Specialist’s Picks: 20/21 Photographs

Darius Himes, International Head of Photographs, shares some of his favourite works from the Collection of William T. Hillman, which includes a strong selection of images by women artists who have been a vital force in photography since its earliest stages

‘Brazilian-born, Los Angeles-based photographer Mona Kuhn strode onto the scene in the early 2000s with a group of sensual portraits that were dreamlike in their colour palette and shallow depth of field focus. She has published four books with legendary art book publisher, Gerhard Steidl. This image was the cover of her first book, released in 2004, and contains all the striking visual elements for which she is known and celebrated.’

‘Photography as a medium had only been in existence for 20 years when Cameron began making photographs at the age of 48. She produced prints and images for only about 11 years, making pictures of many of the leading artistic and literary figures of England of her day, most of whom were family friends and acquaintances. As you can see, she managed to produce lasting portraits that resonate to this day.’

‘Atkins was a friend of British scholar, scientist and aristocrat Sir John Herschel, who invented the cyanotype photographic process in 1842. By the next year, Atkins was utilizing the process to produce a study of algae and seaweed, which she then later applied to a variety of flowering plants and ferns. This particular piece is on the cover of the Hillman catalogue for its graphic clarity and exquisiteness.’

‘The meteoric disappearance of chemistry-based photographic materials over the past 10-20 years has created a new interest in what is now referred to as analogue photography. Alison Rossiter has been systematically collecting unprocessed samples of photographic material — both film and paper — from each decade of the 20th century. She processes the materials as they were intended — the films and papers are run through the various stages of chemistry — but without exposing them to either image or light. This work is comprised of four individual sheets of Luxus Bromosa paper manufactured in the 1940s by the Mimosa company of Dresden, Germany. Rossiter partially dipped the pre-cut sheets into developer, creating the hard lines on the paper, and then processed the sheet producing shapes you see here.’

‘Dumas has been working with animals throughout her career and consistently manages to grant them individuality through her portraiture. Several years ago she produced a series of photographs of the burial horses used by the Army at Arlington National Cemetery during military funerals. Dumas chose to photograph them at night, as they were resting and drifting off to sleep, resulting in incredibly sensitive and striking images.’

‘Based in Amsterdam, Dijkstra is known for her powerful portraits of children, teens, and young adults as they transition into and through adolescence. Her work grabs you first in its directness, which is often coupled with an awkwardness and sense of isolation in the subject. With a prolonged viewing, a tenderness reveals itself and becomes a meditation on a difficult and important stage of life.

‘The photographic work of husband and wife team Bernd and Hilla Becher was first exhibited in the United States in the seminal exhibition New Topographics, an exhibition that has proven a touchstone for many artists of the last half of the 20th century. The Bechers presented their large-format black-and-white photographs in grids — which came to be called typologies — based on subject matter: water towers, coal mine tipples, blast furnaces, framework houses. Through their work and teaching activities at the Dusseldorf Arts Academy, they directly influenced a generation of contemporary photographers, notably Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth.’

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