The Model, the new book of Torbjørn Rødland where the artists examines one of the defining principles of his approach to photography: that the notion and meaning of ‘the model’ is open-ended. Synthesizing an array of photographic genres and approaches The Model comprises elements of critical appropriation, diaristic snapshot, reportage, commercial and staged photography – all strung together by the iconic face of Polish actress and fashion model Malgosia Bela.
The book brings together pictures of Malgosia made over a ten-year period in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London, Warsaw, Oslo and Lofoten. Serving as an experiment in photographic language and code, each image elicits a response that equivocates between alienation and intimacy. The book can also be seen as a love letter to both a medium and to a mediated woman. To be launched in November the book coincides with to major retrospective in London and New York.