"Photography's most controversial genius - revealed at last"
Kenny Van De Leermaker’s “Portius Titan: Emperor of the Third Eye” presents itself as a serious retrospective of a Hungarian photographer’s career, complete with platinum print pricing and grandiose artistic statements. In reality, it’s a wickedly sharp satire of the contemporary art photography world and its attendant pretensions.
The fictional Portius Titan emerges as a character both monstrous and absurd – a photographer whose supposed genius is matched only by his mercenary obsession with “magnificent sums” and his casual cruelty to subjects and assistants alike. Van De Leermaker’s creation speaks in a voice that perfectly captures the bombast of certain art world figures: “When I press the button, I am the loneliest man in the world. (Except for the chaps in jail.)”
The book’s strength lies in its meticulous attention to the conventions of serious photography monographs. Each image is accompanied by both artistic justification and precise pricing, from the modestly priced “Dead ratogram” at $999 to the conceptually ambitious “The whited sepulchre of my trousers” at a very specific $3,645. These details accumulate into a devastating portrait of an art market where mystique and price often matter more than content.
Van De Leermaker’s own photography throughout is accomplished, creating images that could genuinely sit in a gallery context whilst serving the book’s satirical purpose.
The invented biographical details – from the “infamous Cheesehall Putsch of 1789” to Titan’s claims of inventing techniques “perverted by Man Ray” – build a convincing alternative art history.
The humour works on multiple levels, from broad slapstick (breaking a pigeon’s neck during a peace photograph) to subtle digs at critical language and artistic ego. The book succeeds both as entertainment and as pointed commentary on how we construct and market artistic reputation.
At 84 pages, “Emperor of the Third Eye” sustains its conceit admirably without overstaying its welcome. It’s essential reading for anyone interested in photography, contemporary art, or simply a brilliantly executed piece of cultural satire.
The Titanic Movie
Meet the Man, the Titan
When Portius Titan walked, his single eye darted about like Eric Bristow trying to swat a fly, and his head was thrust forward like an eager puppy’s. Was it because he was searching for beauty? Or was it merely to try and make his jowls look less disturbing; the classic photographers’ trick? But when he was confronted with a tedious assignment, he would sulk in bed for days (like Sherlock Holmes, but without the violin, drugs and male bonding), barking at people and throwing his slipper at the cat, sometimes both of them. He lost his eye whilst taking pot shots at pigs in Prague. But photography is like leering at a pretty girl – you only need one
eye to do it. His work has been exhibited all over the world except in Britain, which is notorious for ignoring Hungarian geniuses. But now, the man and his work are brought here by the quasi-legendary gallery owner Kenny Van De Leermaker. When told of this new potential market, Portius, uncompromising as ever, said, ‘Art for the masses? Pah! Art is totalitarian! Despotic! I am a Pol Potographer!’
The beggars and the malformed were so much more picturesque in the old days, yah! They knew how much to cover, how much to expose. It’s time for a fundamental reappraisal of the aesthetics of ugliness! Bring back the freaks.
Tight and Bright
Cesar had admired Titan’s strong sense of spatial awareness and architectural presence ever since first seeing his shots of one of his buildings, the Mausoleum of the Dead Sniper in Stalingrad. Staring at it intently he said, ‘Oh that is so Whistler’s Mother!
