I'm having a show of my work at Meredith College, opening with a reception from 2-4 pm on Sunday, September 12th, 2010, in the Rotunda of Johnson Hall. This will be a show of about 40 images that explore how we see and are seen by others and how we learn to present ourselves to be seen, performing before others both our desires for attention and our delight in our skill as performers.
I'd make the case that we long for safety and companionship; we conceal ourselves within roles as well as costumes to cover the poor, bare forked animal with the garments of display. In a world rich in the technology of visual display, we are surrounded by images that provoke desire and model for us ways to express and achieve it. The dream world of beautiful images enables and confines, for it defines the cost of hope, the price of desire, the terms of solicitation. In the midst of it all, we make our own way, knowing that we may be freed or trapped by how we play the game.
As a photographer, I am implicated in the giving and taking of visions and revisions, of offering, of display, of performance or of self-definition. The artist sees, responds, frames, records, shapes, presents and therefore participates in the gaze.
These images document my observations, even, sometimes, recording my own presence in the scene. They make it possible for viewers to join in the gaze, to share in the delight or shame or annoyance. These photographs also distance us from what is before us, making the body – and the performance of its display – available for reflection as well as observation or participation.
You can check out the show in advance if you go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jnwallphoto/sets/72157624591947917/
Hope to see you on September 12th, to see how all this works out.
I'd make the case that we long for safety and companionship; we conceal ourselves within roles as well as costumes to cover the poor, bare forked animal with the garments of display. In a world rich in the technology of visual display, we are surrounded by images that provoke desire and model for us ways to express and achieve it. The dream world of beautiful images enables and confines, for it defines the cost of hope, the price of desire, the terms of solicitation. In the midst of it all, we make our own way, knowing that we may be freed or trapped by how we play the game.
As a photographer, I am implicated in the giving and taking of visions and revisions, of offering, of display, of performance or of self-definition. The artist sees, responds, frames, records, shapes, presents and therefore participates in the gaze.
These images document my observations, even, sometimes, recording my own presence in the scene. They make it possible for viewers to join in the gaze, to share in the delight or shame or annoyance. These photographs also distance us from what is before us, making the body – and the performance of its display – available for reflection as well as observation or participation.
You can check out the show in advance if you go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jnwallphoto/sets/72157624591947917/
Hope to see you on September 12th, to see how all this works out.
