Gallery Visit - Matthew Phillips

The piece from the visit to the Kendall Gallery that I chose to replicate was "Hidden Observer," by Dana Martin. The piece is a black and white series of two photographs that depict a hidden voyeur looking in on a woman in a private moment. The photos aren't explicit in any way, yet uncomfortably intimate. 

The right photo depicts a bearded man looking through the crack of an opened door. His eyes are wide and his mouth slightly agape. A vignette surrounds the edges of the image, darkening the corners. A viewer of the photograph is first drawn to the man's eye, the stark white of the eye contrasting with his gray skin. The vignette and the man's expression of shocked enjoyment indicate a misdeed being perpetrated, in this instance voyeurism, as the man looks through the door.

The left photo depicts what the man is looking at, namely a woman looking off into the distance, unaware that she is being viewed. Her face is heavily made up, her hand on her neck. Her focus is elsewhere, her eyes distracted. This photo doesn't have a vignette as the woman is not hidden shadow, she is there for the hidden observer to see.

Aperture: F 4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec.
ISO: 800

In my photos I tried to replicate the feelings of the original with a similar stylized black and white composition. I wanted to both replicate the photos, while also taking the ideas they contain further. Why I chose to do this requires some explanation.

I recently finished watching "13 Reasons Why," the new Netflix series about the aftermath of a high school girl's suicide. For those unfamiliar with the show, before committing suicide, the girl records 13 cassette tapes, each detailing how a different person lead to her death to her actions. One of the tapes was about a boy who stalked her and took several pictures of her, which were distributed around the school, including one photo that the high school rumor mill quickly misconstrued, irreparably damaging the girl's reputation.

In my photos the image on the right is intentionally innocuous and innocent. The girl pictured is reading a book, the scene still a private moment, one that should be beyond observation, but isn’t. The focus instead is on the figure on the left with the camera. A similar vignette is around the image, the viewer's eye now drawn to the black hole of the camera lens. In the original the man looks for himself, but the addition of the camera and the inky blackness of the lens adds uncertainty that the figure will keep the image for himself. A camera has the power to document - for good or ill. As photographers, as people it is important to remember this. Once we release something to the public, we no longer have control over it and it takes on a life of it's own. It's an amazing power that we must use wisely.  

Left:
Aperture: F 4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
ISO: 1600

Right:
Aperture: F 3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
ISO: 1600