An ambitious exhibition with loads packed into 11 rooms, documenting street and studio photography from the late 1800s.
Each room has its own title but the attempts to capture the unconscious subject is what made the exhibition fascinating to me - how the model’s awareness affects the image.
This can be seen in Juergen Teller’s title image where he photographed aspiring models on the studio threshold. The super-aware subjects make these feel quite voyeuristic, the models seem vulnerable:
My favourite examples of the unstaged image are the commuters caught unawares on the New York subway in Walker Evans 1938-41 series. Some have a protective ‘public’ face on, some are in their own world, some stare at the camera unaware. This image of Evan’s isn’t in the exhibition, its used in an article on the familiar stranger.
There’s a modern take of this series in the exhibition with Wolfgang Tillman’s ‘Big Issue’ shots on the London tube. Feels as if he’s been caught out in this one with the woman looking into camera:
In its early days you can see how the conscious, set up studio photograph often used poses from paintings.
A stand out example of how this continues are Andre Serrano’s portraits of vagrants in New York, using formal poses which dignify the sitter:
More imagery which tries to go below the surface of the subject is Philippe Haslam’s jump series, (Edward Steichen below) which used the jump to capture something of the models real or unconscious personality:
Also featured are Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s well known ‘caught’ passers by.
Some of these unaware subjects didn’t approve of their image being used and the gentleman below apparently attempted to sue diCorcia..
Some of the most extreme examples of more intrusive photography are Arthur Fellig AKA Weegee’s crime portraits, where bystanders are reacting to real events as in ‘Their First Murder’ below - or those of murder victims where the subject is fully unaware..
There’s also this fantastic image of Weegee’s mobile office from anonymous photographer - the back of his car with typewriter, developing fluids etc.:
Even though this equipment and more can now fit in the pocket, it’s amazing how the featured photographer’s concerns have stayed the same - getting under the skin of their subjects and society.
