Crushed Can and Scratchboard, Zeke Berman

Archive Label 2003:
Zeke Berman’s images attempt to deconstruct both the nature of still life and the medium of photography as a whole. His goal is to address the illusions inherent in capturing three-dimensional objects in a two-dimensional format. To this end, Berman constructs elaborate still life scenes. He includes lines of string and glue, which are intended to delineate the invisible reflections of light and lines of perspective among the still life elements. The resulting image, as in Crushed Can and Scratchboard, may appear more like a drawing than a photograph. The constructed lines of perspective and reflection, seemingly drawn in white chalk, obscure the original still life scene and question the photographic means.

Exhibition Label:
"Contemporary Photographs: Rethinking the Genres," Oct-2000, Rachel Epp Buller
At first glance, Crushed Cand and Scratchboard appears closer to a drawing than a photograph. Berman self-consciously addresses the illusions inherent in capturing three-dimensional objects in a two-dimensional format. To do so, he constructs elaborate still lifes that include lines of string and glue, designed to outline reflections of light and lines of perspective, which he then photographs. The resulting image deconstructs not only the nature of still life but the medium of photography as well.

Exhibition Label:
"Modernisms: Late/Post," Mar-1997, Deborah J. Wilk
In Crushed Can and Scratchboard, Zeke Berman challenges a long-held belief in the camera's objectivity and truth-telling ability. He emphasizes instead the way cameras can be used to make pictures that are clearly constructed, even manipulated. Trained as a sculptor, Berman delights in the way the two-dimensional photograph alters the three-dimensional world. This transformation, Berman suggests, parallels the viewing process itself, where what is seen influences what is thought, and vice versa..