Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Photographer #123: Sarah Small

Photographer Sarah Small, 1979, USA, is working on a long-term project called The Delirium Constructions. One of the keywords in this project must be 'disassociation'. She brings different subjects, objects or other things together in one image that at first seem to have nothing in common. "I bring models into improbable, close interactions to examine the social and graphic contrasts." Sarah also uses Tableaux Vivants to achieve her photography. She assembles models into a series of suspended interactions as a living and breathing image. In 2011 she will do so with 120 models with distinctive visual personalities. The following images come from her portfolio.




Website: www.sarahsmall.comwww.livingpictureprojects.com

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Contrast" in this case is almost synonymous with shock-art--a form of it with a pseudo-intellectual spin. It's a timeless method, really, putting arbitrary subjects together with little-to-no forethought and then challenging the observer to discover some inherent profundity in those subjects' deliberate association. Why's it such a classic? Because it's a win-win. Somebody's bound to declare some obvious symbolism. VoilĂ  , insta-art. Everyone who didn't see it before will suddenly find themselves impressed. Why? They don't know. They just know that someone placed value in the stuff, so it must mean something. Sorry Sarah, I hate to be the defiant sheep in the herd, but I believe in the progression of human creativity, but art can't move forward without breaking down this kind of social conditioning. It's not your fault. If it's any consolation, your technical photography skills are superb, you most certainly have the talent to create wonderful images, I'd only suggest rethinking your motivation for making them.

Anonymous said...

Very well said.
She ends her story with a statement that art should ask questions. My question is what questions is she asking. That kind of art is "catchy" but really so empty. Naked bodies always help a lot.