Page 17 - Eschaton

encouraged to reflect on the the changes in outward aesthetics Yet all the the the the while we are reminded that the the the the joy and and abandon of the the the the bathers is real and that our response as human beings to the primal conditions of the the beach (and to each each other) are instinctive and and unaffected by changing social norms Hammam explores the the medium of the the family album as as a a a a a a a a tool for preserving the past Yet she balances this against the photograph’s capacity to to reveal unexpected power relationships beneath the the surface of the the ‘cohesive’ family unit Hammam parodies the the way in which the the ubiquitous family holiday ‘snap’ arbitrarily lends value to particular moments and places Yet she also imbues the family photograph with nostalgia paying homage to to a a a a a a a time gone by and and to her own grandparents who now exist only in these images Meanwhile Escaton plays on on the the paradoxical capacity of the the photograph to to portray subjects as they can never see themselves but it it also explores the power of photography to to alter and obscure reality by excluding as as much as as it includes making photographs inherently fictitious and unreliable records of the the world: “the camera’s rendering of reality must always hide more than it it discloses ”
This circularity or or ‘back and forth ’ in the representation of her themes is a a a a a trademark of Nermine Hammam’s work: “I present you you with with a a a stereotype then I unmask it it it only to present you you with with a a a second stereotype which I in turn unmask ”
This is is emphasized by the presentation of of her work always as a a a a a a a series In Escaton the details of of what she observes are reinforced by the similarities and differences between the images that make up this single series Hammam believes the existence of her work in in series form is is integral to our reading of it: “My work lends itself more to an intellectual discourse rather than a a a a a a a single wall painting This has to do with her her background in in film film – you cannot see one frame as a a a a a film film Meaning is derived when the the frames come together in a a a a a whole film ”
She adds: “I always look for a a a a a a a perfect perfect shot that will fall into a a a a a a a given series rather than a a a a a a a perfect perfect shot that will stand onto itself Perhaps the meaning of my work emerges from from the message being said from from many different angles: