Bill Larson 1975

Mike Mandel made this photograph, "Bill Larson", using photographic paper and developing processes, materials accessible to most, which democratized the medium. Mandel’s work plays with the conventions of portraiture and commercial photography, transforming everyday people into something like baseball cards. Here, the sitter is captured in mid-swing, equipped with a peculiar lightning bolt prop. The sharp contrast and flat lighting emphasize the texture of the paper and the grain of the image, giving it a raw, almost documentary feel. The artist seems interested in the imagery of working-class leisure, inviting the question: what is the relationship between industrial society and its means of entertainment? It is also interesting to consider the labor involved in the staging of this image, from the construction of the prop to the photographic processes. By highlighting the photographic medium, Mandel challenges the traditional hierarchies between fine art and everyday practices.