{"id":18482,"date":"2019-03-08T11:06:55","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T10:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.hahnemuehle.com\/en\/?p=18482"},"modified":"2019-03-21T10:08:50","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T09:08:50","slug":"samueldavis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.hahnemuehle.com\/en\/samueldavis\/","title":{"rendered":"“They were here” by Samuel Davis @The Empty Quarter Gallery Dubai"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Samuel Davis<\/a>, The Empty Quarter Gallery<\/a> and Hahnem\u00fchle are pleased to present “They Were Here”, a new and exciting collation of images from previous bodies of work. Davis plays with the notion that a\u00a0photograph is simultaneously a document, a truth, a memory\u00a0 and a lie. His work plays with the idea that the meaning of a scene changes from the literal as it is imagined, then captured by the photographer, stored and finally presented to the viewer. Photographs are taken analog (glass-plates, film), entirely printed on Hahnem\u00fchle Bamboo<\/a>, Photo Rag\u00ae Pearl<\/a> and Photo Rag\u00ae Ultra Smooth<\/a> and on the walls of The Empty Quarter Gallery in Dubai through March17th 2019.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”18486″ img_size=”medium” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text]Seemingly huge dinosaurs, rocket ships and other toys are represented in an almost plausible way. “My\u00a0 photography has\u00a0 been\u00a0 driven\u00a0 by\u00a0 the\u00a0 desire\u00a0 to\u00a0 make\u00a0 images\u00a0 that\u00a0 represent\u00a0 that\u00a0 feeling\u00a0 of\u00a0 comfort through\u00a0 confusion”. “This act\u00a0 of\u00a0 viewing\u00a0 makes\u00a0 all\u00a0 of\u00a0 us\u00a0 part\u00a0 of\u00a0 this\u00a0 place\u00a0 that\u00a0 we\u00a0 are\u00a0 drawn\u00a0 to\u00a0 for\u00a0 reasons\u00a0 we\u00a0 are\u00a0 not\u00a0 quite\u00a0 sure\u00a0 of” reflects Davis.<\/p>\n

Davis’ childhood memories are of toys\u00a0 in the\u00a0 foreground, the\u00a0 television in the\u00a0 back. Two imaginary realities\u00a0 at\u00a0 once. He began to identify the\u00a0 desert\u00a0 as\u00a0 \u201cthe\u201d\u00a0 place\u00a0 where\u00a0 things\u00a0 happened. The\u00a0 Roadrunner vs\u00a0 The\u00a0 Coyote. Rockford Files chasing someone\u00a0 to Vegas. John Wayne, Wagon Train, and every \u201cB\u201d\u00a0 Sci-Fi\u00a0 movie\u00a0 worth anything. Atomic\u00a0 testing, war movies, specials\u00a0 about\u00a0 UFO\u2019s –\u00a0 they were\u00a0 all\u00a0 in the\u00a0 desert. Some\u00a0 place,\u00a0 so foreign to the\u00a0 gulf\u00a0 coast\u00a0 it\u00a0 was\u00a0 beyond fantasy. ” I wasn\u2019t\u00a0 sure\u00a0 if\u00a0 the\u00a0 desert\u00a0 really existed, or if\u00a0 was\u00a0 just\u00a0 a\u00a0 movie\u00a0 set” says Davis.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Likewise Samuel Davis series \u201eJettisoned\u201d, \u201cFlight Attendants\u201d and \u201cTragic Heroes\u201d find themselves in engineered simple scenes that seem confusingly believable aginst today’s CGI and green screen technology where\u00a0 audience\u00a0 no longer needs\u00a0 to fill\u00a0 in the\u00a0 gaps. \u201eThe\u00a0 late\u00a0 1970\u2019s\u00a0 and 1980\u2019s\u00a0 of my childhood were\u00a0 not\u00a0 exempt\u00a0 from\u00a0 the\u00a0 sweeping changes of the\u00a0 generations\u00a0 that\u00a0 preceded them.\u00a0 The\u00a0 ashtrays\u00a0 slowly disappeared from\u00a0 the\u00a0 armrests and seatbelts\u00a0 became\u00a0 required”, reflects Davies. The\u00a0 term\u00a0 stewardess\u00a0 became\u00a0 taboo in favor of the\u00a0 more\u00a0 appropriate\u00a0 \u201cflight attendant\u201d. Davis\u2019s\u00a0 figure spacemen in \u201cTragic Heros\u201d suggest\u00a0 their relation to science\u00a0 fiction \u2014 demonstrate\u00a0 instead a\u00a0 kind of\u00a0 wistful\u00a0 vulnerability we\u00a0 would never have\u00a0 been permitted to observe in the\u00a0 Apollo age.