Book of the Month - The Many Lives of Erik Kessels

The title defines the content of this book, because it seems like the man has multiple lives at his disposal; otherwise it is impossible to understand how he can pull off such immense productivity. Artist, collector, curator, publisher, publicist, designer: there is virtually no personality in the world of photography as enterprising as Erik Kessels. Even before getting active in the arts, he was one of the most important creative minds of our times: he has been the Creative Director of the KesselsKramer Agency in Amsterdam, London and Los Angeles since 1996. So, how does a successful art director from the world of advertising land himself any number of art exhibitions? “It’s a question I get asked a lot. In fact, it was my work in the advertising industry that sparked my fascination for vernacular photography. As an creative director you often work with the images of others. It’s a part of the job I came to enjoy a lot, and in my artistic career outside of advertising I do the same.”

Commercial pictures, however, always have to be perfect and Kessels often found this immaculacy boring, which is why he has developed a certain weakness for imperfection in his personal work. Chance snapshots with errors, photographs that are blurry or overexposed, unfortunate poses and absurd chance encounters: Kessels looks for all this kind of material in the photographic collections of private albums. He categorises them according to distinct themes, and comes up with unique picture series that he has repeatedly presented in books and exhibitions. Without a doubt, the picture motifs found at flea markets or on the internet, are reincarnated in Kessels’ work: they not only get to be observed for longer, they also become representatives of a more conscious way of dealing with our visual heritage. More than fifty books have appeared so far, and this most recently published photo book offers an excellent overview of his work; because, apart from all the curiosities and absurdities, Kessels is always concerned about having a reflective interaction with the medium of photography, especially in this age of overflowing digital imagery. “People consume photographs,” says Kessels. “They don’t look at them any more.”

The photo book contains over twenty picture series, and offers insight into the new contextualisation that Kessels has undertaken with his picture material. With ease and in an entertaining manner, Kessels always manages to perform a surprising balancing act between theoretical media reflection and an excessive appetite for pictures. Ulrich Rüter

All Pictures from The Many Lives of Erik Kessels
(Aperture/Camera, 2017) www.aperture.org


This publication will appear in conjunction with a comprehensive exhibition in Italy: CAMERA – Centro Italiano per la Fotographia, Turin. 31 May to 20 July, 2017. With Erik Kessels & Friends, the NRW Forum Düsseldorf is presenting the first comprehensive retrospective in Germany, from 12 August to 5 November. Artists Paul Kooiker, Joan Fontcuberta, Peter Piller, Joachim Schmid and Ruth van Beek have been invited to include some of their own works at the exhibition.