Chair accident re-enactment with cereal bowl and spoon, 4 /2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
New work from photographer Timothy Archibald as well as the work of other folks he really digs.
Buy ECHOLILIA / Sometimes I wonder.
Stereoscopy Photographs
Website / Contact
Interviews
- Art Producers Speak : TA
- Aftermath / Conscientious
- Automatic For The People
- Communication Arts Interview
- Essay : Photographs Not Taken
- Feature Shoot Q
- New York Times / Autism's Veil
- One Hundred Eyes / Echolilia Interview
- Our Children
- Photo Eye Bookstore
- Photographers On Photography
- Process
- SiouxWire Interview
- Soth: This Post Is Not About
- TIME Magazine / A Father's Conversation
- Wired by Xeni Jardin
Blog Archive
-
▼
2009
(186)
-
▼
May
(11)
- Secret Story for ESPN
- When The Gods Of Photography Smile ...
- Juliana Beasley Gets Aaron Siskind Fellowship
- And Then My Kid Took This Picture Of Me
- Afraid To Title This Post
- Do You Hear What I Hear?
- The Lost Nerd Convention Image
- Marla Rutherford / The Character Project
- Fancy Scissors
- Uh Oh
- Chair Accident Redux
-
▼
May
(11)
8 comments:
Of course you're gonna know the immediate response: "Wow, really loved the BW Polaroid better". Plus, it's very hard to reenact the scene a second time.
Oh, this is the first time...we just got the film back. I use the word "re-enactment" because Eli and I re-enacted the shoot outside rather than in the room in happened, which we too messy with camera gear and stuff to look good.
I think this is a really interesting image and see it as a real departure from the previous work.
This image seems much more theatrical than the imagery that has come before . Also there is a interesting dichotomy at play here. On one hand you are empowering him by including him so much in the "game" that is the photograph. On the other hand I find some aspects of the image to be pure explotation. How can 7 year truly give his consent to the process? As photographers we tell our audience and subjects that we are collaborating with the people we photograph which is of course a lie. We are there to steal what we can by any means.
In some respect Ballen's work is more honest in dealing with this issue. He is saying all photographers are thieves and at least he is willing to tell truth.
I see this image of Eli grappling with this same question and am excited to see more.
I dunno what consent would have to do with anything here. Like can we not photograph children anymore?
Good points about the "collaboration" idea. I do call this project a collaboration, but like lots of collabs, it's unclear who is contributing what and of course I'm the one driving the project, putting it on website, trying to get attention and dialogue with it, etc.
I did see a Ballen exhibit at UC Berkeley a few years back and his statement expressed shock that viewers would question the intelligence of his subjects, who he unfortunately referred to as his "collaborators". But...I guess they are. So...it is a fine line.
i have to partly disagree with thomas when he calls something like this exploitation. it's true that we often try to get things from subjects that they don't necessarily want to reveal, but you still can't draw something out of someone that didn't exist at all, unless you have a very heavy hand in post.
these days image making (and image-evaluating) is so instantaneous that i think it's become far, far easier to involve your subjects in the act of creation. (although, didn't tim say this was film? waiting for film to return from a lab must be torturous for a kid)
this does seem more theatrical and it's somewhat more obvious in this pic than in some of the others that eli is an active (not just willing) participant in shaping the final picture. still, i'm not sure that it qualifies as "exploitation" just because the final intent of the image holds different meanings to the photographer and subject. i'd venture to say that MOST pictures hold different meanings to the photographer and to the subject. in this case (and in the best cases) it's obvious that even though the intentions of each participant may be different, they're both equally involved in the process, they both care about the outcome, and they both come to it from a place of respect for each other and empathy.
really, i think the trick of photographing people is in being able to make something that otherwise would seem exploitative into something that instead feels empathetic and humanizing. it's important to remember that it's not only the act of photographing that creates empathy and connection, but it can also be the process of BEING photographed.
that all being said, still it's clear to all of us that the final power rests with the photographer, even if it's just in terms of what frame we pick, how we compose the photo, what elements we choose to highlight or omit, how we print or process it, etc.
just my two cents.
Hi Timothy - hope this is cool - I've borrowed this photo to put into a post on my blog edwinmcrae.com. I've set it up to link back to your page and have also provided a link back here at the bottom of my page. If this isn't okay with you please just leave me a comment on my post.
Cheers
Edwin
The picture reminded me the time that my brother accidentally felt from a chair, he broke his elbow, and loose a tooth.
Well, it was something different to do, but everybody can realize that it was a fake accident, just look at th position of all th things put on the floor, I can't believe it, people aren't stupid.
Post a Comment