/ 2 August 1996

Headless between two worlds

Why does photographer Ian van Coller cut off the heads of his subjects? SUZY BELL finds out

IN the beginning, the gods gave all the seeds and plants to the animals of the world to grow. Mabuyu was given to the hyena, who unfortunately was very last in line, and he was so upset he planted it upside down.”

This is one of the “traditional” texts found beneath Ian van Coller’s stark, simple images, on view at the Durban Centre for Photography. Indigenous folklore and bizarre, singular objects that stand out in the African landscape are Van Coller’s passion; and he incorporates them into his art through photogravure.

The South African-born artist (25) is based at the Segura Publishing Company in Arizona, where he collaborates with female and minority artists, as well as others whose work seeks to demystify America’s Wild West. He uses an old camera similar to those of 19th-century travelling photographers, and devours 19th-century and early 20th-century books on African exploration.

In this exhibition, Van Coller examines how colonial and neo-colonial views of Africa differ from traditional African perspectives. Each image, printed on to Japanese silk tissue “reflecting the fragility of the African landscape”, is accompanied by two texts — one folkloric, like the tale of the hyena and the Mabuyu tree, the other “scientific” colonial writing.

Van Coller doesn’t attempt to hide the fact that his is a white South African point of view — “I’ve grown up having to define and quantify everything, imposing my will on everything. The colonials did that in Africa. Their approach to human beings in Africa was the same as their approach to nature, very scientific” — but tries to deconstruct stereotypical views of Africa through the juxtaposition of texts.

“The two sets of text that are placed under each image represent the two world-views. On the left the traditional, and on the right the Eurocentric, scientific view. The intention is to create a collision between the two world-views … I like the idea of creating this dialogue, because I want dialogue to take place.”

Van Coller is influenced by African-American artist Carrie Mae Weems, who deals with race and gender issues, and roots his work in contemporary African- American feminist literature.

One of the signature devices of his photographs is to “cut off” people’s heads. “When reading 19th- century explorer books I was perturbed that photos of African people had no reference names to identify who they were. I strongly believe that, as soon as you put a person’s face into a picture, you have to name them, otherwise you’re dehumanising that person. So I have decided to focus on plants or animals as an intermediary.

“I use plants because they’re really important to people in Africa. I travel a lot and it’s interesting how Europeans perceive the land compared to black people.”