The Pond - Adam Jeppesen
Danish marshlands are characterised by ethereal light and changeable weather. These marshy ponds are places where the cycle of life thrives in all of its stages; animals live and die. The pond bears witness to all around it - life, death and decomposition - finally subsuming the physical matter of its environment. During this process the pond also collects history with the contents that lie beneath rendered invisible from the surface, clouded by its murky waters.
The natural world echoes human behaviours beyond the pond. Notions of society, identity and humanity have evolved in recent years at a rapid pace. Just as history promises an immortalisation of experience - and photography promises an immortalisation of memory - decomposition promises an immortalisation of essence. Like sending divers into the pond, an examination of the human invokes a human condition a journey of discovery that seeks self-identity as well as collective experience. Adam Jeppesen’s exploration of the themes of transience, humanity and contradiction takes the pond out of place, transplanting the viewer into a comparable situation where nature is still king but human experience is key.
Jeppesen presented a single large print from this project at Paris Photo which drew my eye. Upon research it’s clear what the project’s objective is but when looking at a snippet of a wider investigation with zero context it made me think about portraiture oddly. There is a shot from Commercial Photographer Tom Oldham of former England goalkeeper Gordon Banks that immediately reminded me of Jeppesen’s shot. It’s not a facial portrait but just a shot of his hands which spoke more volumes about Banks as a person than a traditional portrait ever would’ve. The way it was printed and how the hand is reaching out made me think of someone being cryogenically frozen, stuck in a single position forever, unable to move as the world around them continues to spin. Without context, it spoke as a scary commentary on humanity and how we have the capacity to leave people who need help behind.
