Roger Mertin 1975

Mike Mandel created "Roger Mertin" using photography; its date is currently unknown. The black and white image is a sort of baseball card with the name above the photo. The approach to image making is very much of its time, documentary, but there's also something playful about it. The material aspects of the work are interesting because of the way they shape our experience. It feels so raw, like a snapshot. Look at the way the light catches on the ball he's holding and the dark shadows around the trees in the background. There's a real contrast between the texture of his jacket and the blurriness of the landscape. That blurry background against the main subject feels honest, maybe because it does not strive for perfection. Mandel's work reminds me a bit of some of the new topographics photographers in the 70's because of this kind of frankness. Ultimately, art embraces ambiguity, offering multiple interpretations rather than fixed meanings.