Out of Focus: Photography, Saatchi Gallery - review
This slice of Charles Saatchi’s contemporary photography collection reflects the diversity of today’s styles and changes. The title links 38 photographers from 14 countries through work standing outside the mainstream, and mingles beauty with politics, hedonism and mystery, analogue and digital processing.
Collage’s current popularity is led by Londoner John Stezaker. His reworking of found portraits distorts and recreates their beauty, hooking into collage’s Surrealist roots. Similarly with Yumiko Utsu’s lovely Octopus Portrait, while Mariah Robinson’s works digitally with abstracts printed on fabric flowing like water across the floor. Such juxtaposing doesn’t always work but Chris Leviene’s holographic reproduction of the Queen with closed eyes hangs mischievously near A L Steiner’s female nude sexual narcissists.
Broomberg and Chanarin, who shift from Seventies black-and-white street politics to colourful images in 19th-century style, and Mikhael Subotzky’s portraits of South African villagers, demand explanations found only in the catalogue. The many images left my eyes temporarily out of focus.
Out of Focus: Photography runs until July 22 (saatchigallery.com, 020 7811 3070)
