his series, Days at Sea (1974), the artist can be seen playing with lighting and shadow. In one of the images, ‘Untitled’, the nude figure of a woman wearing a swimsuit with her breast half exposed and hand uplifted casts a shadow over her torso. The lighting causes the shadows on the other parts of her body to appear darker and more sensual. This photograph, like the majority of his work, is black and white.

Ralph Gibson, Untitled, from the series The Somnambulist, 1970 © Ralph Gibson

The artist’s focus on details can also be prominently observed in the series Quadrants (1975). In one of the images, ‘Untitled’, the artist focuses on the back of a subject (an unknown man). This black and white photograph is set against a brick wall. The artist spotlights the collar of the subject’s blazer, a white shirt making an appearance, though the details of this subject’s hairstyle successfully highlight the meticulous nature of Gibson’s artwork.

In one of his photographs, ‘Untitled’, from the series The Somnambulist (1970), Gibson’s preciseness prevails despite the subject’s environment: the outside of a hair salon enveloped in smoke due to an active fire. The boards surrounding the salon are intact, but the billowing smoke and aura of the fire is what makes the image stand out. The other works in the exhibit play around the details while keeping with the black and white format of his work. Some colored images are also seen. Gibson’s work is quintessential in using lighting to one's advantage, as well as focusing on details and aesthetics.

Born in Los Angeles in 1939,Ralph Gibson is one of the most notable figures in the world of photography. His perspective on photography as a reality has been appreciated internationally. His works, which mainly focus on everyday human activities, politics, and intimacy, amongst others, have been dazzling audiences for years. The title of the exhibition, Secret of Light, does justice to the lifetime of work by the artist, who is known for his black and white photography and his fastidious analysis of the ambiguous. Gibson’s photography publications have figured as classics since the 1970s and his work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, and the Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland.