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John Stezaker in london, October 2012, photograph by Sebastien Kim 

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John Stezaker was born in England in 1949 and then pursued an education in the arts. By taking pre-existing photography he makes collages in ways reflecting surrealism, dada and found art. His work has been globally exhibited and he has even received an award in photography.

"John Stezaker", Petzel https://www.petzel.com/artists/john-stezaker accessed 16th of november 2023

Christopher Bollen, "John Stezaker", Interview Magazine, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/london-john-stezaker accessed 16th of november 2023

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John Stezaker, Pair IV, 2007, Private Collection 

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What is it?

This is an image of two people whose faces have been covered by a famous postcard. The interest behind this photograph is the alignment of the faces and the mountain valley and what hides behind the main feature of this collage. The first matter of interest is the care placed in selecting the image overtop, the mountain on the postcard gives the two figures shapes for their faces and even goes as far as finishing a curl on the lady's hair. Secondly, as the faces are hidden we can't seem to extract any information regarding the people, they are impersonal, which could mean nothing yet everything. The river for example could symbolize love as it could simply be a coincidence. The figures do seem to be happy and content though for them to simply be strangers leaving the viewer to wonder and draw their own conclusions as to what is behind the landscape.

How is it related to the course?

This is an excellent example of early landscape photography and 20th century art movements, specifically surrealism and dada as the faces have been replaced by a something quite different.

"Week 3- Analysis- John Stezaker", Brighton Blogs https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/miacook/2020/10/20/week-3-analysis-john-stezaker/, accessed 16th of Nov 2023

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What it is?

This shows the eyes of a male movie star cut out in a "surgical" manner disfiguring him. We can draw a parallel between this and sight. We are consumed/blinded by the media. It essentially calls out our issues of reception and perception with respect to what we see done by famous people (to note that the modified image was originally of a famous man). It is almost an allegory representing our tunnel vision. He gets this message across by "resurrecting" these old images.

How is it related to the course?

We can make a parallel between Stezaker cutting away at the images and the Venus Sculptures that started off as whole stones and were then carved away piece by piece to form what they are now. We can also relate this to Dada once more because of the removed eyes as it is characteristic of that art movement.

Coomer, Martin. Art on Paper, vol. 11, no. 4, 2007, pp. 90–91. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24556149. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.

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What is it?

This is an image probably representing a father and a son on which overlays a photograph of a bridge. The structurally complex and stable end of the bridge is placed atop the father's head as it represents his complexity and his ability to support the child who is faced with the "weak" seeming side of the bridge. This image shows the complexities of father and son relationships and is one of the few with color among Stezaker's works which makes it stand out all the more and emphasizes this relationship.

Why is it related to the course?

Firstly we can really notice the progression of photography from the serious portraits they used to be, to simple coloquial moments, in the background. On the foreground, we see an urban landscape photo which again is a step up from the classic landscape. Finally we can also see the complementary colors in the image. The blue of the sea and the brown of the bridge (which is just another shade of orange). In conclusion, there isn't a direct link to the course, however we can take what we learnt in the course and further that analysis to draw the links.

Daniela Cordoso. "Analysis: John Stezaker",

https://danielacardosophoto.blogspot.com/2014/02/analysis-john-stezaker.html Accessed; Nov 16th 2023