ANALYSIS: JOHN STEZAKER

John Stezaker is a British conceptual artist. In the early 70's  Stezaker was among the first of many British conceptual artists to rebel against what was then the predominance of Pop art. Stezaker's work is very surreal in tone and is most often created using collage and the juxtaposition of pre-existing photographs such as postcards, film stills and other forms of photographs. Using these, Stezaker creates collages to give old photographs a whole new meaning. By inverting, adjusting, slicing and compositing different images together to create new unique pieces. 

The photograph I chose to analyse is named 'Bridge' and is part of Stezaker's Masks series. Stezaker’s famous Mask series fuses the profiles of glamorous sitters with caves, hamlets, or waterfalls, making for images of 'eerie beauty.'

Whilst looking at Stezaker's work, my most preferred pieces where the ones which created metaphors, due to the composition of the collage. This is why I chose 'Bridge'. 

The photograph seems to depict the relationship between the child and the man, whom I assume to be the boy's father; as the boy seems to be demonstrating something and he attentively watches. I instantly make the assumption that the boy and the man are related due to their positioning- the boy sitting on the bed whilst the father sits on a stool, their proximity towards one another, as they are quite close and also because they seem to be in the little boys room; due to the leaf printed matters on the bed and also perhaps the fact that the room contains small chairs. Stezaker's placement of the bridge just reinforces this assumption.

I think that Stezaker's choice of using this particular bridge image for this specific photograph work really well, and the images play off each other. The photograph is very appealing and it's colours very vibrant but I think there is a much deeper meaning behind the choice of this photograph.

 The end of the bridge which points to the father is a little more complex in structure, maybe more for safety reasons rather than aesthetic ones. However I think it could also be a reflection of the father's or just fathers in general, as they are very complex creatures and have possibly had to endure a lot and therefore have built more of a foundation. in turn, the bridge going in the sons direction is a lot simpler, as he has yet to face these hardships as he is only a child. He does not yet have any responsibilities and therefore does not need this extra support. 

The photograph could also represent a shared memory between father and son, a holiday perhaps. They seem to be from quite wealthy family as both a dressed very formally and appear to live in a nice home. A bond between a father and his son is something quite strong and usually starts from an early age. The bond one would have with their father would be completely different to the one had with a mother. And I feel the photograph touches on that subject of bonding and appreciating time together. 

I also thought the choice of using a bridge to represent the relationship between father and son is very unexpected. As bridges tend to remind us of horrific accidents, countless hours stuck in traffic, but Stezaker took this pretty mundane concept and turned it into something completely different. 

The two images work really well with each other as if they were some form of a lost piece from a puzzle. The contrast between the black and white image and the coloured photograph which adds a pop of colour really helps to make the piece stand out as a whole.

When I first explored his work I thought he simply placed one image on top of the other and was done. However upon looking at the photographs more closely I found that was not the case at all. I enjoy the way in which he represents his point of view, and the way in which he has chosen to combine old, perhaps even forgotten images with different aspects of nature, or architecture. Though at first glance it seems like they are just two separate images, you come to realise that the images fit together perfectly.