'HUNTER AND HUNTED' AT SARA TECCHIA, NEW YORK

June 1, 2007

The human desire to both capture and be captured is eloquently explored in a new show at Sarah Tecchia, New York, exploring photography's ability to dually embody this theme. Curated by Joseph Kraeutler, a photo specialist at Phillips de Pury, the exhibition brings together work by Sarah Baley, Rachel Barrett, John Divola, Wyatt Gallery, Alexandre Orion, Christa Parravani, Angela Strassheim, Miroslav Tichy and Paolo Ventura.

Some of the artists are known for their direct 'hunting' style - the voyeurism in Tichy's images of unwitting strangers first comes to mind, or Paolo Ventura's intimate, deliberately cartoonish constructions of war scenes - while others, such as Divola's pictures of himself being hunted by dogs or Alexandre Orion's montages of frozen sticker figures arresting urban passers-by, are more obviously ambiguous. The show pursues in equal parts the idea of hunting, physically and mentally, as a deeply ingrained survival method still latent in the rituals of courting and business, as well as the hunting involved in modern looking, a mess-free digitalised version of its ancient life-or-death origins.

According to Kraeutler, 'the photographer's vision is achieved by careful planning, but more importantly, by the artist's ability to wait for that perfect moment when everything comes together. When everything is in place, the photographer takes a shot, hoping to catch what he or she sees through the lens...Although [our modern hunting pursuits] are not as directly connected with survival, people as modern hunters are still in search of the same basic needs: food, shelter, and reproduction. Photography aesthetically embodies this search.' Whether we like it or not,

It's a show asking us to consider the urge to capture (ultimately, and as the greatest of hunts, even letting the self be captured) as an instinctive way to find meaning and identity. 'There is a passion for hunting something deeply implanted in the human breast', wrote Charles Dickens. Kraeutler's juxtapositions and breadth of artists is thought-provoking as it disturbs. His invitation to compare the similarities and inter-changeability between 'hunting' and 'hunted' roles might linger in your mind next time you see a camera getting ready to focus.

- Lupe Nunez-Fernandez

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