Hasted Kraeutler gallery presents a large selection of works by famed photographer Albert Watson, the show is an amalgamation of images, from platinum prints to digital C-prints, intimate portraits to wall sized triptychs, landscapes and photoshoped fictitious creatures; all in all a completely incongruous body of work by one of the worlds most achieved and respected commercial photographers. It’s puzzling how we can look at a resume and be enamored by the achievements of an individual and let that taint our reception of their contemporary work. If it weren’t for one image this show would have been chalked up as a total loss for me, which was the case for many shows on my rounds this weekend, but this would have been a first for me at Hasted Kraeutler. This body of work spoke to no common theme, nor style, nor subject. It seemed to be a presentation of ego, touting to the world the many achievements of our dear Watson. There was however a diamond in the rough, which so happened to be the image that was used to promote this ostentatious display. An Image of a primates hand, presumably a chimpanzees, griping a revolver with trigger engaged and hammer pulled back. My initial reaction was one of appreciation for a bold statement on the conditions of gun use in this country and possibly the world, however, this was the first image in the show and was also the image that grabbed my attention and persuaded me to go to the show in the first place. Once I was able to see the image in context and realized that… well, that there was no context I began to feel foolish. Was I simply projecting my belief system onto a meaningless image, or was the meaning of this image lost when it was separated from the article it was illustrating? After all, the surrounding images in the show were of a space suit and a female pelvis with what appeared to have a vegetable covering her genitals. I can’t help but feel duped this time, but this only leaves me asking the same question I asked when I entered the gallery. Is this the appropriate venue to consume commercial photography?
