Practical
Dreamer - The Photography of Nicolas Tucker By
Christopher John Ball
Born
in 1948 British photographer Nicolas Tucker left his birthplace of
Devon after leaving school – where he claims to have been “proficient
at nothing at all” - to take up a place at the London College
of Printing. Unfortunately, the government grant upon which he was
intending to live on whilst studying at college, fell through. Instead
Nic found himself learning his craft by taking up various posts assisting
photographers in London – “some very nice, some monstrous,
but all good experience, and then I worked for advertising, design
companies and editorial.”
After
assisting for nearly ten years, and becoming increasingly confident
in his own abilities as a photographer, Nic decided that the late
1970’s were the right time for him to stop giving other photographers
the benefits of his skills and go it alone – “it is much
better doing work for yourself.” Over the years Nic has become
a widely exhibited and published photographer in his own right. His
work is in demand by a huge range of international clients including
Vogue, Harpers and Queen and Tatler. In addition he has images held
in permanent collections within the V&A – London, MOMA -
New York, Biblioteque Nationale – Paris and Rhenischeslander
Museum – Bonn and many others. His imagery has been exhibited
internationally since 1978 in galleries as varied as Victoria and
Albert Museum and Chelsea Arts Club in London, Royal Photographic
Society in Bath, Centre de la Photographie in Geneva, and galleries
in Mexico.
As
an artist of some renown Nic is a welcomed regular at London’s
The Colony Room Club - Soho's infamous 50 year old watering hole for
artists of all descriptions. The Colony was once the favorite drinking
establishment for the likes of Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud. Nowadays
old school members such as Nic can be found alongside various BritArt
celebrities - namely Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Tracey Emin, Sam Taylor
Wood and Daniel Chadwick. Perhaps it is whilst socialising with other
artists and celebrities at The Colony that Nic garners some of his
inspiration along with the chance to practice his impish wit on an
appreciative audience.
Nic
states that he had to be careful with the composition of this image
as he had only been able to get the model to pose topless. The pose
she has adopted is again a throw back to another era. The objects
on the mantelpiece offer up a still life within the image itself.
The model is addressing the viewer directly. Nothing in this photograph
is out of place. This is an image that would be very hard to improve
upon aesthetically and displays the photographer’s strengths
as an image maker. His photography covers many genres. The viewer
can delight in his travel images of China, Chile, Spain, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Hong Kong and St Petersburg. Look deep into his portraits
of such faces as Ansel Adams, Aaron Siskind, Muhammed Ali, Victoria
Abril and Bill Brandt or gaze longingly at his nudes and - whilst
one can see the influence of Siskind, Friedlander, Man Ray, Callahan,
Duane Michals and Edward Weston within the images - one can always
detect the unique signature of the artist Nic Tucker at work. Whilst
reference can be made to the aforementioned photographers the words
of Lee Friedlander should be kept in mind “…the real difference
between photographers is that they each lived in their times.”
Nic claims that the Man Ray book on the floor of this image was a
coincidence and wasn’t intended and that the model had been
simply been reading the book between shots. The image was made in
a friend’s studio. It may well indeed have been no more than
a happy accident but fate has a way of rewarding those individuals
that are blessed with the ability to pre-visualise and the means to
communicate that vision to others. The sinister claw-like shadow above
her head looks like something out of F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent
epic ‘Nosferatu’ and seems set to strike silently at her
breast. Indeed many of Nic’s photographs have the look of a
film still. The pose adopted by the model hints at another time and
contributes to the production of an image that seems to be a cross
between Friedlander and Man Ray. As with many of Nic’s nude
photographs - we half expect his models to turn out to be Lee Miller
reincarnate.
Of
course it is his hypnotic and witty images of the naked human form
that are of particular interest to us. There are many impulses that
draw an artist to this particular subject matter and the female nude
is for Nic …“the most wondrous thing in the world.”
When asked about his motivation for choosing this particular subject
he playfully responds “You don’t need much of a reason
when you’re taking girls clothes off. To be honest, of course,
it’s voyeurism.” This reminds one of Man Ray’s response
to the question why he often photographed the female nude “…I
have always had a great fondness for this subject, both in my paintings
and in my photos, and I must admit not for purely artistic reasons.”
For Man Ray “…photographing the nude was the hardest work,
in fact, the more beautiful the model the more difficult it is to
make something that did her justice” - yet Man Ray made it look
as if he actually found it rather easy to produce that “something”
that would do her justice – a skill Nic shares. He playfully
states that, for him “…nudes are a combination of the
desire to see a girl naked and the problem of justifying that feeling
with a picture that will please her and she can be pleased about for
the rest of her life, actually one that you are pleased with is OK
too.”
Reminiscent
of the playful narrative poetry of photographer Duane Michals, with
a knowing reference to the nude studies of Lee Friedlander, the composition
within this image encourages the viewer to question the scopophilic
nature of photography and the photographed. Where the viewer watches
an enclosed world and can project their desires on to those being
photographed. Here the woman sits naked on the staircase. At the bottom
of the frame stands another individual. From the shoes we assume that
he is male – possibly the photographer. Is she blocking the
path of the man or do the stairs, and her position at their base,
symbolise the route to be taken should he accept her ‘invitation’
– the journey having been made easier given that she has come
down to meet him? The composition cuts off her eyes at the top of
the frame thus we are denied her expression. The conventional reading
would claim that the viewer is being encouraged to take her place
and be her eyes. But, such is the complexity hidden within this apparently
simple composition, another reading could have it that we are being
challenged by the artist to accept that we, the viewers, are the ones
holding the camera and hence guilty of the sin of objectification.
