Visual Excellence and Narrative Fault in Cathleen Naundorf's "Arche de Noé"

The Fotografiska, a Stockholm museum of contemporary photography, is truly a gem among the city’s many shining artistic monuments. In a modest waterfront property on the Sodermalm north coast, the museum hosts seven exhibits of varying tone, all neatly displayed. One could write much as to the effectiveness of the museum’s organizational, aesthetic, and selective abilities. However, this review serves to discuss a weak point in an otherwise strong repertoire. That is not to say that Cathleen Naundorf’s Arche de Noé, a gallery within her full exhibit, Secret Times, was a poor or ineffective work—merely that the gallery’s conviction failed to live up to the impressions of the rest of the exhibit and museum.

Cathleen Naundorf, German-French graphic designer and photographer, has over 20 years of experience working with “legendary haute couture fashion houses,” per the Fotografiska’s website description. There is no doubt that she occupies a position of prominence within the world of fashion for her photographic ability and experience. She has published 8 books, and her work in photojournalism has taken her to locations including Mongolia and the Amazon with the likes of the Dalai Lama and photographer Horst P. Horst.

Naundorf’s Secret Times, installed in May 2018, features “breathtaking photos of beauty, mystery and divine lighting.” Different segments of the exhibit feature black-and-white, tampered film, portrait, and landscape photography, all rather elegantly combined into a seamless and sensical experience.

Within, Arche de Noé is an eight-photo gallery depicting the artist’s vision for the Biblical tale of Noah’s Ark. Per the display’s posted description, Naundorf “freezes time in a moment of storytelling and at the same time takes us on a voyage of discovery through her artistic universe.” The original Biblical tale recounts the creator’s decision to end the world as it was and start anew, and His choosing the prophet Noah to build an ark to house the survivors. Noah does so, bringing a pair of every species onboard, and God promptly ends the remainder of existence in an enormous month-long flood.

Naundorf’s exhibition features models in haute cotoure fashion pieces from industry-leading designers like Dior or Philip Treacy, intended to juxtapose with the Biblical tale and the feelings of struggle and rebirth it manifests. In Naundorf’s own words regarding the display, “I am telling the classic Bible story, Noah’s Ark. Saving the animals and mankind; leaving Earth as we know it—in a boat—and believing there is something better for the future.”

Several photos from the exhibition are included below:

There is a lot that this gallery achieves effectively. First, Naundorf eschewed digital editing, and the entirety of the lighting, contrast, and color palette are accomplished by her own staging and film preparation. It is impossible to deny the incredible skill associated with this undertaking. The color scheme is consistent and gathers attention appropriately in each photo. The models seem to blend into the backdrop while still popping out to the eye, an effect shared with effective portrait painting. The birds are quite masterfully featured, as homage to the Biblical tale, and the models expressions are compelling and inquisitive, drawing in the viewer’s attention.

There are, however, aspects of the photos’ composition that detract from the exhibit’s narrative strength and immersive potential. The first is a deficiency in image framing, such that regions of the photos appear “out” of the scene—the corners of the carpet, the scaffolding that supports the backdrop, the white plaster wall behind. It’s the “boom mic in the shot” trope applied to still photography that takes the viewer out of the narrative. While an indoor, highly-equipped photography studio was likely necessary for the photos’ excellent lighting, focus, and color, the audience need not be reminded of that fact—much like a fourth wall break in narrative film.

Further, the elegant and delicate portrayal of haute couture fashion, manicured hairstyles, and pompous poses clash with what is ultimately a Biblical tale of wrath and systematic destruction. While the images may succeed in capturing the dualism of the flood’s gloom and optimistic intent, the story is no elegant affair. There’s something untrue about this roofed, propped, and staged retelling—perhaps more accurately told in the wind and rain, with desperation and dynamic movement present in the models’ posture and expression; the birds in flight.

While beautiful, the photos in this gallery should abandon the Noah’s ark narrative and stand alone as a tour de force in photographic excellence. Conflating the beauty and perfection of Naundorf’s vision with the erasure of an entire pre-Biblical world is distracting and ineffective. Entering in without the narrative expectation, visitors should expect to enjoy an aesthetically compelling gallery within a wonderful exhibit and greater museum.