The case for timelessness
As a self-identified postmodernist, it’s hard for me to take ideas like “classic” and “timeless” seriously. They sound far too autocratic.
However, recently two things have shaken my foundation-less foundation. One is my rediscovery of Univers. A 50-year-old typeface that feels fresh enough that I could believe it was designed yesterday.
The other is my rediscovery of Alexander Gardner’s portrait of Lincoln from 1863. As soon as I saw it, I thought of the portrait photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Since the 1970s, he’s been making large-format photos of notable figures in American life; usually with a single soft light against a gray backdrop, and the subject looking into the lens. 150 years between them, yet Gardner and Greenfield-Sanders both feel contemporary. There’s something to that.
Lately I’ve felt disillusioned with contemporary image production. Highly stylized photographs sometimes feel dated even before they’re made. The same goes for graphic design. Now, I would never impose my take on anyone else, but if postmodernism is supposed to provide an umbrella for different viewpoints, I may be moving towards an aware and conscientious corner of modernism under that umbrella. Aesthetically, anyway.
Image © Copyright 2008 Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