This
image features a recurring theme within Nic’s photographs that
of patterns formed on the body by the light from a window and we are
yet again reminded of the images by Man Ray of Lee Miller. Nic often
‘dresses’ his models in diaphanous garments made of simple
light and shadow. Nic likes to keep his working practice as simple
as possible and uses a hand-held 35mm Nikon or a Mamiya 6 x 7 in the
production of his images. Where possible he prefers to use available
light to produces his striking photographs. Occasionally Nic will
supplement the natural light with the application of tungsten. He
doesn’t feel that one can beat nature when it comes to light.
“I do like shadows,” he says which probably explains why
he is happier producing monochrome images rather than colour. His
use of shadow within his images is of paramount importance. The model
is often ‘robed’ in patterns of shadow – shadows
cast by light through a window frame form take on the role of a garment
that caresses the flesh with a kiss. His use of shadow reminds one
of the silent film era. In turn seductive and threatening. His advice
to photographers starting out is to try and keep the act of image
making as simple as possible "What you see is what you get. It's
what is there in the viewfinder that is important, not what you think
you should see, or what you want to see, which is wishful thinking."
Nic’s
approach to finding models is as equally simple. He shows the girl
he wants to photograph examples of his art and relies upon the images
alone to convince the potential model to disrobe for his camera “…by
the time I am a hundred years old I should have found the right way
to ask a girl in the street to pose naked.” Does he have a particular
look or type? “I like photographing girls I like. Girls you
can talk to and have a good laugh with,” playfully adding “If
I can persuade them to get their kit off. I’ll do a photograph…..I
did once ask a girl who said she would like nudes of herself but only
if she could keep her clothes on.”
In
this photograph we are again invited into Nic’s world of shadow
constructs but this time there is a twist. Almost in dead centre of
the image is the photographer’s shadow. Nic has employed a technique
beloved of Lee Friedlander to remind us that the photographer is present
and that he is standing in for us – marking time. Photographers
when tackling the nude have always had to balance aesthetics, artistry
and desire. The most committed of fine art photographers try to transcend
mere representation of the human form and seek to allow the model
to contribute to the projection of meaning into the final image and
value that contribution. The images produced during the photo shoots
between Nic and his models exhibit fascinating constructs, wit and
interplay of ideas. More importantly they show the trust shared between
artist and model. Though he may make light of the fact with the use
of playful banter, that may be in itself a ‘laddish’ reaction
to the politically correct movement that had such a hold on the Anglo-American
art scene of the 80’s and 90’s, these women are more than
just casual objects that an artist has found attractive. It is clear
from the images he produces that the models Nic selects must have
an intelligence and personality equal to his own for them to have
impressed and inspired him to produce such finely crafted photographs.
Simply having a beautiful individual naked in front of the camera
is not enough to produce a good image. As many wannabe photographers
have found to their cost. The photographer has to be able to direct
the model and he cannot do that if he is afraid of her or she doesn’t
trust him. One can often tell, when viewing images of the nude female,
if the photographer is really comfortable with the subject and the
images that Nic produces confirm that he is a man totally at ease
with the female form. This is not to say that there isn’t an
atmosphere of erotic charge within Nic’s images. Far from it
- an erotic image is by its nature a deeply personal one that subsequently
often ends up as a unique stylised narrative of the like that can
be found to inhabit Nic’s photographs.
The
distressed look and composition of this beautiful image combine to
lend an aesthetic timeless quality to this photograph. Such is the
mysterious narrative within this construct we find ourselves forced
to ask questions. Are we looking at flesh or a recently unearthed
sculpture from a civilisation long gone? The nude is a genre that
attracts many photographers but sadly very few do the subject justice
and instead produce dull images that are of no interest. One of the
reasons why many nude photographs fail to interest and disappoint
the viewer so often is because the photographer has concentrated on
a single aspect of the naked form – a naked woman in front of
the lens is not enough nor is yet another example of perfectly crafted
printing technique – there has to be something more. As Man
Ray stated in 1945 “The streets are full of admirable craftsmen,
but so few practical dreamers.” The most interesting images
go beyond what is obvious and, most importantly, take note of the
fact that the viewer has an intellect and therefore delight in seeking
to engage with it. When it comes to the naked body, particularly the
female nude, we have in essence a screen onto which we project, dependent
upon our culture, an assortment of ideas, fears, hopes, dreams and
desires. An artist confident in the truth of his own voice doesn’t
patronise the audience but instead trusts the viewer and allows them
the opportunity to enjoy reading more complex emotions and narratives
within an image. The best photographs are after all not ‘taken’
- they are ‘made’.
Nic
is on record as stating that he doesn’t see his work as an…
“abstract, a symbol or a statement…I’m trying to
make a decent picture, nothing more serious than that” but there
is far too much going on within his imagery, too many references,
quotations, symbolism and delightful constructs, for this to be anything
more than just a playful conceit and further example of his self deprecating
humour and, in truth, could possibly be a disservice to his work.
The viewer is drawn into his images and encouraged to ask questions
– to enter into a dialogue. His photographs are inherently about
the sensuality and eroticism of looking and they refuse to be ignored.
Nicolas Tucker is one of the worlds “practical dreamers.”
Words
(c) Christopher John Ball
Images(c) Nicolas Tucker
http://www.nictucker.tumblr.com
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