\u00a0Would they have\u00a0even passed the\u00a0rigorous\u00a0testing required of aspiring astronauts?[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The\u00a0 last\u00a0 group of\u00a0 images\u00a0 included in this\u00a0 exhibition come\u00a0 from\u00a0 a\u00a0 portfolio entitled\u00a0\u201eTin\u201d, in which the\u00a0 future\u00a0 truly meets\u00a0 the\u00a0 past:\u00a0 Davis\u00a0 has\u00a0 used antiquated photographic\u00a0 processes, including daguerreotypy, wetplate\u00a0 collodion, and tintype, to capture\u00a0 the\u00a0 images\u00a0 of\u00a0 primitive robots\u00a0 lurching over an uneven surface,\u00a0 what\u00a0 we\u00a0 call\u00a0 UFOs\u00a0 soaring\u00a0 through the\u00a0 air, or pristine flying contraptions\u00a0 turned into specimens\u00a0 before\u00a0 the\u00a0 camera. He\u00a0 thus\u00a0 reminds\u00a0 us\u00a0 of\u00a0 how\u00a0 photography\u2019s\u00a0 apparent realism\u00a0 can play with our dreams. Photography\u2019s\u00a0 evident\u00a0 truthfulness\u00a0 makes\u00a0 it\u00a0 one\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 best vehicles\u00a0 for creating compelling images\u00a0 of\u00a0 that\u00a0 which does\u00a0 not\u00a0 exist.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”18489″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Davis images do not rely on digital\u00a0 manipulation (except\u00a0 to correct imperfections\u00a0 such as\u00a0 scratches). Instead, his art is made in the camera. The result belies is simplicity,\u00a0 creating a fun but thought provoking exhibition which strikes every observer as they are printed on the perfectly matching matte or glossy Digital FineArt paper by Hahnem\u00fchle. All prints are made by the print lab The Empty Quarter Gallery – a Hahnem\u00fchle Certified Studio – on Hahnem\u00fchle Bamboo<\/a>, Photo Rag\u00ae Pearl<\/a> and Photo Rag\u00ae Ultra Smooth<\/a><\/p>\n

At The Empty Quarter Gallery<\/a> in Dubai through March17th 2019.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”18487″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”18499″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”18502″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”18498″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Samuel Davis, The Empty Quarter Gallery and Hahnem\u00fchle are pleased to present “They Were Here”, a new and exciting collation of images from previous bodies of work. Davis plays with the notion that a\u00a0photograph is simultaneously a document, a truth, a memory\u00a0 and a lie. His work plays with the idea that the meaning of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":18492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1919,3126],"tags":[4363,4360,4130,4362,3139,3300,4361,3183,3187,3736,4358,4359],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"They were here" by Samuel Davis @The Empty Quarter Gallery Dubai - Hahnem\u00fchle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Samuel Davis, The Empty Quarter Gallery and Hahnem\u00fchle are pleased to present \u201cThey Were Here\u201d entirely printed on Hahnem\u00fchle Bamboo, Photo Rag\u00ae Pearl and Photo Rag\u00ae Ultra Smooth and on the walls of The Empty Quarter Gallery in Dubai through March17th 2019.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.hahnemuehle.com\/en\/samueldavis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""They were here" by Samuel Davis @The Empty Quarter Gallery Dubai - 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