For over a decade, photographer Carl Ander has been obsessively collecting manuals illustrated with photographs on the subjects of sports, health, and self-help. In the book Static Motion (LL’Editions, 2025), Ander presents a selection of photographs drawn from this collection—omitting their accompanying textual instructions. Removed from their original contexts, the viewer is invited to interpret these images anew.
I think this reference provides an interesting resource for looking at layout as well as this idea of translation and communication. Ander removes the images from their original context, which in turn reframes the images. I’m interested in this idea of shifting contexts as well as semiotics: what do images communicate, and how does the receiver interpret certain stimuli? Can we still achieve the same message by changing certain aspects of the source?