 The Fallen Soldier, Queens, New York (2013) Yoav Friedländer 6x6 film scan, archival pigment print, 16.5" x 16.5"; $1200 Exhibited at Village West in the Under the Influence show, Fall 2016 |
 The Falling Soldier (1936) Robert Capa Inspiration piece for Yoav Friedländer for the Under the Influence show, Fall 2016 |
"Robert Capa's famous image from the Spanish Civil War, capturing the moment of death of a soldier, over time shaped our perception of heroic death during war. It is also one of the most controversial and most studied photographs in history - over and over again its uncanny character inspired researchers to try to prove it was staged by Capa.
This image represents the power of photography to shape our perception collective memory and visual expectations, and also marks our suspicion towards this realistic medium that claims to be the result of witnessing an unfolding reality.
My entire work process involves exploring the influences photographs have on our perception of reality, personal memories and collective consciousness. I am working with miniatures, which are an indexical mimicking form of art, to make tributes to existing photographs and photographic trends, and I found a fascinating similarity between one of the generic toy soldiers that most boys, including me, were playing with during childhood and the posture of Robert Capa's falling soldier. I wondered if the image by Capa inspired the character of that specific toy soldier, and upon my attempt of recreating Capa's iconic image on my bed pillow, right when composition was right and the toy soldier had cast the falling soldier's shadow on the wall, the soldier itself appeared screaming upwards towards the skies - showing more realistic emotion than the iconic image of death it was molded after."
If you are interested in purchasing this work, please contact Yoav Friedländer or visit www.yoavfriedlander.com.