Jeff Wall

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on photo-conceptualism

interview by ALEXIS DAHAN
All artworks courtesy of JEFF WALL

Double Self-Portrait, 1979, transparency in lightbox

In 1995, the renowned Canadian artist Jeff Wall published Marks of Indifference. More than 20 years later, the essay is still considered by generations of artists and critics as a reference in photo-conceptualism theory. Analyzing the use of photography by the conceptual artists of the ’60s and ’70s. For Purple, Jeff Wall, the theoretician, looks back at his essay and tell us where he stands.

ALEXIS DAHAN — Nowadays the term “conceptual” has become a cool marketing tool for artists: everything is said to be “conceptual.” If there were one artist I would want to talk to about the implication of this term in the field of  photography, that would be you!

JEFF WALL — When I wrote that essay, in 1995, it was about work that…