Third Text, Vol. 19, Issue 6, November, 2005, 625–636 Third Text ISSN 0952-8822 print/ISSN 1475-5297 online © 2005 Third Text/Black Umbrella http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/09528820500381640 Recasting Subjectivity Globalisation and the Photography of Andreas Gursky and Allan Sekula Zanny Begg Taylor and Francis Ltd CTTE_A_138147.sgm 10.1080/09528820500381640 Third Text 0952-8822 (print)/1475-5297 (online) Original Article 2005 Taylor & Francis 19 6 000000November 2005 ZannyBegg zannybegg2@hotmail.com Globalisation is a complex process that is partially governed and directed, partially the result of unpredictable and cumulative changes, which is unifying the world under the neo-liberal economic model but also fragmenting the experience of life under capitalism. Three key aspects of globalisation; deterritorialisation; hyper-capitalism; and time- space compression have generated changes in how we view photogra- phy that can be registered in the work of Andreas Gursky and Allan Sekula. Gursky has explored the potentiality of globalisation by opting for a hybrid technique that combines photography and digital manipu- lation. Largely focused on the industrial and technological possibilities of globalisation, he uses digital manipulation to bend our sense of perception to the outer edge of credibility, creating a world we recogn- ise but also one which is partially imagined and not yet realised. Gursky chooses the horizon as the ‘strategic notion’ 1 by which to convey a sense of time–space compression. By flattening out the depth of field in his images he reduces the power of the horizon – sometimes even obliterating it all together – creating a new sense of perspective. Gursky’s world no longer bends away from the viewer; it stands to attention, in focus, flat, illuminated. This all-over sense of perspective is evocative of the ‘smooth space’ of globalisation described by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri in Empire. Allan Sekula, on the other hand, has focused on the limits of globalisation. Following the deterritoria- lised flow of capital, he focuses on the wave of industrialisation in the developing world which has relocated old technologies into this new context. Within the two worlds of globalisation, Sekula chooses to focus on the one inhabited by the poor, the marginalised and the dispossessed. He has retained an interest in indexical photographic techniques because he feels this is the clearest way of portraying this aspect of globalisation. The difference between Gursky and Sekula’s approach to photogra- phy highlights the diverse ways in which globalisation can be under- stood. Both worlds exist within globalisation – one holds the promise of 1. Michel Foucault, Fish Story, Richter Verlag, Germany, 2003, p 106. CTTE_A_138147.fm Page 625 Thursday, January 12, 2006 5:31 AM