one is the performative quality of photography; the other is an ongoing investigation into our understanding of and participation in the realms of the public and the private.
Moscow, with it's complex political history, is used as a backdrop and the starting point of this series. Feeding meaning into the staged doccumentaries that operate on the border between real life and constructed circumstance. (information from Susan Bright's book - Art Photography Now) (page 194)
"Based on late 19th century group shots, the work refers to a moment when photography played an important role in the Russian people’s comprehension of what their vast lands and its inhabitants looked like. Groups + Locations takes the vernacular of historic group portraiture as a cue for structuring contemporary images that are similarly striking in the intensity of a given group collectively directing their gazes, their looking focused by the camera. In a culture where photography is still prohibited in many designated public spaces, the participation of the passers-by and the resulting images develop a political charge. The work proposes a performative approach to portraiture, raising questions about individual and cultural identities, as well as public space as a framework for a participatory practice."
(http://www.melaniemanchot.net/category/groups-and-locations/)
What makes the images most interesting to view for me, is that almost awkward sensation of making eye contact with a stranger - this feeling is maximised by the intensity of there being 20 of more pairs of eyes staring out of the frame.
After reading more about the work i find the images increasingly effective due to the feeling of threat which is presented in the images as photographing in public spaces in Moscow is prohibited. In turn this makes me question the views of the people in the photograph who are stopped and ask to become part of a large group portrait!
I think it is interesting to observe the placement of the subjects, why did they chose to stand right at the back - alternatively dominating the image right at the front?
During our "Urban Walk" last week, i was fascinated by the actions of other students, i observed them all spread out and move back together tracing each others foot steps and following the paths made by the person to explore that area before them. I instantly thought of this work in relation.
Myself and a fellow student were discussing doing a joint project utilising strangers on the street, where we would ask them to put on a paper "boiler suit" in an attempt to question identity and to what extent fashion plays a part in the representation - i mentioned that in combination with this style of obscure placement the images would take on new meaning. This is something we are yet to arrange.
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