Claus Goedicke

In his series titled Some Things, Claus Goedicke photographs banal everyday objects light bulbs, band aids, hammers, Eau de Cologne, blood bags and basic foodstuffs bread, butter, eggs things that are so commonplace that we barely take notice of them. He presents the objects singly, frontally, symmetrically; in even lighting that casts no shadows. Unlike commercial photography, the objects do not appear to be immaculate or brand new. Their limpid beauty stems from their straightforward functionality and signs of wear. Flat, object-specific backdrops, which themselves show signs of wear and tear crumpled, scratched, and yellowed underscore the plasticity of the softly colored objects. In 1955 Walker Evans captured the charm emanating from such things in his series Beauties of the Common Tool: A hardware store is a kind of offbeat museum show for the man who responds to good, clear undesigned forms.