Barbara Probst

The work of Barbara Probst brings new meaning to the 'decisive moment' in photography. Instead of utilizing a singular image to describe a moment in time, Probst creates several views of the same moment. She does this by setting up multiple cameras around her subject, and uses a device that releases the cameras' shutters so that they fire at the exact same time. The end result are a series of photographs, each different, showing the same split second in time. There are wide angle and abstract views of the same instance, which help to describe the placement of multiple cameras. The grouped images are displayed in varying sizes as both color and black and white prints.

At first, a group of images that make up a work are disorienting. It is recognizable that the same scene is being captured in each image within a set, but because the views vary from image to image, there is a sense of spinning around the subject. Some differences from one image to the next within a work are drastic, and others are subtle. Probst’s process for making imagery is a new lesson in composition and frame. By seeing these compositional differences of one instance, seasoned photographers and viewers of photography are reminded how the meaning of subject matter can change by an adjustment to the camera’s direction. 

There is perfection to the images that make up each work. The spontaneity that would be expected from multiple cameras being fired at the same time is present, yet the compositions of the images that make up a final piece are strangely satisfying and clean. This "perfection" can be found in the work of Sophie Calle. In Sophe Calle's work, she tells us a story, or presents us with a situation she has placed herself in. Her ideas are played out in images that describe her story or situation. The story and imagery are so perfectly composed, it can be difficult to determine whether or not the story is real or fake. There is an element of this in Probst's work as well. The images seem perfectly timed, and the compositions are so balanced that the expected spontaneity from her image making process could be questioned. The work is clearly planned, and this is visible through some of the images that are more complex in their construction, for example Exposure #36: studio Munich, 09.26.05, 2:34 p.m. (below)

The construction of the images is apparent, as well as final editing. The medium listed with Exposure #36 says "5 parts 55 x 36 inches each" explaining that these "parts" make up a whole, perhaps giving us the whole picture, or the whole story. Probst presents a puzzle that is on the surface, fun to put together, and conceptually interesting to build with respect to the traditions of "making" in photography.

See more work here:
http://www.gfineartdc.com/artists-detail.cfm?recordID=6