Narrative Formats: Artwork by Paul Thomann
Chemical 6A, direct chemically manipulated photographic paper
Chicago-based artist Paul Thomann works in photography and film as well as other narrative formats. The artist’s works are ethereal and documentary in nature, often taking the artist’s own family and background as subject matter.
Paul’s images range in style from ethereal to clear and expansive. I enjoy the contrast the between the artist’s series of Baseball Pictures and the rest of his portfolio. The baseball images are crisp and clear, showing a wide view of a baseball field in both color and black and white. All details are treated with equal importance in these works.
Similarly, in Paul’s Lanterns series, every detail is deliberately blurred, so that the lighting of the image comes to the forefront, rather than the precise subject matter. Paul has also used his artistic practice to explore his own family tree through photographs and documents, similar to Monique Fouquet’s ruminations on memory.
