Striking textures, sensuous surfaces in photography and film

This article examines materiality as a surface condition and as inscribed in the texture of photographic and filmic images. First, it discusses examples where surface textures become striking due to various, frequently combined factors, such as image transfer, enlargement, the exigencies of the machinery involved and the properties of the film stock. Here, image resolution is the main focus. Second, it deals with the case of camera-less photography and film, where apparent surfaces are caused by directly acting upon the photo paper or the film stock. The third part offers close-readings of three exemplary artworks to be apprehended as poignant and exciting examples of how a photograph’s or film’s materiality determines its meaning, how textuality and texturality match. These readings include Steven Pippin’s series of photographs Laundromat-Locomotion (1997), Alison Rossiter’s works with expired silver gelatine photo papers (2007-ongoing) and David Gatten’s film Secret History of the Dividing Line (2002). Finally, in my concluding remarks, I will briefly address the critical potential of textures that foreground their materiality.