Comparative work studies with the camera: Darcy Lange
In the early 1970s, the Kiwi artist Darcy Lange (1946 — 2005) began film studies on the topic of ‘People at Work’. He thus follows in the tradition of Lewis Hine, Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange (no relation), who became famous for their photo documentation of farm workers commissioned by the US Farm Security Administration in the 1930s.
While his claim to use the camera as an instrument of social reform is akin to his peers, Lange in contrast goes beyond them in his methodology. His filmic works are comparative social-anthropological analyses par excellence.
In “A Documentation of Bradford Working Life”, Lange selected four factories (he called them “situations”) and took shots of specific work actions of no more than five workers (he called them “studies”). Each of the 15 studies consisted of 10-minute video recordings, two 16mm film recordings (of the first and last half minute of the video) and a black and white photograph.
According to Mercedes Vicente, whose dissertation and various exhibitions on Darcy Lange have made a significant contribution to ensuring that his work is not forgotten, Lange endeavoured to depict reality as “intervention-free” as possible. This also explains why he used all three media (video, film, photo) simultaneously to record one and the same image detail with systematic precision (Vicente 2009, p. 40). He thus explored both the potential and the limitation of each media for his investigations. A similar comparative methodological approach can be found in his “Work Studies in schools”, 1976–78 (more to come on that later in this blog).
By not editing or changing camera angles or repeating shots, Lange’s videos are thus an attempt to directly document reality. The viewer is not accused of having a particular point of view or any type of bias, making any claims that the montage rips things out of context, unfounded. The works are thus also deliberately in contrast to conventional documentaries, which is also reflected in the act of viewing: Watching Lange’s videos is more like studying scientific material than the passive consumption of a TV documentary.
However, it is precisely this unadulterated and comparative access to the supposed reality that makes Lange’s work interesting for work and educational research. Thanks to Mercedes Vicente, Darcy Lange posthumously gained the fame he deserves in the experimental art film scene, and has recently being showcased at Tate Modern in London in 2017. He has yet to be discovered for research and, subsequently, for social and educational policy either, to which he wanted to make a contribution throughout his entire life.
I owe my introduction to Darcy Lange to my friend, the artist, Gregor Schmoll.
References:
Vicente, Mercedes (2009). Darcy Lange, Camera Austria, No. 108.
Vicente, Mercedes (2017). Images of people at work: the videomaking of Darcy Lange (Doctoral dissertation, Royal College of Art).
Fragments of Darcy Lange's Videos
Darcy Lange, A Documentation of Bradford Working Life, UK, 1974
© Collection Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
Comparative work studies with the camera: Darcy Lange
In the early 1970s, the Kiwi artist Darcy Lange (1946 — 2005) began film studies on the topic of ‘People at Work’. He thus follows in the tradition of Lewis Hine, Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange (no relation), who became famous for their photo documentation of farm workers commissioned by the US Farm Security Administration in the 1930s.
While his claim to use the camera as an instrument of social reform is akin to his peers, Lange in contrast goes beyond them in his methodology. His filmic works are comparative social-anthropological analyses par excellence.
In “A Documentation of Bradford Working Life”, Lange selected four factories (he called them “situations”) and took shots of specific work actions of no more than five workers (he called them “studies”). Each of the 15 studies consisted of 10-minute video recordings, two 16mm film recordings (of the first and last half minute of the video) and a black and white photograph.
According to Mercedes Vicente, whose dissertation and various exhibitions on Darcy Lange have made a significant contribution to ensuring that his work is not forgotten, Lange endeavoured to depict reality as “intervention-free” as possible. This also explains why he used all three media (video, film, photo) simultaneously to record one and the same image detail with systematic precision (Vicente 2009, p. 40). He thus explored both the potential and the limitation of each media for his investigations. A similar comparative methodological approach can be found in his “Work Studies in schools”, 1976–78 (more to come on that later in this blog).
By not editing or changing camera angles or repeating shots, Lange’s videos are thus an attempt to directly document reality. The viewer is not accused of having a particular point of view or any type of bias, making any claims that the montage rips things out of context, unfounded. The works are thus also deliberately in contrast to conventional documentaries, which is also reflected in the act of viewing: Watching Lange’s videos is more like studying scientific material than the passive consumption of a TV documentary.
However, it is precisely this unadulterated and comparative access to the supposed reality that makes Lange’s work interesting for work and educational research. Thanks to Mercedes Vicente, Darcy Lange posthumously gained the fame he deserves in the experimental art film scene, and has recently being showcased at Tate Modern in London in 2017. He has yet to be discovered for research and, subsequently, for social and educational policy either, to which he wanted to make a contribution throughout his entire life.
I owe my introduction to Darcy Lange to my friend, the artist, Gregor Schmoll.
References:
Vicente, Mercedes (2009). Darcy Lange, Camera Austria, No. 108.
Vicente, Mercedes (2017). Images of people at work: the videomaking of Darcy Lange (Doctoral dissertation, Royal College of Art).
Fragments of Darcy Lange's Videos
Darcy Lange, A Documentation of Bradford Working Life, UK, 1974
© Collection Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
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