Friday, May 16, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Voyeurism Artist Statement + Some Images
Artist Statement
Voyeurism in Photography
The images my series consists of are personal and autobiographical. Voyeuristic by design, they attempt to portray a sense of ambiguity, making the viewer not know and then know. The ambiguity is empowered by obscuring the face, leaving the figure questionable and the audience in question. My intention for the promiscuous nature of the images is to confuse and demand time from the viewer to look beneath the surface. This allows the viewer to fill in the unsettling blanks and not really know on what terms to take the photographs. I hope to create a tension that is echoed by the predominance of the female subject matter and the uncanny composition, as well as to raise emotions such as uncertainty, suspicion, and voyeurism about a particular female figure. I wanted to believe the images did not stem from my own emotions, but they are about me and hold a personal truth. However, I do not intend to make the series about the individual, but more about the person watching the individual. Therefore, it is important to not reveal the face. It has been known that the eyes are a ‘window’ into a person’s soul. For this very reason, I do not want the viewer to have access to this ‘window’ so there is a more powerful encounter between the artist, sitter, and spectator.
By using an ‘anonymous’ figure, I am shifting the emphasis onto the viewer, forcing them to bring their own assumptions and preconceptions to the work. The objective of these photographs are to allow the viewer to look at someone they do not know for what would normally be an unacceptable amount of time. This, along with the awkward poses and unusual postures, allow a certain kind of vulnerability and intimacy, which creates a curious underlying tension in the viewer. This tension is magnified when the element of distance is added, which creates a more voyeuristic feeling. This depth allows the images to convey the feeling of someone watching because the viewer has to look through the space. A clearer image becomes apparent the farther the camera pulls back, yet the figure is still anonymous and ambiguous. By carefully pairing the more abstract images with the more literal, the photographs collaboratively work together strongly as a series but at the same time, they are not dependent of each other. The particular pairing of the images let the viewer know that more than one person is involved within the frame, which can lead to different forms and guises of reactions, such as skepticism, insecurity, and exploitative tensions. Through these reactions, the fascination of observation is exposed, as the images hold an interest that compel the viewers to want to look and see and ultimately the viewers themselves are in fact the practitioners of voyeurism.
Voyeurism in Photography
The images my series consists of are personal and autobiographical. Voyeuristic by design, they attempt to portray a sense of ambiguity, making the viewer not know and then know. The ambiguity is empowered by obscuring the face, leaving the figure questionable and the audience in question. My intention for the promiscuous nature of the images is to confuse and demand time from the viewer to look beneath the surface. This allows the viewer to fill in the unsettling blanks and not really know on what terms to take the photographs. I hope to create a tension that is echoed by the predominance of the female subject matter and the uncanny composition, as well as to raise emotions such as uncertainty, suspicion, and voyeurism about a particular female figure. I wanted to believe the images did not stem from my own emotions, but they are about me and hold a personal truth. However, I do not intend to make the series about the individual, but more about the person watching the individual. Therefore, it is important to not reveal the face. It has been known that the eyes are a ‘window’ into a person’s soul. For this very reason, I do not want the viewer to have access to this ‘window’ so there is a more powerful encounter between the artist, sitter, and spectator.
By using an ‘anonymous’ figure, I am shifting the emphasis onto the viewer, forcing them to bring their own assumptions and preconceptions to the work. The objective of these photographs are to allow the viewer to look at someone they do not know for what would normally be an unacceptable amount of time. This, along with the awkward poses and unusual postures, allow a certain kind of vulnerability and intimacy, which creates a curious underlying tension in the viewer. This tension is magnified when the element of distance is added, which creates a more voyeuristic feeling. This depth allows the images to convey the feeling of someone watching because the viewer has to look through the space. A clearer image becomes apparent the farther the camera pulls back, yet the figure is still anonymous and ambiguous. By carefully pairing the more abstract images with the more literal, the photographs collaboratively work together strongly as a series but at the same time, they are not dependent of each other. The particular pairing of the images let the viewer know that more than one person is involved within the frame, which can lead to different forms and guises of reactions, such as skepticism, insecurity, and exploitative tensions. Through these reactions, the fascination of observation is exposed, as the images hold an interest that compel the viewers to want to look and see and ultimately the viewers themselves are in fact the practitioners of voyeurism.
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