Photography as a Parallel Vector for Sculptors

The article examines how sculptors from Auguste Rodin to Johannes Döring have used photography not merely as documentation but as an integral part of their practice. Rodin and Bourdelle carefully controlled photographic documentation of their works. Constantin Brancusi began photographing his studio in 1914, using multiple viewpoints and light studies, later incorporating film for monumental outdoor works like the Endless Column. In the late 1960s, land artists such as Michael Heizer, Richard Long, Nancy Holt, and Gordon Matta-Clark left the studio to create works in remote landscapes, relying on photography to document and eventually constitute the artwork itself. Bernd and Hilla Becher and Gilbert & George used photography to create systematic series—industrial typologies and living sculptures respectively—where individual images form part of larger ensembles. Georges Rousse creates ephemeral perspective illusions in abandoned sites, with the photograph as the final work. Peter Downsbrough photographs urban environments with rigorous framing. Didier Vermeiren has produced photographic series like Profils / Cariatide à la pierre (1998) and Photoreliefs (2005), where images are mounted on wooden volumes, merging photography and sculpture. Johannes Döring creates three-dimensional 'image-sculptures' modeled directly from photographs, with volumes partially determined by the image. The article was published in art press 2 n°24 (February-March-April 2012).