Between a State of Desertion and Overpopulation
the ‘pictures’ of Frank Van der Salm
by Liesbeth Decan

Publication: monography 'frank van der salm', 2005
Publisher: MKeditions, Rotterdam, NL
Published in Dutch and English


(...) the images by Frank van der Salm extend far beyond the disciplinary boundaries of photography. In her essay ‘De artistieke grenzen op het spel. Picturale aspecten van de actuele fotografie’ (‘Artistic boundaries at stake. Pictorial aspects of contemporary photography’), Hilde Van Gelder describes photographic works that are fleshed out pictorially, sculpturally or even architecturally – an obvious trend in contemporary photography – as ‘pictures’.(4) Here she is referring to the broad, English meaning of the word; not, therefore, to the French pictural, which relates only to the painterly tradition.

The term ‘picture’ also seems especially apposite to the work of Van der Salm. By employing the ‘non-user-friendly’ technical camera and extended exposure times, the photographer establishes a link with the time-consuming methods of classic painting and sculpture. The ‘all-over’, frame-filling principle, the leaning towards abstraction, the use of colour (patches) and the generally large format of the works, which are meant to be hung on the wall, also indicate the pictural nature of the work. The notion of the Gestalt, as mentioned above, once again calls to mind the world of sculpture. Moreover, the limited editions of the photographs sooner indicate the exclusivity of a painting or sculpture than the multi-reproducibility of a photo (...)

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